Afghanistan

Anti-American riots continue; eight killed

Angry mobs ransacked government offices and relief agencies and clashed with police in several provinces Friday in a fourth day of growing anti-American demonstrations. The violence left at least eight people dead and raised the death toll since Wednesday to about 15, officials said.

The demonstrations represent the most widespread expression of anti-American sentiment since U.S.-led troops ousted the Islamic Taliban militia in late 2001.

The protests erupted Wednesday in the eastern city of Jalalabad and have now spread to the capital, Kabul, and four other areas. Demonstrations also took place Friday in other Muslim countries, although no serious violence was reported. Protesters gathered in several cities in Pakistan, as well as in Indonesia and the Palestinian territories.

The protests were sparked by a May 9 report in Newsweek magazine that interrogators at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had placed copies of the Quran in bathrooms and flushed one text down a toilet.

United Nations

Security Council bidders may seek veto rights

Future permanent members of the U.N. Security Council should “in principle” have the same veto rights as the five countries currently holding the status, according to a draft resolution prepared by Japan and three other countries.

But the so-called G-4 — Japan, Brazil, Germany and India — stopped short of demanding exactly the same privilege as the five, leaving the room for compromise by inserting “in principle” into the draft.

The four nations are planning to submit the resolution on the expansion of the Security Council to the U.N. General Assembly in June or July as part of a bid for permanent seats on the Security Council.

The Security Council comprises Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and 10 nonpermanent members.

Sources told The Yomiuri Shimbun on Thursday that the resolution will call for six more permanent members — two each from Asia and Africa, one from Central and South America and one more from Western Europe or another region — and four more seats for nonpermanent members in the Security Council. No particular country will be named as a candidate.

Toronto

Parliament adjourns amid government chaos

Canada’s Parliament voted to adjourn early for a third consecutive day Friday, as the struggle between the scandal-ridden Liberals and election-hungry Conservatives descended further into chaos.

The House of Commons has been at a virtual standstill for weeks as the Opposition ties it up in shouting matches and motions to adjourn.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, seizing on a corruption scandal within Prime Minister Paul Martin’s Liberal Party, said he would continue to obstruct Parliament until the Liberals agreed to a vote of no-confidence.

Under Canada’s Parliament system, the governor general is required to monitor the workings of the House and can suggest the prime minister dissolve Parliament and trigger new elections. He does not have to follow her advice.

Martin has already agreed to hold a vote of no-confidence next week, after he presents his federal budget for debate. If he loses — which appears likely — Martin would be forced to disband Parliament and call elections for new federal MPs, likely toward the end of June.

Moscow

U.S. Embassy rejects spy allegations

The United States on Friday sharply rejected allegations by Russia’s security chief that Washington had used nongovernmental organizations and the Peace Corps for espionage and to promote political upheaval in the former Soviet republics.

The allegations were a sign of Kremlin displeasure as popular uprisings have sparked government changes in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan in the past three months. All three countries are part of what Russia regards as its historical sphere of influence.

Key figures in those uprisings have had contact with Western democracy-promoting groups that Russia accuses of fomenting revolution. Among those groups is the International Republican Institute, which gets most of its funding from the U.S. government.