Saudi Arabia

King Fahd hospitalized

King Fahd, whose efforts to strengthen ties between Saudi Arabia – the world’s largest oil exporter – and the United States provoked the wrath of Islamic militants, was hospitalized Friday, apparently suffering from pneumonia.

Fahd’s half brother, Crown Prince Abdullah, has been Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler since Fahd suffered a debilitating stroke in 1995. Abdullah is expected to become king should Fahd die.

Fahd’s hospitalization triggered reports that an emergency had been declared in the kingdom. Officials said on condition of anonymity that an alert had been declared and that military leaves had been canceled or at least discouraged. However, this was firmly denied by the Interior Ministry.

Indonesia

Explosions kill 19

Two bombs exploded today at a busy market in central Indonesia, killing at least 19 people and wounding 20 in a volatile region marred for years by religious fighting, a police official said.

The twin blasts occurred in the morning in the Christian-dominated town of Tentena, said Police Maj. Riky Naldo, deputy chief of police in nearby Poso, the coastal town where fighting between Muslims and Christians has claimed hundreds of lives since 2000.

He said two policemen were among the wounded.

Poso, about 1,000 miles northeast of the capital, was a major battleground in fighting between Christians and Muslims four years ago on Sulawesi, where about 1,000 people were killed and thousands of others displaced.

France

German chancellor touts EU constitution

Germany became the ninth country to approve the European Union’s new constitution Friday, but Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder didn’t stick around to celebrate: He hopped on a jet to rally voters in France.

The French appeared determined to rattle the continent and its leaders by saying “non” to the EU treaty in a referendum Sunday. If polls prove right, France will be the first country to vote down the charter strengthening the union it helped found.

Down to the wire, pollsters provided mixed signals Friday night. One survey showed treaty supporters narrowing the lead held by “no” campaigners while another showed the “no” camp’s lead growing to 12 points.

French rejection of the constitution would throw Europe’s forward momentum into disarray.

India

Clinton: Funds adequate for tsunami recovery

Former President Clinton said Friday there was enough money available for rebuilding the tsunami-ravaged regions of Asia, but coordination between aid groups and local authorities will be crucial.

Clinton said it was critical for aid groups and local officials to make sure the money pledged by donor nations and agencies was actually used for tsunami survivors.

“Money is not going to be a problem,” Clinton said as he wound up a tour of the tsunami-hit southern Indian coast and headed for neighboring Sri Lanka. He said aid groups had collected $3 billion from the United States, Europe, and other countries.

Clinton, recently appointed United Nations special envoy for tsunami recovery, is touring the region to oversee reconstruction efforts in India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Indonesia. The Dec. 26 tsunami killed more than 173,000 people in 11 nations and wreaked widespread destruction of homes and property.

Indonesia

Vietnam abandons plan for bird flu vaccine

Vietnam has promised it will not unilaterally develop a human vaccine for bird flu, abandoning plans that international health experts had complained were hazardous and could themselves trigger an epidemic, the World Health Organization said Friday.

Instead, Vietnamese officials agreed they would use a prototype virus strain provided by WHO and developed under safe conditions, according to Klaus Stohr, chief of the agency’s global influenza program.

Stohr said his agency had been prepared to raise formal objections with the Health Ministry in Hanoi after the head of the vaccine development project said Vietnam was determined to develop a vaccine on its own.

Indonesia

Australian sentenced for drug smuggling

An Australian woman was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday for smuggling 9 pounds of marijuana onto Bali island, provoking shouts of “Liar!” from her mother.

Schapelle Corby, 27, wept as the verdict was announced in a case that attracted enormous media interest in Australia, where many people believe her claims that the drugs were planted in her luggage. She could have faced the death penalty, but prosecutors requested a life sentence.

Australia had pressed Jakarta to avoid a death penalty and allow the beauty school student to serve any prison sentence back home.

After the verdict was announced, the Australian government offered to send two senior lawyers to help Corby’s appeal and said it would begin negotiating with Jakarta on a prisoner transfer.

Corby was arrested in October after airport authorities found marijuana in her surfboard bag as she arrived on Bali for a family holiday. Her lawyers alleged the drugs were planted by airport baggage handlers in Australia as part of a drug-smuggling operation.

Nepal

Thousands rally in support of democracy

Thousands of activists rallied Friday in Katmandu to demand a restoration of democracy to this Himalayan nation in the first such protest since the monarch seized power and ordered a crackdown on politicians.

“Full democracy is what the people are demanding and if the king ignores the people’s wishes, the consequences would not be good,” said Girija Prasad Koirala, president of the Nepali Congress, the largest of seven political parties that have launched a joint movement against King Gyanendra.

The parties have vowed to step up their protests until the king reinstates the dissolved parliament and allows a multiparty government to negotiate a settlement with Maoist rebels.

King Gyanendra seized absolute power Feb. 1, saying he had to curb government corruption and quell the insurgency.