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12-15[1] South Korea’s foreign minister says his government is studying reports about North Korean efforts to enrich uranium. The reports suggest the North may have other uranium enrichment centers in addition to the one that an American scientist saw last month. Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said Tuesday that the South Korean government has been following the issue in his words “for some time”. An unidentified official reportedly said South Korea and the United States believe that the North may have three or four more enrichment centers in addition to the one at Yongbyon. The newspaper Chosun Ilbo published the report. In other news, China said Tuesday that North Korean officials have confirmed the need to prevent growing tensions between the Koreas.[2] In Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has won a vote of support in both the Senate and the lower house of parliament. A majority of only three votes in the lower house prevented him from having to resign halfway through his current five-year term as prime minister. Mr. Berlusconi has been facing a number of accusations including one that his aides sought to buy support of lawmakers before the vote Tuesday. He has also been forced to defend against accusations involving sex and corruption.[3] Officials from around the world are praising the work of American diplomat Richard Holbrooke.Mr. Holbrooke died Monday at the age of 69. He died in a Washington hospital three days after becoming sick during a meeting at the State Department with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He had two operations Saturday and Sunday to repair a tear in his aorta. The aorta moves blood from the heart to the rest of the body. At the time of his death, ambassador Holbrooke was President Obama’s special representative to Afg hanistan and Pakistan. The president said he was deeply saddened by Mr. Holbrooke’s death. Afghan President Hamid Karzai called the death a loss for the American people. China’s Foreign Ministry expressed its sympathy to Mr. Holbrooke’s family.[4] Media leaders in Australia have expressed support for WikiLeaks head Julian Assange in an open letter to Prime Minister Julia Gillard. The letter defends his website’s publication of more than 200,000 United States diplomatic cables. It says WikiLeaks is doing what the media has always done- bringing to light materials that governments want to keep secret. Editors and news directors at Australia’s top newspapers and broadcast centers wrote the letter. It was made public on Tuesday. Prime Minister Gillard has called the publication of the documents irresponsible and illegal. Her government has ordered a criminal investigation of Mr. Assange who is an Australian citizen.[5] South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has accepted the resignation o f his country’s army c hief. The Defense Ministry announced Tuesday that Army Chief of Staff General Hwang Eui-don asked for permission to retire earlier in the day. General Hwang was named defense minister in June. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency says he later was accused of making gains through a property investment. The news agency says he invested based on information that rules for building would have eased.[6] At least 16 people are dead after a fire at a clothing factory near the Bangladeshi capital. About 50 others were injured. Officials said the fire started Tuesday at a factory in Ashulia about 25 kilometers north of Dhaka. Firefighters were attempting to control the fire as rescuers worked to help people leave the building.[7] Police in Nepal say they have arrested a former crown prince after he fired a gun during an argument. Officials said they were questioning Paras Shah. He said in a statement that he fired one shot. The former prince said two people in a restaurant insulted him and Nepal’s former ruling fami ly. He said he fired the gun because he could not stand to hear insults against his family and country. Paras Shah is the son of former King Gyanendra. The king left power in 2008 when Nepal ended his family’s rule.[8] German officials say they have raided the homes and a religious center of Salafi Muslims suspected of working against the government. The police raids took place in three western German cities. An Interior Ministry statement said two Salafi groups were the target of the raids. It said they are accused of seeking to establish an Islamic religious state in Germany. The statement said it was important not to wait for a militant struggle before intervening against unconstitutional groups. Salafism is a movement within Sunni Islam.[9] Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan is visiting World War II battlefields on the island of Iwo Jima. The purpose of his trip is to get his nation to recover the remains of more than 12,000 Japanese soldiers. The soldiers went missing during the war. Mr. Kan prayed at a place where 20 bodies were recovered Tuesday. He promised to examine every grain of sand until as many bodies as possible are found.[10] And South African President Jacob Zuma is taking legal action against a newspaper cartoon that he says insulted him. The Sunday Times published the cartoon in 2008. That was two years before he became president. The South African leader says the newspaper’s picture damaged his public image. Jacob Zuma was found not guilty of rape in 2006. Two years later, a judge dismissed corruption charges against him.And now briefly, here again is the major news of the hour in Special English. South Korea says it is studying reports that North Korea may have more than one uranium enrichment center. Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said Tuesday that the South Korean government has been following the issue in his words “for some time”. In Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has won a vote of support in both the Senate and the lower house of parliament. And officials from around the world are praising the work of American diplomat Richard Holbrooke who died on Monday in Washington. At the time of his death, he was President Obama’s special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan. That’s the news in Special English.。
