EAST ASIA

STATE DEPT. OFFICIAL PLEADS GUILTY TO MAKING FALSE STATEMENTS

A former top official at the State Department, Donald Keyser, pleaded guilty yesterday to charges that he mishandled classified information and made false statements about his travel and contacts with a Taiwanese intelligence officer.

Keyser, 62, who was the principal assistant deputy secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs before he resigned in 2004, entered the pleas yesterday at a hearing in federal court in Alexandria, Va.

In court papers, Keyser admitted that from 2002 to 2004 he “had an undisclosed personal relationship” with a Taiwanese woman, Isabelle Cheng. Keyser and prosecutors stipulated that Ms. Cheng was a Washington-based intelligence officer for Taiwan’s National Intelligence Bureau.

Keyser admitted that in 2003 he deviated from an official trip to Asia in 2003 and met Ms. Cheng in Taipei. The former diplomat conceded that he did not disclose the trip to his superiors. He also admitted to keeping “top secret” documents at his home without permission.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

SOUTH ASIA

LAWMAKERS FILMED TAKING CASH IN INDIAN TV STING

Eleven Indian lawmakers have been suspended after apparently being caught on hidden cameras accepting cash to ask questions in Parliament.

In a sting operation by a television news channel, the politicians, from various parties, were filmed watching as envelopes stuffed with cash were handed over.

The Aaj Tak channel staged the latest in a series of undercover reports exposing the petty corruption that permeates all areas of Indian public life. It set up a bogus lobbying group representing small businesses in north India and filmed the lawmakers apparently accepting payments to ask questions.

– The Daily Telegraph

WESTERN EUROPE

FIREFIGHTERS BATTLE OIL DEPOT BLAZE

HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, England – Fears that one tank could contain highly volatile fuel forced firefighters to briefly halt their battle yesterday against a blaze raging at an oil depot that has spewed smoke as far away as France and caused jitters on the global oil market.

Authorities said they believe the explosion Sunday at the Buncefield depot north of London was an accident, but will examine other possible causes, including terrorism.

The 150 firefighters fighting the blaze with torrents of chemical foam withdrew at 3 p.m. after extinguishing flames in 12 of the 20 tanks that were initially ablaze, Chief Fire Officer Roy Wilsher said. Five hours later, his office said firefighters had resumed work after determining that the fuel in the tank was not as volatile as feared.

– Associated Press

OCEANIA

VIOLENCE BREAKS OUT FOR SECOND NIGHT

SYDNEY, Australia – Violence spilled into a second night yesterday as scores of youths drove through predominantly white suburbs of Sydney, smashing windows of cars, homes, and stores and raising fears of spreading racial unrest. Prime Minister Howard called the violence “sickening,” but denied it was rooted in racism. Arab community leaders said the unrest would heighten racial tensions as cell phone text messages warned of retribution by the Arab community and attacks by neo-Nazi groups.

About 5,000 white men, many of them drunk, targeted people believed to be of Arab or Middle Eastern descent on Cronulla Beach on Sunday after rumors spread that Lebanese youths assaults two lifeguards earlier this month.

Police, who stepped up patrols on the beach after learning of cell phone text messages urging people to retaliate for the attack on the lifeguards, fought back with batons and pepper spray. Young men of Arab descent struck back in several Sydney suburbs Sunday, fighting with police for hours and smashing dozens of cars with sticks and bats, police said.

– Associated Press