In Brief

* NUCLEAR – North Korea is refusing to show up for six-party talks on its nuclear weapons programs in Beijing this week and the other nations have accepted there will be a delay, a South Korean official said.

* BANNED – Acting in response to a series of civil aviation disasters, France published a list of five airlines banned in its airspace for safety reasons. * WARNED – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has warned he will lodge a complaint against the United States at the United Nations and other international bodies if the US government fails to act against television evangelist Pat Robertson, who has called for Chavez’s assassination.* RIGHTS – Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, is due in China to push Beijing to ratify the UN Convention on Civil and Political Rights, but activists see little reason for optimism.* IMMIGRATION – A 10-year-old Iranian boy launched a landmark legal action against the Australian government, with his lawyers arguing he was psychologically damaged by living in immigration detention camps for more than a year.* BLAST – Philippine President Gloria Arroyo ordered security forces to “hunt down” the perpetrators of Sunday’s ferry bomb blast that injured 30 people, many of them children.* AMNESTY – Vietnam will release 21 foreigners, including four US nationals, among more than 10,000 prisoners to be amnestied on its 60th national day on Friday, said vice-foreign minister Le Van Bang.* GRAFT – A district tribunal indicted Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s son Omri in connection with a corruption probe into the funding of his father’s leadership campaign.* UNITY – The Sudanese regime and its former southern foes were engaged in intense discussions over the line-up of a national unity government, with both sides vying for the crucial oil portfolio.- Nampa-AFP* WARNED – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has warned he will lodge a complaint against the United States at the United Nations and other international bodies if the US government fails to act against television evangelist Pat Robertson, who has called for Chavez’s assassination.* RIGHTS – Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, is due in China to push Beijing to ratify the UN Convention on Civil and Political Rights, but activists see little reason for optimism.* IMMIGRATION – A 10-year-old Iranian boy launched a landmark legal action against the Australian government, with his lawyers arguing he was psychologically damaged by living in immigration detention camps for more than a year.* BLAST – Philippine President Gloria Arroyo ordered security forces to “hunt down” the perpetrators of Sunday’s ferry bomb blast that injured 30 people, many of them children.* AMNESTY – Vietnam will release 21 foreigners, including four US nationals, among more than 10,000 prisoners to be amnestied on its 60th national day on Friday, said vice-foreign minister Le Van Bang.* GRAFT – A district tribunal indicted Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s son Omri in connection with a corruption probe into the funding of his father’s leadership campaign.* UNITY – The Sudanese regime and its former southern foes were engaged in intense discussions over the line-up of a national unity government, with both sides vying for the crucial oil portfolio.- Nampa-AFP