News in Brief

Putin signs decree to rehabilitate Crimean Tatars
Afp, Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday he had signed a decree rehabilitating Crimea's Tatars, an ethnic group accused of collaborating with Nazi Germany and exiled under Stalin.
Crimea's 300,000 Tatars, who make up around 12 percent of the population, largely boycotted a disputed referendum last month in which nearly 97 percent of voters chose to split from Ukraine and join Russia. The decree is seen is an attempt to win the sympathies of Tatars, who view the Kremlin with distrust and are seeking a quota system to ensure power sharing in the local government.

Russia to create gambling zone in Crimea
Afp, Moscow

President Vladimir Putin yesterday submitted a bill to parliament that would turn Crimea into a legal gambling zone as Russia seeks ways to lift the Black Sea peninsula out of poverty.
Russia has only four official government zones where gambling is legal. Crimea, which was annexed by Russia last month amid international condemnation, would be the fifth such zone.

India's SC lifts ore mining ban in Goa state
Afp, New Delhi

India's top court yesterday lifted an 18-month ban on iron ore mining in the state of Goa, which had been imposed over allegedly corrupt practices that were harming the environment.
But the Supreme Court imposed several conditions on the resumption of mining in the western state, including setting a cap of 20 million tonnes per year on the amount of ore that can be mined.

Taiwan premier rejects call to scrap nuclear plant
Afp, Taipei

Taiwan's Premier Jiang Yi-huah yesterday rejected a call from the main opposition party to scrap a nearly completed nuclear power plant, despite planned protests including a hunger strike.
"It would be difficult to stop the construction of the fourth nuclear power plant simply by issuing an administrative order," Jiang told reporters after a closed-door discussion with Su Tseng-chang, chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party.

All aboard! Sudan's sleek new train a rarity
Afp, Khartoum

In a dilapidated, poverty-stricken country where some railway rolling stock is more than 40 years old, Sudan's sleek, sharp-nosed Nile Train is an unusual sight. From a distance it looks like a large white snake gliding past fields of green near the Nile River north of Khartoum.
On January 20 the train began daily passenger service -- Sudan's first in years -- as part of efforts to revive the railway system despite an economic crisis that has left the country ravaged by inflation and starving for hard currency.