World

VIP Visits Slow Aid

Ray Turner - Jan 8, 2005 / 11:12 am | Story: 6321

Relief workers say a flood of foreign dignitaries is clogging the airport in Indonesia's Aceh province and slowing the distribution of aid to tsunami victims.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell were among those who stopped in Banda Aceh this week.

Their heavy security temporarily shut down the city's only airport and prevented incoming aid planes from landing.

Officials say these VIP visits help secure foreign aid for the region.Full story
Militants abducted three senior Iraqi officials, beheaded an Iraqi who worked for the U.S. military and killed at least four other people Saturday, a day after a U.S. general warned that the insurgents may be planning "spectacular" attacks to scare votersin the three weeks before Iraq's landmark elections. Meanwhile, Shiite and Sunni religious leaders voiced sharply divergent views on whether the vote should be held at all.Full story
Palestinians go to the polls Sunday to elect a new president in a vote some believe could signal the beginning of a new era in Middle East politics. Some Israelis, however, say they're confused by what they see as missed messages from frontrunner Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen.Full story
Rosemary Kennedy, the oldest sister of the late U.S. president John Kennedy and the inspiration for the Special Olympics, died Friday. She was 86.Full story