World/nation briefs

PORTUGAL

E.U. nations agree on Reform Treaty

European Union leaders agreed on a broad treaty to replace their failed European constitution, diplomats meeting in Lisbon said. The deal, dubbed the Reform Treaty, was reported after last-minute concessions to Poland, which won the right for small groups to delay E.U. decisions, and Italy, which wanted parliamentary voting parity with France and Britain.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Bush: Liberia needs debt, malaria relief

President Bush told Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf that the United States was committed to helping relieve debt and fight malaria and that it will soon send Peace Corps teams back to the country. Sirleaf thanked Bush for granting an 18-month extension of the stays of thousands of Liberians living in the United States under temporary protected status.

CHINA

Warning issued after Dalai Lama award

China warned the United States that its honoring of the Dalai Lama "gravely undermined" relations between the countries, demanding that Washington stop supporting the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader and take steps to repair ties. Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Washington's award of the Congressional Gold Medal encouraged Tibetan separatists.

ENGLAND

Rice meets Jordanian king in London

After spending four days shuttling between Israel, Egypt and the West Bank, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew to London for talks with Jordan's King Abdullah. It also was announced that National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley will head to the Middle East next week to keep Israeli-Palestinian talks on track before a U.S.-hosted conference this fall in Annapolis, Md. A U.S. official said Rice would return to the region after Hadley's visit.

THAILAND

Canadian pedophile suspect is arrested

A Canadian teacher who was the subject of an Interpol manhunt for alleged sexual abuse of at least a dozen Asian boys was arrested in northeastern Thailand early today, Thai police said. "Bingo! We've got him," police Maj. Gen. Wimol Powintara said. Christopher Paul Neil, 32, taught in Thailand, South Korea and Vietnam.

Tsongas' widow takes House seat he held

Democrat Niki Tsongas was sworn in to the House seat her late husband Paul Tsongas held in the 1970s. Tsongas, who won a special election, is the first woman to represent Massachusetts in nearly 25 years.

GEORGIA

Thomas unhappy with characterization

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas bristled at the suggestion that he follows the lead of fellow conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. "Obviously, what it's based on is that I'm black," he said in Atlanta to promote his book, "My Grandfather's Son."

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