HANOI, Vietnam — Thirty-five years after the Vietnam War, a $300 million price tag has been placed on the most contentious legacy still tainting U.S.-Vietnam relations: Agent Orange. A joint panel of U.S. and Vietnamese policymakers, citizens and scientists released an action plan Wednesday, urging the U.S. government and other donors to provide about $30 million annually over 10 years to clean up sites contaminated by dioxin, a toxic chemical used in the defoliant. Funds also would be used to treat Vietnamese suffering from disabilities, including those linked to exposure to Agent Orange, which was dumped by the U.S. military in vast quantities over former South Vietnam to destroy crops and jungle cover shielding communist guerrilla fighters.
Colleges see surge
in new enrollment
WASHINGTON — The nation’s colleges are attracting record numbers of new students as more Hispanics finish high school and young adults opt to pursue a higher education rather than languish in a weak job market. A study released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center highlights the growing diversity in higher education amid debate over the role of race in college admissions and controversy over Arizona’s new ban on ethnic studies in public schools. Newly released government figures show that freshman enrollment surged 6 percent in 2008 to a record 2.6 million, mostly due to rising minority enrollment. That is the highest increase since 1968 during the height of the Vietnam War, when young adults who attended college could avoid the military draft.
French retirement
age will rise to 62
PARIS — The French government abandoned a sacred totem of its generous welfare system Wednesday to combat mounting deficits, announcing that workers soon will no longer have the right to retire at age 60 but will have to wait until they are 62. Labor Minister Eric Woerth, who unveiled a long-debated reform, said the change was made inevitable by Europe’s lengthening life expectancy combined with the global economic crisis and an accumulation of government debt. His ministry has forecast a deficit of nearly $40 billion in the pension program alone this year as more people take payments and retirement taxes shrink because of the slowed economy.
Kyrgyzstan troops
calm ethnic clashes
OSH, Kyrgyzstan — Kyrgyz troops flown into the country’s south fanned out Wednesday across a region ravaged by ethnic riots but avoided Uzbek enclaves where frightened, residents reinforced makeshift barricades. Despite a few bursts of gunfire overnight, the military appeared to succeed in maintaining peace here in Kyrgyzstan’s second-largest city after several days of clashes between Kyrgyz and minority Uzbeks that left hundreds dead. Human rights activists warned the situation was volatile and urged the government to establish a secure corridor to deliver aid to Uzbek districts.
Woman, entourage
busted for drugs
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A California woman traveling with a bodyguard on a private jet was arrested at an Ohio airport with 506 pounds of marijuana stashed in 13 suitcases, federal authorities said. Lisette Lee, the bodyguard and two personal assistants were arrested Monday night after the Drug Enforcement Administration received a tip the 28-year-old woman was traveling on the aircraft with a suspicious amount of luggage. After the chartered plane landed in Columbus, one of Lee’s assistants and her bodyguard helped baggage workers unload some of the luggage, authorities said. It took two men to carry some of the large suitcases, which were packed with bricks of pot, and three vehicles to carry all the luggage, authorities said.
Turkish troops sent
into northern Iraq
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey sent hundreds of elite troops into northern Iraq on Wednesday to chase Kurdish guerrillas in an operation that could increase tension in the region. The soldiers killed four rebels who were fleeing after a failed attack on a Turkish unit near the border, the Turkish military said. It did not say when the troops would withdraw. But private NTV television said the soldiers were on their way home. The military has repeatedly staged assaults against Kurdish rebel bases.
French Riviera
hit by flash floods
DRAGUIGNAN, France — At least 19 people were killed in flash floods that hit the back hills of the French Riviera on Wednesday and turned streets into rivers of surging, muddy water. Authorities said there is confusion about how many people are missing. However, at least 12 people were unaccounted for, an official said on condition of anonymity in keeping with her job’s regulations. Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux, visiting the region, said the death toll “unfortunately, may climb” as the floodwaters recede.
Professor charged
with killing brother
CANTON, Mass. — A biology professor charged with killing three of her colleagues at an Alabama university was indicted Wednesday in the 1986 shooting death of her brother in Massachusetts. Authorities had ruled the shooting of Amy Bishop’s brother was an accident, but they reopened the case after Bishop was charged in February with gunning down six of her colleagues at the University of Alabama-Huntsville, killing three. Bishop, 45, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 18-year-old brother, Seth, Norfolk District Attorney William Keating said. Keating said he did not understand why charges were never brought against Bishop.
— Associated Press, Washington Post
