http://192.168.2.6/english/1117/20061117VOA.mp3

It's 15:00 Universal Time and here is the news from the Voice of America.

I'm David Deforest from the VOA news center in Washington.

President Bush has begun a tour of Southeast Asia by pledging that the United States will remain engaged in the region to help boost prosperity and security there.

"America will continue to pursue trade at every level within individual countries across all regions and through the WTO. We ought to remove barriers to trade and investment and by doing so we will help produce property and promote stability and we will give citizens on both sides of Pacific a brighter future."

Mr. Bush delivered a speech at the National University in Singapore today. He said the America's interests depend on what he called the expansion of freedom and opportunity along/ the Pacific ring. He vowed the US engagement in the region will be based on partnership, not interference. Singapore is the US leader's first stop on an 8-day 3-nation tour of the region. Next he will go to Vietnam for the annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Group.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the United States and its partners expect North Korea to return to nuclear disarmament talks only if it is ready to negotiate seriously. VOA's Louis Meris reports from Hanoi where Secretary Rice and diplomats from other nations met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum.

The subject of North Korea's October 9th nuclear test continues to overshadow meetings whose prime purpose is to try to break a deadlock installed world trade negotiations. The United States and its partners in the 6-party North Korea talks have been using the occasion of having 5 of the 6 nations in one place to plan the next round of negotiations which North Korea has agreed to attend after a year long boycott. After one of the meetings here at APEC Thursday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told VOA the United States and other participants in the talks want to be sure that North Korea is ready to deal.

"Everyone is looking forward to the six-party talks, but there is wide-spread agreement that they must this time have a concrete outcome."

US diplomats are due to meet officials from China, the host of the nuclear talks, on Friday to talk about setting a date for them probably in December. Louis Meris VOA news, Hanoi.

Iraqi police say there were several attacks in Baghdad today. In the deadliest incident, 9 people were killed and 2 wounded. When gunmen opened fire on a bakery in eastern Baghdad. 6 people including 2 policemen were killed in other attacks around the Iraqi capital. Meanwhile, the US military says coalition forces killed 9 suspected terrorists and detained 9 others during a raid near the town of Yuserfia, south of Baghdad. Also, a spokesman for Iraq's Higher Education Ministry says kidnappers who seized scores of people from a government building in Baghdad on Tuesday have tortured and killed some of their hostages.

Spain has joined France and Italy to launch a peace initiative for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced the effort today at a summit in Spain with French President Jacque Chirac. He said the initiative includes calling for a prisoner exchange and an immediate ceasefire. Israel today said its soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank. The Israeli army said troops opened fire when they spotted the gunmen at a refugee camp in the city of Nabulus.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country's military forces must be prepared to destroy any potential aggressor, however modern its weapon systems. Mr. Putin spoke today at a meeting with top military officials in Moscow. His remarks reported by Russian news agencies. He is also quoted as saying Russia needs to build new strategic weapon systems that will guarantee the international balance of power.

Germany’s Highest Court of appeal has overturned the orquito of a man tried on charges of accessory to murder in connection with the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. The court today said Mounir Motassadeq , a Moroccan friend of the September 11th hijackers, is indeed guilty of accessory to murder must return to court to receive a new sentence. He now faces up to 15 years in jail. Motassadeq is already serving a 7-year sentence for belonging to a terrorist organization.

The streets of Congo's capital Kinshasa have been tense but mostly calm today after President Joseph K was named the winner of a hotly-contested presidential runoff election. Police and the international peacekeepers are partrolling the city in an effort to prevent clashes between supporters of President K and its......