World Report
Annan pressures donors for N Korea aid
UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan
UNITED NATIONS, (AFP) - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will step up efforts to persuade donors to keep humanitarian aid flowing to North Korea despite the crisis over its nuclear programme, his special envoy said Wednesday.
"The pipeline that something like six to eight million people in North Korea have been depending on is drying up," envoy Maurice Strong told reporters.
"There is an urgent need to keep that pipeline going," he said, noting that the United Nations' World Food Programme needed 97,000 tonnes of food in the first quarter of the year.
A consolidated appeal by UN agencies for
250 million dollars to cover North Korea's needs for the rest
of the year had meet "a meagre response", amounting
to only 10 million dollars from the European Union, Strong said.
US airlines to stay cut costs
WASHINGTON, (AFP) - Battered US airlines -- including world number-one American Airlines -- reported massive losses in 2002 and vowed to jettison costs in a battle to stay in the air.
Still reeling from the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, hijacked airliner attacks on the United States, the top carriers took a pounding in the injured market.
Only budget carrier Southwest Airlines made
money, reporting the 30th consecutive year of profits, and even
it took a hit as the industry endured its worst year in history.