UNITED NATIONS

New draft of arms trade regulations closes loopholes

A revised draft of a new U.N. treaty to regulate the multibillion dollar global arms trade raised hopes from supporters and the British government, which has been the leading proponent, that an historic agreement could be reached by Friday’s deadline for action.

The draft circulated late Thursday closed several loopholes in the original text, though the Washington-based Arms Control Association said further improvements are still needed to strengthen measures against illicit arms transfers.

A spokesman for Britain’s U.N. Mission, speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the new text is “a substantial improvement.”

Opponents in the U.S., especially the powerful National Rifle Association, have portrayed the treaty as a surrender of gun ownership rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. The issue of gun control, always politically explosive one for American politicians, has re-emerged since last week’s shooting at a Colorado cinema killed 12 people

In Washington, a bipartisan group of 51 senators on Thursday threatened to oppose the treaty if it falls short in protecting Americans’ constitutional right to bear arms.

BEIJING

Wife of disgrace politician charged with murder

Gu Kailai, the wife of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai, and one of her aides were formally charged with the murder of a British businessman, the official New China News Agency reported Thursday.

Gu and her aide, Zhang Xiaojun, were arrested in April on suspicion of poisoning Neil Heywood, an expatriate in China with business ties to the Bo family.

The news agency reported that Gu was concerned about threats by Heywood against her son, who was not fully named in the report but is thought to be Bo Guagua, a recent graduate of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

“Worrying about Neil Heywood’s threat to her son’s personal security, (Gu) Kailai along with Zhang Xiaojun, the other defendant, poisoned Neil Heywood to death,” the report said.

The scandal over Gu’s alleged role in Heywood’s homicide and Bo’s ouster has roiled the ruling Communist Party, which is scheduled to embark on a once-in-a-decade leadership transition later this year.

Bo, the former party chief of Chongqing, previously had been pegged for one of the country’s top nine positions. But the charismatic leader’s career unraveled earlier this year when his police chief tried to seek political asylum in a U.S. consulate.

— From news service reports