WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday she is cautiously optimistic that it may be possible to begin carrying out a September 2005 agreement on ending North Korea's nuclear programs. "I think there may be -- I am cautiously optimistic that we may be able to begin, again, to implement the joint statement of 2005 toward the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," Rice told a congressional panel.
A boy looks back as he crosses a bridge over the Nu River, also known as the Salween River, some 60 km (37 miles) south to Gongshan southwest China's Yunnan province March 1, 2007. The Nu River is Asia's last free-flowing international river and home to 7,000 species of plants and 80 rare or endangered animals and fish in China. According to the initial plan for hydro-electric dams at the Nu River, which was suspended by Premier Wen Jiabao in April 2004, some 50,000 people would have had to relocate due to the dams. Despite the suspension, infrastructure for hydro-electric dams can be seen on the river.
