Cambodian Leader Warns Westerners

WORRIED by incidents of guerrilla violence, Cambodia's King Norodom Sihanouk advised Westerners against visiting his country.

Yesterday, the government announced that three tourists - a Briton, a Frenchman, and an Australian - had been killed by the Khmer Rouge after they were kidnapped on July 26.

The Khmer Rouge last week kidnapped 71 villagers in a northwest province and executed 50 of them after a four-day forced march, a provincial official said yesterday.

The villagers from Kdol Tahen had gone into the jungle to cut bamboo when they were abducted on Oct. 22 by about 20 guerrillas, Battambang Province Deputy Governor Serey Kosal said.

Japan closes in on key reforms

LANS to overhaul Japan's electoral system advanced one step closer to becoming law yesterday as parliament's lower house quietly approved three political-reform bills.

The package includes the first fundamental changes since 1925 in the way Japan chooses the more powerful lower house. The bills are expected to be passed by the upper house this month.