GUANGZHOU, China

Canadian prime minister raises human rights issue

Canada wants to sell more oil to China but won’t shy away from raising the issue of human rights as economic ties between the two strengthen, the Canadian prime minister said Friday.

Stephen Harper said Canada has “abundant supplies of virtually every form of energy” and will sell to whomever wants to buy. “It’s that simple,” he said.

Harper said Canada wants to diversify its energy sales away from the United States, a major theme of his visit to energy-hungry China.

But he added that “in relations between China and Canada, you should expect us to continue to raise issues of fundamental freedoms and human rights.”

BEIJING

Dissident writer sentenced to seven years for poem

A Chinese court has sentenced a dissident writer to seven years in prison over a poem he wrote urging his countrymen to gather at a public square, a human rights group said Friday.

The hefty sentence comes ahead of next week’s visit to the United States by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping — widely expected to be China’s next leader — where he is likely to face questions on human rights.

The U.S. government Friday voiced deep concern over Zhu Yufu’s reported sentencing and the recent convictions of three other dissidents who have received nine- and 10-year prison terms for subversion or inciting subversion over the last few months. 

ROME

Seas increase movements of crippled cruise ship

Italian officials say rough seas have increased movements of the crippled Costa Concordia and are thwarting the start of fuel removal a month after the cruise ship capsized off a Tuscan island.

The national office overseeing search and anti-pollution operations said Friday that instruments registered increased and faster movements of the ship, which is resting on its side just outside Giglio island’s port. But they said the movements have since slowed down. If the ship keeps shifting, it could drop down onto deeper seabed, complicating plans to remove fuel.

At least 17 people died in the incident and 15 are missing.

BUCHAREST, Romania

Shippers losing millions because of ice in Danube

European shippers say they are losing millions because a lengthy stretch of the Danube is stuck in the longest freeze in recent memory.

Huge chunks of ice floated down the middle of the Danube on Friday in southern Romania while water close to the banks remained iced over, with barges, boats and ships tangled in a wintry web.

The river began to ice over in early February as temperatures plunged to minus 4 Fahrenheit. By Friday, ice had halted shipping on 440 miles of the Danube in Romania.

— From news service reports