■The Philippines
Guerrillas attack battalion
Fifteen soldiers and government militiamen and a civilian were killed when about 200 communist guerrillas attacked a military detachment in a central Philippine town before dawn yesterday, the military said. The attack by the New People's Army on the 52nd Infantry Battalion near the town of Oras in Samar island, about 550km southeast of Manila, was the second major attack launched by the rebels this week, the military said. Military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Lucero said 10 of those slain were soldiers, while five were members of the local civilian militia group helping the government in its anti-insurgency drive.
■ South Korea
Roh to visit China
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun will visit China next month to discuss the standoff over North Korea's suspected development of nuclear weapons, his office said yesterday. During the July 7 to July 10 visit, Roh will meet Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and appeal for Beijing to take a "constructive role" in peacefully resolving the nuclear standoff, the presidential Blue House said in a news release. China has said it wants a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons.
■ Laos
Journalists face trial
Two European journalists detained in Laos will face trial in the north of the country today, their support committee said as Western diplomats prepared to mount a mission to gain access to the detainees. Thomas Renaut, a spokesman for the support committee, said he did not know what charges the Belgian reporter and French cameraman would face. Freelance Belgian reporter Thierry Falise, French cameraman and photographer Vincent Reynaud and Naw Karl Mua, an American pastor of Hmong origin, were arrested on June 4 in Xieng Khuang province, northeast of Vientiane with four Lao nationals.
■ Singapore
Witness collapses in court
An actress collapsed in the witness stand on Wednesday while under cross-examination over her suit against the importer and distributor of Chinese-made diet pills. Andrea De Cruz, 29, was wheeled out of the High Court and taken to Gleneagles Hospital where she was confined for a blood test. Her actor fiance, Pierre Png, was expected to take the stand yesterday as De Cruz would not be appearing in court. She had been cross-examined by one of the defendants' lawyers for more than three hours when she suddenly felt faint and slid back in her seat. The woman is seeking more than S$1 million (US$550,000) in damages from four defendants after "Slim 10" diet pills resulted in liver failure last year.
■ India
Employer humiliates boys
Two teenage boys were stripped and paraded naked in their village, allegedly by their employer, because they asked to be paid on time, it was reported yesterday. Gobinda Mallick, 17, and Ashok Mallick, 16, belong to an economically and socially disadvantaged community. They worked as daily laborers for Tamali Pradhan in Nuagaon village in the eastern state of Orissa, the Asian Age newspaper reported. The boys claimed Pradhan hadn't paid them in more than a year, and decided to stop work until he did. An enraged Pradhan and a friend allegedly dragged the boys out of their home, stripped them naked, and made them walk around the village.
■Canada
Oral sex on stage
The controversy over a play in which two actors will actually have oral sex on stage in British Columbia has yet to subside in the weeks since its playwright announced his desire to challenge Canadian obscenity laws. Vancouver police, who had labeled the performance set to debut yesterday an "immoral theatrical performance," plan to charge the participants with breaking Canada's criminal code. John Ince, a lawyer and self-described sex activist, will hold the shows that can accommodate audiences of up to 35 people at the Art of Loving sex shop and erotic art gallery.
■ United Kingdom
Bush makes dictionary
US President George W. Bush appears to be annexing the English language. The new Collins English Dictionary includes some of his favorite phrases, including regime change, road map, rogue state and sleeper terrorist. President Bush's slippery grip on the language is also celebrated with the inclusion of "Bushism." Al-Qaeda also features for the first time, but Bush cannot be credited for that. There are 5,500 fresh words in the 2003 version, which is the sixth since the millennium edition. The dictionary includes SARS, stealth tax and congestion charging and highlights the impact of Harry Potter with quidditch, the "imaginary game in which players can fly on broomsticks."
■ United Kingdom
Denis Thatcher dead
Sir Denis Thatcher, the husband of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, died yesterday at the age of 88, a spokesman for the family said. He died at London's Lister Hospital, the spokesman said. He underwent coronary bypass surgery in January and had been hospitalized for several weeks. "His family were with him at his bedside when he died," said the spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity. Denis Thatcher married the former Margaret Roberts, 10 years his junior, in 1951, and they had two children. A well-dressed and wealthy man who was always one step behind his wife, Thatcher learned to turn the self-effacing remark into a high art.
■ Malawi
Suspects secretly removed
US authorities secretly flew five men accused of having ties to al-Qaeda out of Malawi, despite a court order barring their deportation, local officials said Wednesday. The men, all foreigners accused of funneling money to Osama bin Laden's terror group, were arrested Sunday night in a joint operation involving the CIA and Malawi's National Intelligence Bureau. Authorities handed the men over to US officials Monday night, said Fahad Assani, Malawi's director of public prosecutions.
■ United States
`Windshield' trial at an end
A Texas medical examiner testified on Wednesday that a homeless man struck by a car and wedged in its windshield bled to death over the course of several hours from injuries that included a nearly amputated leg. Tarrant County Chief Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani testified that Greg Biggs bled to death in the garage of former nurse's aide Chante Mallard, 27, who is standing trial for murdering Biggs by hitting him with her car and leaving him to die while lodged in the windshield. Mallard hit Biggs after a night of drinking and drug use. If convicted of murder, Mallard could get up to life in prison.
Agencies
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