■Pakistan
Two charged with murder
An anti-terrorism court yesterday sentenced two Islamic militants to death after finding them guilty of stage-managing a suicide car bombing that killed 11 French engineers in southern Karachi last year, Prosecutor Maula Bakhsh Bhatti said. The sentence against Asif Zaheer and Bashir Ahmed, both members of Harakat-ul Mujahedeen al Almi, an outlawed Islamic militant group, was handed down in a heavily fortified jail in Karachi. The trial began in April 2003 and was located inside the Karachi Jail compound for security reasons. The death sentence was handed down on the charge of terrorism. The two men were also found guilty of a second charge of conspiring to kill foreign nationals and sentenced to life in prison on that charge. It's not known whether the men would be hanged or allowed to spend their life in jail.
■ Hong Kong
Firing blamed on being gay
A flight attendant claims he has been sacked from his job with Dragonair after his employers found out he was gay, a news report said yesterday. The 26-year-old, who asked not to be named, was dismissed days after being promoted to flight purser and told he was "not suitable for the job," according to the South China Morning Post. He claims he had earlier been told by an administrator that it was "okay to be gay" but had been urged to keep a low profile about his sexuality, the newspaper said. His case has now been taken up by action group Civil Rights for Sexual Diversities, which wants Dragonair to issue an explanation over the flight attendant's dismissal. Dragonair declined to comment on the allegations, saying it would not comment on cases involving individual members of staff.
■ Australia
Pacific nations back plan
The 16 nations of the Pacific Islands Forum announced yesterday they have unanimously backed intervention by an Australian-led multinational force of police and troops to restore law and order in the violence-racked Solomon Islands.
■ Thailand
Exiles face deportation
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday threatened to deport Myanmar exiles who stage protests in Thailand against the military government in their country. Thaksin said the Myanmar dissidents are becoming a national security problem and will not be allowed to demonstrate outside the refugee camps where they are registered. Myanmar refugees in Thailand have become more vocal in recent weeks, protesting against the detention since May 30 of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi by the junta.
■ China
Clayderman soothes litigants
A court in Beijing is playing Richard Clayderman songs as background music to sooth the tempers of litigants during trials, a news report said yesterday. Chaoyang District Court decided to use the music of the 49-year-old French pianist, famous for his easy listening style, as a way of trying to defuse tensions in trials, according to the South China Morning Post. The court has paid 200 yuan (US$24) to China's copyright association to allow it to play Clayderman's songs inside public court rooms, the newspaper said. Clayderman, born Philippe Pages in December 1953, has recorded over 1,000 songs in a career spanning 30 years and has sold more than 70 million records. He has played concerts in China.
■Nigeria
Police disperse protesters
Police fired teargas and live rounds in Nigeria's biggest city of Lagos and the inland capital Abuja yesterday to disperse protesters at the start of a general strike over fuel prices, witnesses said. "Protesters have made bonfires on the streets. The police have moved in and are firing teargas to disperse the people," a resident of Abuja's Area 1 district said. Police were firing live rounds in the air to disperse a large group chanting anti-government slogans around burning tyres in the middle of a major street. Pickets of the umbrella Nigeria Labour Congress used buses to block the two main entrances to Abuja's federal secretariat complex.
■ Malawi
Muslims attack Christians
Police and army units were deployed across Malawi on Sunday to restore order after Muslim crowds attacked Christian and western targets in protest at the deportation of five Muslim men said to be suspects from the terror network al-Qaeda. The government breached a high court ruling last week by spiriting the men into US custody, apparently after heavy pressure from Washington. Several Christian churches and the office of an American charity were damaged by mobs on Saturday, prompting the security presence at church services yesterday. At least three people were injured and 13 arrested.
■ United Kingdom
Gays get legal rights
Gays and lesbians in England and Wales would enjoy the same legal rights as married couples under proposals released yesterday by the British government. If adopted by parliament, the reforms will create civil partnerships to give homosexual couples pension and property rights, so long as they sign an official registration document. It would also give next-of-kin rights in hospitals, allow gays to benefit from a deceased partner's pension, and exempt them from inheritance tax on a partner's home. The proposals were backed by Prime Minister Tony Blair and a bill could be introduced into parliament this year.
■ Israel
Sperm saving doesn't work
Couples who abstain from sex in the hope of saving sperm until the woman is at her most fertile are wasting their time, a new study suggests. The research provides the strongest evidence yet that not only is abstaining of no benefit to couples with normal fertility, it can damage the chance of successful conception among couples seeking fertility treatment. A team lead by Eliahu Levitas, a fertility specialist at the IVF unit of Soroka University Medical Centre in Israel, looked at sperm samples from around 6,000 men who had abstained from sex for up to two weeks. Most had normal sperm counts, but roughly a third of their sperm counts were low.
■ Israel
Collapsed building kills 4
A two-storey building collapsed yesterday morning in Tel Aviv, killing at least four people, wounding three and trapping others in the ruins. One of the dead was a five-year old girl, said Moshe Mosco, a spokesman for the fire and rescue service. There were possibly five more people still trapped in the building, and army rescue teams were called in to help freeing those trapped under the rubble. "It is going to take us hours," said Mosco. The army brought in electronic equipment, dogs and heavy machinery in an attempt to find those still trapped. The building collapsed after a gas canister apparently exploded in the building.
Agencies
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia