■India
Seven rebels battle 1,500
Seven Islamic militants continued to hold more than 1,500 Indian troops at bay yesterday as a marathon gunbattle in the thick jungles of Kashmir stretched into a fourth day. The clash that erupted Tuesday between seven rebels and Indian forces in the dense Kathua forests of southern Indian Kashmir was yesterday described as the longest anti-guerrilla operation in the region's 14-year-old Islamic insurgency. "Our strategy is to wear them out," said Kashmir Police Inspector-General P.L. Gupta. The rebels are forcing a local resident to act as a guide. They were firing from assault rifles and shooting rocket propelled grenades while Indian troops were using machine guns to flush out the seven guerrillas.
■ South Korea
Thieves raid US base
Two thieves smuggled nearly 58,000 crates of beer and 4,000 boxes of wine worth US$1.88 million through a secret tunnel under the high-security perimeter of the US main military base in Seoul, South Korea. The US military is investigating the spectacularly embarrassing security lapse. The two men, referred to only by their surnames -- Lee and Song -- worked at the Yongsan army base. Setting up a cafe -- the U-Turn Espresso Coffee Shop -- just outside the base as a cover for the entrance of the shaft, they dug a 20m passage into the warehouse.
■ Thailand
Police sting prostitutes
Bangkok police have refused to accept criminal complaints from masseuses against undercover police who allegedly had sex with, and then arrested them, in an anti-prostitution sting operation. Colonel Varanvas Karunyathat, the acting chief of police in the Bangkok district of Suthisahn, was quoted by The Nation newspaper as saying officers involved in the operation needed to have sex with the masseuses to gain evidence for their arrest. Police arrested nine masseuses and receptionists on Tuesday night after officers posing as customers allegedly caught the women engaging in prostitution.
■ Thailand
Troops get lucky charms
Thai troops headed for Iraq have been provided with generous life insurance policies and special Buddhist amulets to ward off danger, news reports said yesterday. The first 21 Thai army volunteers departed for Iraq on Thursday, the advance unit of 443 Thai troops to be deployed in Iraq as peacekeepers and rebuilders of the war-ravaged country. At the farewell ceremony at the Royal Thai Air Force airport, military Supreme Commander General Surayud Chulanont presented each of the departing soldiers with a flower garland and an amulet from a respected Buddhist monk.
■ Pakistan
Missing man held by US
The wife of a Pakistani man who disappeared two months ago said on Thursday that she had received a letter from her husband saying he was in American detention in Afghanistan. Saifullah Paracha, who has worked and traveled in the US, had been missing since July 5, when he boarded a flight to Bangkok on a business trip. US federal prosecutors in New York have charged Paracha's 23-year-old son, Uzair, with attempting to help an associate of al-Qaeda obtain travel documents to enter the US. Relatives reacted with anger on Thursday at the news that the elder Paracha was being held in secret American detention at Bagram airbase outside Kabul.
■Greece
Bombs explode in Athens
Two policemen were injured early yesterday when two bombs exploded near court buildings in the Greek capital, Athens. The first bomb exploded on the stairs of the court building at 3am. Two policemen rushed to the scene and were injured when a second device exploded at the entrance of the building 10 minutes later, the Greek press agency ANA reported. Police believe the attacks were committed by sympathizers of the left-wing November 17 terrorist organization. Members of November 17 have murdered 23 diplomats, politicians, publishers, journalists and policemen in Greece since 1975.
■ United States
Depp says he loves America
Denying any anti-American sentiment on his part, actor Johnny Depp said quotes attributed to him as likening the US to a "dumb puppy" were inaccurate and taken out of context. "I am an American. I love my country and have great hopes for it," Depp said in a statement. "It is for this reason that I speak candidly and sometimes critically about it. I have benefited greatly from the freedom that exists in my country and for this I am eternally grateful." Depp responded after the German news magazine Stern published an interview with him. "What I was saying was that, compared to Europe, America is a very young country and we are still growing as a nation."
■ Canada
Canadian eyes NATO-job
Canadian Finance Minister John Manley is weighing his chances of becoming NATO's next Secretary-General and has called US Secretary of State Colin Powell to discuss the idea, diplomatic and political sources said. Sources in Washington and Ottawa said Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien had also made calls to push Manley's case. Manley, 53, is also deputy prime minister. But his chances of staying in either job for long are seen as low, especially given his cool relations with Chretien's likely successor, former finance minister Paul Martin.
■ Israel
Israel hires Arab guards
Israel's international airport is hiring 10 Arab security workers following complaints from an Arab police officer who said he was humiliated by thorough checks of his luggage and identification, an official said. The new Arab workers will be hired immediately at Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, Airport Authority CEO Gabi Ophir told Israel's Channel One TV. Israeli Druse police officer Aazi Sayekh complained publicly about his treatment at the airport last week, alleging discrimination. Israeli airport security workers are on constant alert for possible terror attacks, and travelers often go through a long process of questioning and luggage inspection.
■ Canada
Forest fires blaze again
Forest fires flared anew in western Canada on Thursday, forcing another evacuation of the 3,200 residents of the town of Kelowna in southeastern British Columbia, local officials said. The wind-whipped blaze, which had already blackened 1,700 hectares in 24 hours, spread to another 23,000 hectares and was again threatening the 100,000 residents of the valley city of Okanagan in one of Canada's two major wine-growing regions. That same lightning-sparked blaze destroyed 250 homes in Okanagan 10 days earlier and forced 30,000 residents to flee.
Agencies
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the