Print

Mail

wiki links

World News Quick Take

■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
This story has been viewed 2188 times.