■ Afghanistan
Taliban prisoners escape
Up to 30 Taliban prisoners have escaped from jail in the volatile southern Afghan city of Kandahar, security personnel said yesterday. "I can confirm that 20 Taliban have escaped," said an intelligence official, who did not want to be identified. A guard at the jail told reporters 30 prisoners had escaped. The breakout took place on Friday night. General Salem, head of security in Kandahar, confirmed there had been an escape, but said he did not know exactly how many prisoners had got away. He declined to say how the prisoners had escaped and said the incident was under investigation.
■ Nepal
Maoist rebels attack police
At least 50 Maoist rebels and seven policemen were killed during a fierce clash in western Nepal, police said yesterday. Police said at least 600 rebels attacked a police post late Friday in the village of Khas-Kusum in western Nepal's Banke district where the fighting continued until yesterday morning. It was one of the biggest clashes since the guerrillas withdrew from a seven-month ceasefire in August. "The bodies of 50 rebels have been recovered but many others were carried away by the insurgents themselves," a police officer said.
■ Hong Kong
Harbor activist threatened
The head of a Hong Kong conservation group that took the government to court over a massive reclamation project in the city's harbor said yesterday he had stepped down after receiving personal threats. "They were threats directed at my family, in particular at my old mother. They were very serious threats," said Winston Chu of the Society for Protection of the Harbour Ltd. Chu, who had headed the group for eight years, has spearheaded efforts to block a reclamation project in the busy Central business district which critics say will destroy Hong Kong's famous Victoria Harbor.
■ Hong Kong
Anger over no Stones
Hong Kong lawmakers accused the government of false advertising yesterday, a day after it was revealed that the Rolling Stones would not perform in an official post-SARS concert series as had been announced. Organizers had earlier said the British band had committed to play on two November dates -- part of a government-sponsored concert festival to help Hong Kong refurbish its SARS-battered image. But it was revealed on Friday that the band never signed a deal and negotiations had collapsed. "The Stones was your ace card. How could you go around touting the band without a contract in hand?" independent legislator Audrey Eu asked.
■ Vietnam
Mobile phone burns man
A man was burned by a Nokia mobile phone in Vietnam, three days after another Nokia phone exploded and injured a woman in southern Vietnam, state-run media reported yesterday. Nguyen Van Linh was playing billiards in the central city of Danang when he felt something hot in his pants pocket. The Nokia 8250 model was too hot to hold, Lao Dong newspaper reported. Linh was forced to remove his trousers and when he smashed the phone with a billiard cue to remove the sim card the battery was smouldering, the newspaper said. On Wednesday, a woman in Ho Chi Minh City was injured when her Nokia 8210 exploded as she was eating breakfast in a hospital canteen, a news Web site reported. A counterfeit battery was thought to be the cause of the explosion.
■ Syria
Damascus to defend itself
Syria reserves the right to retaliate "by all means at its disposal" against any attack by Israel, the country's foreign ministry spokesman said yesterday, a week after an Israeli air strike on a target near Damascus. "Syria reserves the right to retaliate by all means at its disposal," Bushra Kanafani told a press conference at the foreign ministry. "The right to self defense is recognized by all states," he added. Last Sunday, Israel launched an air strike on a suspected military training camp for Palestinian mili-tants near Damascus.
■ Mexico
President's party fined
The party of Mexican Presi-dent Vicente Fox, the con-servative National Action Party (PAN), has been fined about US$32 million for exceeding spending limits during the campaign to get him elected. The Federal Electoral Institute, voted on Friday to impose the fine. The institute also voted to fine the Green Party (PVEM), which backed Fox's campaign, about U$16.3 million. The PAN and the PVEM are accused of not reporting campaign contributions and of exceeding contribution limits. The parties are expected to appeal the ruling.
■ Netherlands
Prince renounces rights
Prince Johan Friso, the second son of Queen Beatrix, relinquished his claim to the throne on Friday to marry a human-rights activist embroiled in controversy over her former relationship with a gangster. Johan Friso, 35, a London-based banker, was second in line to throne. His decision came as Prime Minister Jan Peter Balke-nende announced the government couldn't sup-port Mabel Wisse Smit, 35, as a member of the royal family because she had given "incomplete and incorrect information" about her past connections to murdered druglord Klaas Bruinsma. She allegedly had attended overnight parties on Bruinsma's boat.
■ United States
Limbaugh admits addiction
Controversial US radio talk jock Rush Limbaugh admit-ted in a nationwide radio broadcast on Friday that he is addicted to prescription pain medication. "Imme-diately following this broadcast, I am checking myself into a treatment center for the next 30 days to once and for all break the hold this highly addictive medication has on me," he said. The admission came a week after US media reported that Limbaugh was under investigation for buying prescription drugs on the black market -- and after he resigned from sports television network ESPN amid a firestorm of controversy for his racial remarks about a black athlete. Limbaugh said he started taking painkillers "some years ago" after unsuccessful spinal surgery to repair herniated discs.
■ South Africa
Lions' release set
Six lions will be released into the wild near in Western Cape province within the next two months, 150 years after a hunter shot the last free lion in the region. Three of the lions are four-week-old cubs and two are one-year old. "The three cubs will be released as soon as they are off the bottle and strong enough to care and defend themselves against the two bigger lions," said Searl Derman, the owner of the reserve into which the cats will be released. He said the cats are the closest relative to the extinct "black mane" Cape lion.
■ United Kingdom
Britain pledges aid for Iraq
Britain will pledge £550 million(US$915 million)to the reconstruction of Iraq ahead of a an international donors' conference in Madrid later this month, the Financial Times reported yesterday. International Development Secretary Hilary Benn will announce next week that Britain's total commitment to post-war reconstruction will be £550 million for the three years from April 2003, the paper said. The figure includes £200 million already committed and £300 million to be spent over the next two years. The £300 million includes bilateral funds and Britain's share of proposed EU funding. On Tuesday major donors to Iraq will unveil how they plan to channel aid to Iraq independently of the US-led occupation authority.
■ Switerland
Swiss cows turn mean
Swiss cows have developed a mean streak since being left alone in the wild under a new rearing technique. In a bid to be more environmentally-friendly, farmers are letting their cows roam freely in the countryside with their calves and a lone bull, said Philippe Cossy, a councillor at the Service for the Prevention of Farm Accidents. "Inevitably, the cow rediscovers her basic instincts. She rebuilds self-defense mechanisms and becomes more distrustful and aggressive towards others," he said. There are more and more accidents, Cossy said, adding that those who work with farm animals are invariably the first to feel the wrath of the vindictive cow.
■ Brazil
Christ turns blue
For decades, the Christ the Redeemer statue atop Corcovado mountain has welcomed visitors to Rio de Janeiro with open arms and an appearance as unchanging as his gaze. Now, with the statue set to turn 72, a French artist planned giving him a bit of a makeover -- she wants to turn him sapphire blue. "It's to celebrate this living symbol of the city which embodies faith, openness, hospitality and peace," explains Agnes Winter. "Blue is the color of peace." Over two nights starting yesterday, Winter was to bathe the statue in blue light to celebrate its anniversary today.
■ United Kingdom
Hungry man wins settlement
A 24-year-old man who suffers from a brain tumor that leaves him permanently hungry has received £400,000 (US$680,000) compensation from state health authorities. The Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority said it made the settlement to Daniel Williams after doctors allegedly failed to diagnose the benign tumor, or craniopharyngioma, for seven years. It was finally detected when Williams was 12 and surgeons operated to remove it. However, some parts of the tumor could not be removed. "Daniel needs 24-hour supervision because he's permanently hungry and if left alone he would just eat himself to death," said his mother, Tracey Williams.
■ Germany
Woman lives with 45 cats
A woman was found living with 152 sickly animals, including 51 rabbits and 45 cats in a small high-rise apartment block, authorities said. "It stank like the plague," said Wolfgang Poggendorf of the Hamburg Animal Protection home. Poggendorf said the woman saw herself as a kind of modern Dr Dolittle, hero of Hugh Lofting's popular children's books about an animal-loving country doctor. Animal activists also found caged birds including parrots, pigeons and crows in the 65M2 apartment as well as a sewer rat, a hedgehog and piles of food and animal feces.
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
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
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not