■ Afghanistan
Constitution becomes law
President Hamid Karzai has signed the post-Taliban Constitution into law, hailing its promise of equal rights in hopes of uniting his splintered nation and ending a reign of violence. Karzai called out a triumphant "Congratulations!" to Afghan leaders who helped draw up the 162-article Constitution and signed a decree making the document the nation's supreme law in a ceremony on Monday. It outlines a tolerant and democratic Islamic republic under a strong presidency, a two-chamber parliament and an independent judiciary. It also recognizes minority language rights and declares men and women equal before the law.
■ Afghanistan
Canadian forces attacked
Three Canadian soldiers were injured in the Afghan capital yesterday in what Afghan police officials said was a suicide attack. General Haroon Asifi, a commander in the Afghan Interior Ministry, said one Canadian was killed, but spokesmen from the NATO-led international security force said they couldn't confirm any deaths. Nine civilians were also hurt. Ali Jan Askaryar, head of police in the western district of Kabul where the blast occurred, said the Canadians were part of a three-vehicle patrol.
■ Australia
Australia Day takes its toll
Dozens of people were hospitalized in the western city of Perth late on Monday as hot temperatures and alcohol took their toll on a celebration of Australia's national day, ambulance staff said. Peter Burton, a spokesman for the ambulance service, said at least 75 people were hospitalized and hundreds more treated by ambulance staff -- mainly as a result of fighting, drinking and high temperatures that reached 34oC. Fights broke out around a fireworks show staged by the city to mark Australia Day which attracted hundreds of thousands of spectators. Police said there were at least two serious brawls in the city and a stabbing.
■ Australia
PM blasts author Greer
Australian Prime Minister John Howard branded feminist author Germaine Greer "elitist" and "condescending" yesterday after she criticized Australians as "too relaxed to give a damn" in a newspaper article. Greer, the acclaimed author of The Female Eunuch, said Australia was drifting into a suburban mediocrity personified by the residents of Ramsay Street -- the fictional location of long-running soap opera Neighbours. "If your ambition is to live on Ramsay Street, where nobody has even been heard to discuss a book or a movie, let alone an international event, then Australia may be the place for you," she wrote in The Australian daily last Thursday.
■ China
Factory disguised as jail
The sign said it was a prison and those inside weren't allowed out. But Chinese police say the building was really something else -- a disguised factory that made counterfeit cigarettes. Investigators who raided the factory in the western city of Meishan found 117 tonnes of tobacco and 565 cartons of cigarettes with 20 brand names, the official Xinhua News Agency said yesterday. "Workers were treated like prisoners, as they were not allowed to go out and had to stay in the `factory' round the clock," the report said.
■ United States
Judge weakens Patriot Act
For the first time, a federal judge has struck down part of the sweeping anti-terrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act, joining other courts that have challenged the Bush administration's campaign against terrorism. In Los Angeles, Judge Audrey B. Collins of US District Court, said in a decision made public on Monday that a provision in the law banning certain types of support for terrorist groups was so vague that it risked contravening the First Amendment. At issue was a provision in the act that expanded previous anti-terrorism law to prohibit anyone from providing "expert advice or assistance" to known terrorist groups. The law could threaten "unequivocally pure speech and advocacy protected by the First Amendment," the judge wrote.
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