■ Sri Lanka
Truce anniversary subdued
Sri Lanka's warring parties yesterday marked the second anniversary of their truce, but celebrations were subdued because of fears the country could be on the verge of slipping back to war. Military officials said there were no festivities marking the ceasefire in the embattled northern and eastern regions, unlike last year when there was a mood of celebration. The official Web sites of Tamil Tigers and the government handling the peace process barely made a mention of the anniversary of the Norwegian-brokered ceasefire that has been in place since Feb. 23, 2002. In the capital Colombo, non-governmental organizations united to stage a candlelight vigil to mark the anniversary and urge the two sides to resume peace negotiations stalled since last April.
■ Indonesia
President says West unfair
The country's president yesterday slammed the US-led invasion of Iraq and France's plan to ban Islamic headscarves in secular schools as examples of what she called Western countries' "exceptional injustice" toward Muslims. President Megawati Sukanoputri was speaking at the launch of a three-day International Conference of Islamic Scholars in Jakarta, where leaders from various religions were discussing relations between Islam and other faiths. "An exceptional injustice is apparent in the attitude and actions of big countries toward countries with major Muslim popula-tions," Megawati said. Intentional or not, a pattern is emerging, she said.
■ New Zealand
Alcohol tax hurts churches
Priests have been forced to switch to a low-alcohol wine in church services because of a binge drinker's tax, and they complain it does not last long enough. The so-called "sherry tax," targeting heavy-drinking teenagers, was imposed last year. It puts all drinks containing 14 percent to 23 percent alcohol on the same tax rate as full-strength spirits. Mission Estate vineyard, which supplies up to 1,500 cases of altar wine each year to churches, has knocked the alcohol content down by 4 percent to escape the tax and keep the product affordable to churches.
■ Malaysia
Teens lost in jungle
A group of teenagers who were among the first to be called up for national service became lost in the jungle for almost 12 hours and suffered dehydration and exhaustion before being found, officials said. The group were less than a week into a three-month training program -- meant to instill patriotism and build cultural ties -- when they lost their way during a map reading exer-cise in a remote Borneo jungle, said Nik Lah Nik Mat, the director of the trainees' camp. Quoted yesterday by The Star newspaper, Nik Lah said the trainees were put on intra-venous drips to rehydrate them after being found, then were taken to hospital where "they were given outpatient treatment."
■ China
Miners killed by blast
A gas explosion in a north-eastern coal mine killed at least eight miners and trapped 29 others yesterday, and dangerous gases kept rescuers from reaching them, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The cause of the blast at the Baixing Coal Mine in Heilongjiang Province was under investigation, Xinhua said. Eight bodies had been recovered by last night,China Central Television said, adding that most of the gas had been pumped out by nightfall.
■ Colombia
Sixty die in gunbattles
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