■ United KingdomIdentity cards to be tested
Thousands of Britons will carry identity cards for the first time since the 1950s next week in a a trial that is seen as central to countering the threat of terror attacks, the BBC reported yesterday. The pilot will involve 10,000 volunteers and could pave the way for compulsory identity cards for everyone in Britain within a decade, BBC TV said. Home Secretary David Blunkett's office would only say he would announce details of draft laws for the launch of an identity card scheme tomorrow.
■ Tajikistan
Russian guard in drug bust
A Russian border guard has been arrested in Tajikistan with 8kg of heroin, police said yesterday. "Artyem Kovalyev, 24, was stopped in the west of the Tajik capital Dushanbe," a spokesperson for the interior ministry said. "Traffic police found several plastic bags with heroin in his car." Police suspect that Kovalyev intended to sell the heroin. Some 11,000 Russian soldiers help patrol Tajikistan's 1,340km border with Afghanistan. Last year two Russian soldiers received 18-year prison sentences after they were found guilty of possession of 19kg of heroin.
■ United States
Kerry defends abortion
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry vowed on Friday to champion abortion rights if elected, even as the Vatican signaled its disapproval of the position of the senator, who is a Roman Catholic. Addressing hundreds of abortion rights supporters at a rally, Kerry attacked US President George W. Bush for trying to pack the courts with what the Massachusetts senator described as ideologically motivated judges who would try to undermine abortion rights. "I believe that in the year 2004, we deserve a president who understands that a stronger America is where women's rights are just that -- rights, not political weapons to be used by politicians of this nation," Kerry said.
■ Iraq
Troop request likely
The top US commander in the Middle East suggested he was likely to ask for another extension to current troop levels in Iraq, now at 135,000, and might ask for more troops beyond that, the New York Times reported yesterday. The newspaper said Central Command head General John Abizaid had made clear in an interview that the security situation was liable to worsen as the June 30 deadline for handing over sovereignty to Iraq approached. The general cited the likelihood of new insurgent attacks against US troops and expressed doubt about the current reliability of Iraqi security forces, the report said.
■ United States
Where's the roast beef?
A couple on a low-carb diet were kicked out of a buffet restaurant after the manager said they'd eaten too much roast beef. Sui Amaama who with his wife had been on the Atkins Diet for two weeks, was asked to leave after he went up to the buffet at the Chuck-A-Rama in suburban Taylorsville, Utah, for his 12th slice of roast beef. "It's so embarrassing actually," said Isabelle Leota, Amaama's wife. "We went in to have dinner, we were under the impression Chuck-A-Rama was an all-you-can-eat establishment." Not so, said Jack Johanson, the restaurant chain's district manager. "We've never claimed to be an all-you-can-eat establishment. Our understanding is a buffet is just a style of eating," he said.
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