■ India
Six killed in Kashmir
At least six people, including four civilians, were killed Saturday in a spurt of rebel violence in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said. Unidentified gunmen barged into a villager's house in Mawar and opened fire, killing Sarwa Begum, 55, and her daughter, Fareeda Bano, 22, a police officer said on condition of anonymity. Mawar is a remote village, 95km north of Srinagar, the summer capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state. In a separate pre-dawn raid on a house in Srinagar, paramilitary soldiers and police killed a militant, police officer Javed Ahmad said. Police identified the slain rebel as Bilal Ansari of Hezb-ul-Mujahedeen, the largest Kashmiri rebel group.
■ Myanmar
One fifth of soldiers are kids
A human rights group has urged Myanmar's military government to immediately discharge child soldiers from its army after a UN panel found that the practice was widespread there in violation of international laws. New York-based Human Rights Watch said 20 percent or more of Myanmar's soldiers on active duty are under the age of 18. Myanmar has an estimated 350,000 soldiers in its national army, making it the biggest army of child soldiers in the world, according to Human Rights Watch and other groups. "Burma's use of children as soldiers is unacceptable," Jo Becker of Human Rights Watch said in a statement received yesterday. On Friday, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child said it was "extremely concerned" at the use of children as soldiers by both the government and armed ethnic opposition groups in Myanmar in violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
■ Indonesia
More violence in Aceh
Suspected separatist rebels in Indonesia's restive Aceh province have shot dead three people and injured two other civilians, the military said yesterday. The first victim, the daughter of a hamlet chief in the Krueng Jangko area of Pidie district, was killed on Thursday night, said Lieutenant Colonel Abdul Rochim Siregar, a local military chief. He said Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels were suspected of carrying out the attack, which also wounded a two-month-old infant and a 14-year-old boy. The attack was carried out because the rebels failed to extort money from the hamlet chief, who had been away at the time. Rebels also shot dead a 45-year-old hamlet chief in a nearby area of Krueng Njong, while guerillas killed a neighborhood security guard on Thursday.
■ Thailand
Less gay TV, ministry orders
Thailand's Culture Ministry plans to ask television stations to cut down on images portraying homosexuals because of worries they might promote "deviant behavior" among children, a news report said yesterday. Dr. Kla Somtrakul, deputy permanent secretary for culture, was quoted by The Nation newspaper as saying that the request would be made in a letter to TV stations next week. He said he was worried the portrayal of homosexual behavior could cross the line into obscenity. "Many parents told me that they are worried that their children would have sexually deviant behavior after viewing such behavior on TV," he said.
Since it took office in 2001, the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has waged a war on perceived vices, including teen sex, late-night entertainment and illegal drugs.
■ Russia
Bomb kills nine at market
A bomb at a crowded open-air market in southern Russia killed nine people and wounded more than 30 on Friday, news agencies said. Initial reports from the Volga River city of Samara said oxygen canisters had exploded in the market. But experts later concluded the blast was caused by a bomb made of 1kg of plastic explosives. It was attached to a market stall by the side of a railway and detonated by a fuse. Chechen rebels have conducted a bombing campaign across Russia but investigators said it was too early to say who was responsible. "Every possibility is considered at this stage, including a commercial dispute among criminal groups," Interfax quoted regional prosecutor Anatoly Yefremov as saying.
■ Guatemala
More women murdered
A 15-year-old girl and an 89-year-old woman became the latest victims in a wave of murders of women in Guatemala that has claimed more than 200 lives this year, police said on Friday. Police said the bodies of three women were found on Friday in different parts of Guatemala. The elderly woman was found dead with signs of having been raped in San Lucas Sacatepequez, 40km west of Guatemala City. The body of the 15-year-old was found in a suburban area of the capital, and the third victim, whose age was not given, was found in the town of San Miguel Petapa, about 20km to the south. In 2003, 360 cases of murdered women were reported.
■ Colombia
Baby stolen from womb
A Colombian baby was stolen from an eight-month pregnant mother's womb, after she was drugged by a stranger and given a Cesarian section, police and the victim said Friday. The baby was returned to the mother after a suspect was arrested, police said. The victim said she was approached by a woman who offered clothes for her unborn baby and gave her something to drink. "I drank it and I felt my eyes getting heavy," the victim said. She woke up in a wooded area near the town of Girardot, 150km southwest of Bogota. "When I touched my stomach ... the baby was not there," she said.
■ France
Stabbing at synagogue
A man crying "God is great" stabbed a Jewish teenager in the chest on Friday, seriously injuring the victim, officials said. It was the second violent attack in a week on a young Jewish man. The 17-year-old victim, who was not identified by name, was attacked about 4pm as he left a Jewish school in Epinay-sur-Seine, officials of the local prefecture said. The victim was transferred to a hospital, and the attacker fled the scene. Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin visited the site.
■ Great Britain
Rock festival goes luxury
A British rock music festival this weekend is offering something new along with the ear bleedingly-loud bands -- good catering and hot showers. For decades, fans attending such events have endured primitive camping conditions and toilet facilities which would likely prompt UN intervention if experienced elsewhere as an occupational hazard. However, the two-day Download festival at Donnington, central England, beginning yesterday, is offering a luxury option. For a hefty US$370 fans can upgrade to a VIP ticket, which brings them unheard-of luxuries such as a designated camping site, hot showers, proper toilets and access to good food.
■ United States
Man kills baby in mall
A man stabbed five people at a suburban Chicago strip mall, killing a one-year-old girl, before a bystander clubbed him over the head with a flashlight and restrained him until police arrived, authorities said. Brett Carlson, 26, was charged with murder on Friday and four counts of attempted murder and attempted robbery, Cook County State's Attorney spokeswoman Marcy Jensen said. Authorities said Carlson had earlier set fire to the house he shared with his mother before Thursday's rampage, but no one was seriously injured. The attack seemed to be random, police said.
■ Colombia
Rebels propose ceasefire
Colombia's second largest rebel army proposed a bilateral ceasefire, amnesty for political prisoners and other measures it said on Friday could allow for future peace talks with the government. Speaking in Congress under heavy guard, the spokesman of the National Liberation Army, or ELN, also appeared to accept Mexico's offer to monitor negotiations aimed at ending the 5,000-member group's participation in a 40-year war. "We understand that there have been so many years of pain and anguish because of this conflict, and that the chance of dialogue can raise hopes," said senior ELN guerrilla, Francisco Galan.
■ United States
Soldier faces investigation
The US Army has opened a criminal investigation against a US soldier who fatally shot at close range an Iraqi man who already was grievously wounded in a vehicle after a high-speed chase near the city of Kufa, US Central Command said on Friday. The Army Criminal Investigation Command will look into whether the US soldier, from the 1st Armored Division, shot the Iraqi in the May 21 incident to try to end the man's suffering from serious wounds, officials said. One official said soldiers "don't get to make those kinds of decisions," and Central Command called the incident "a potential violation of US rules of engagement."
■ Mexico
Assassination attempt faked
A reported assassination attempt in March that left a Mexican state governor in the hospital was a hoax, and the governor is accused of hiding the facts, the attorney general's office said on Friday. Records show that a policeman died from bullet wounds as a result of the incident and most of the bullets came from the gun of the governor's bodyguard, the prosecutor's office said. Oaxaca Governor Jose Murat, who said he came under fire on March 18 as he drove to a breakfast meeting in the state capital, may have covered up the facts, deputy prosecutor Gilberto Higuera said.
■ United States
Prosecutors question Cheney
US Vice President Richard Cheney has been interviewed by federal prosecutors who asked whether he knew of anyone at the White House who had improperly disclosed the identity of an undercover CIA officer, The New York Times reported yesterday. Citing unnamed people involved in the case, the newspaper said Cheney was also asked about conversations with senior aides, including his chief of staff, Lewis Libby. Cheney was also asked whether he knew of any concerted effort by White House aides to name the officer, according to the report. The controversy goes back to July 2003, when conservative newspaper columnist Robert Novak disclosed the name of CIA undercover officer Valerie Plame, the wife of former ambassador Joseph Wilson.
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
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
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