■ Britain
Blair almost resigned
Prime Minister Tony Blair came close to resigning last month and four senior Cabinet ministers inter-vened to persuade him -not to do so, the BBC said yesterday. The BBC named the four officials as Charles Clarke, John Reid, Tessa Jowell and Patricia Hewitt, respectively in charge of education, health, culture and trade and industry. It said the four had separately approached Blair because he was "seriously reviewing" his future after suffering a massive loss in popularity due to his decision to take Britain into the war in Iraq. A spokesman from Blair's office reacted to the BBC report by saying that Blair had always said he would lead the Labour Party into the next general election, expected next year.
PHOTO: AP
■ United Nations
Bosnia mandate extended
The UN Security Council extended the mandate of a NATO-led peacekeeping force in Bosnia for a final six months Friday, in anticipa-tion of the EU taking over its mission by the end of this year. The resolution adopted unanimously by the council authorizes the multinational stabilization force to con-tinue providing security through the end of Decem-ber. The international community has paid for and supervised Bosnia's recovery since the end of a 1992 to 1995 war that gave rise to the term "ethnic cleansing."
■ Spain
Two gored in bull run
Two people, both Spanish, were injured yesterday on the fourth day of the annual running of the bulls festival in Pamplona, medical officials said. The stampede, which lasted just two minutes and 55 seconds, was made even more dan-gerous by the rain which had fallen at dawn and the large number of people taking part. Both the casualties were gored. The nine-day San Fermin fiesta features bullfighting, concerts and the daily run by crowds ahead of the bulls. The ritual has killed 14 people since 1911.
■ Britain
Stiffer fines sought
People who abuse animals face being fined thousands of pounds and a year in jail under tough new laws to be outlined next week, The Times said yesterday. Inspectors working for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals would be given powers to enter premises by force to rescue animals at risk of harm if the tough new laws are passed, the newspaper said. People found guilty of animal mistreatment could be fined up to £20,000 pounds (US$ 37,000), four times the current maximum penalty, the paper said. The proposed legislation would offer protection to creatures including insects, slugs, worms, caterpillars and butterflies. Animal abusers currently face a maximum six months in prison.
■ Italy
Activists indicted
A judge indicted 13 anti-globalization activists on Friday on charges stemming from violent 2001 protests in Genoa and Naples. The 13 are accused of forming an illegal subversive network that aimed to disrupt the government and interna-tional forums. The suspects said authorities were trying to crush an innocent protest movement.
■ China
Two jailed for eating tiger
A Chinese court has sentenced two men to prison for killing a Siberian tiger, a highly endangered species living in the country's northeast, an official newspaper reported on Friday. Zhang Lichen was sentenced to nine years and Gong Weisheng to five years, the Shanghai Daily reported. It said the tiger was caught in a trap set by the two men in the mountains near their village in Heilongjiang Province early last year. The pair waited for six days until the tiger died, then butchered it and ate the meat, the report said. Only about 500 Siberian tigers are believed to remain in the wild in the forests of northeastern China and eastern Russia, according to the World Wildlife Federation.
■ Australia
Bogus police guarded Bush
Bus drivers, cooks and dish washers dressed up as police to protect US President George W. Bush during his visit to Australia last year. The Canberra Times reported yesterday that the local police force had admitted the veracity of press reports in October when Bush flew in for a 21-hour visit to Canberra. Twelve civilian employees wore reflective police vests and blue police overalls to beef up the security presence during the official visit. After the visit, Australian Federal Police Association president Jon Hunt-Sharman said the move had been a mistake because it was intended to dupe the public into thinking that staff strength was higher than it really was.
■ Australia
Government defends war
The Australian government, a staunch ally in the US-led invasion of Iraq, yesterday stood by its decision to go to war despite a US Senate report discrediting the intelligence Washington used to justify it. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the overthrow of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was justified because Iraq had chemical and biological weapons programs and missiles that could reach beyond a designated UN range. "It is perfectly clear from what we've found out since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime that Saddam Hussein's regime was in clear breach of Security Council resolutions," Downer said.
■ Afghanistan
Bomb explodes at school
A nighttime bomb explosion damaged a primary school in southern Afghanistan, and Taliban rebels attacked two military checkpoints, triggering fighting that left four people dead, officials said yesterday. Three empty classrooms were wrecked by the blast on Friday night in the Maywand district, about 60km west of Kandahar, said local military commander Khan Mohammed. No one was hurt. Meanwhile, about 50 suspected Taliban fighters attacked an Afghan militia checkpoint in the Spinboldak district of Kandahar province on Friday, using assault rifles and machine guns. Three Taliban rebels were killed, and one seriously wounded rebel was captured.
■ India
Hospital takes toll on kids
A state-run hospital in the Indian capital of New Delhi has admitted that 30 children died in its wards each week of June, it was reported yesterday. Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital, in a preliminary report, said 142 of the 1,175 children admitted to the hospital with various ailments last month had died, the Indian Express newspaper reported. The hospital authorities described the 11 percent mortality rate as "normal." The report was a preliminary response to a probe ordered by Indian Health Minister A. Ramadoss into the reported deaths.
■ Russia
Grenade hurts candidate
A Russian parliamentarian who is a candidate to become mayor of the far eastern port city of Vladivostok was seriously injured in a grenade attack as he was leaving his campaign headquarters, an assistant said yesterday. Viktor Cherepkov, 62, seemed to be paralyzed in the left arm and suffered heart problems and shock, losing the power of speech temporarily and injuring vertebrae. The grenade had been planted outside the door of his campaign headquarters. Two body-guards were also injured. A police inquiry was under way. Cherepkov made a good showing in the first round of mayoral voting on July 4, finishing in second place with 26 percent of the vote. Analysts viewed his chances of victory in the run-off vote as good.
■ United States
Grandmother wins big
Geraldine Williams, a retired cleaner from Massachusetts, stopped off at the shopping mall on Friday to get a new outfit before she announced to the world that she had just won more than quarter of a billion dollars on the lottery. "I'm in disbelief. I can't believe it's me," she said. The 68-year-old grand-mother of eight found out that she had cleaned up last week, winning US$294 million, the second largest single ticket win in the country. Williams, who bought the ticket at a liquor store, was given the choice between receiving the full amount over 26 years or a lump sum of US$168 million before tax. She chose the lump sum.
■ United States
Free plates for clean pates
A restaurateur in Lodi, California, is making national headlines by offering free meals to bald diners. Gary Arnold, who proudly sports a smooth head himself, also offers steep discounts every Wednesday at Gary's Uptown Restaurant to others who are nearly bald. Customers with less than 50 percent of their hair get up to 50 percent off their food, and meals are free for clean pates. The offer has been drawing baldies from all over the region for the discounted food and the supportive environment. "Years ago, being bald was looked down upon," Arnold said. "Now I think it's trendy."
■ United Kingdom
Diana estate loses case
They may be able to use her signature on wallpaper and horse whips, but the estate of Britain's late Princess Diana has lost the right to use her name on perfume. A London High Court judge ruled on Friday the name belonged to Dalan Kimya Endustri, a Turkish com-pany, because they were first to register "Diana" in 1996 for a raft of beauty goods, including perfume.
■ United States
Brando leaves 10 heirs
Marlon Brando has 10 living children and his US$21.6 million estate includes his Beverly Hills home, according to a will filed in Superior Court. Brando's assets include US$18.6 million in real estate and US$3 million in personal property, according to the will, which was filed Friday. The will does not specify how the estate will be split. The actor died of lung failure at age 80 on July 1. Brando said in the will that he was not married. His children are identified in the will as Christian, 46; Miko, 43; Teihotu, 41; Rebecca Bran-do Kotlinzky, 38; Petra Brando-Corval, 32; Maimiti, 28; Raiatua, 23; Nina Pris-cilla, 15; Myles Jonathan, 12; and Timothy Gahan, 10.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
The pitch is a classic: A young celebrity with no climbing experience spends a year in hard training and scales Mount Everest, succeeding against some — if not all — odds. French YouTuber Ines Benazzouz, known as Inoxtag, brought the story to life with a two-hour-plus documentary about his year preparing for the ultimate challenge. The film, titled Kaizen, proved a smash hit on its release last weekend. Young fans queued around the block to get into a preview screening in Paris, with Inoxtag’s management on Monday saying the film had smashed the box office record for a special cinema