■ Afghanistan
Vote's validity questioned
Afghanistan's interim leader, Hamid Karzai, held a 45 percentage point lead yesterday in the preliminary results of the country's first presidential election, though a chief rival said the validity of the vote was in doubt. The US-backed incumbent's closest challenger, former Education Minister Yunus Qanooni, claimed to have evidence of fraud in favor of Karzai and that the UN-Afghan electoral commission was ignoring his complaints. "If his excellency Mr. Karzai, my old friend, succeeds in a fair and transparent election, I will congratulate him and cooperate with him," Qanooni said. "But if the result is fraudulent, the legitimacy of this election will be in question."
■ The Philippines
Officer killed in ambush
One of Manila's most senior police officers was killed in an ambush outside his office yesterday, his commander said. Unknown gunmen armed with assault rifles attacked Senior Superintendent Manolo Martinez as he stepped from his car outside the Santa Mesa precinct in central Manila, city police chief Pedro Bulaong told reporters. The officer was pronounced dead from bullet wounds at a Manila hospital about two hours later. His police driver was also seriously wounded.
■ Hong Kong
Brief-clad burglar plummets
A burglar clad only in his underpants tried to escape from an apartment by climbing down a drain pipe but slipped and fell to his death, police said yesterday. The burglar broke into an apartment in the wee hours of Sunday and was ransacking the living room when the owner woke up and discovered what was going on, police spokeswoman Trish Leung said. The burglar fled through a window and climbed down the drain pipe but he made it only part way down before falling to his death. Since the burglar was wearing only his underwear and had no identification, police are not certain about his identity or age.
■ Japan
Robbers pull off huge theft
Armed thieves stole US$4.8 million in cash from a shipping firm in the second-biggest robbery ever in Japan, police said yesterday. Four to five masked men Sunday evening rushed into an office of Tobu Transportation Co. in Tochigi Prefecture, 100km north of Tokyo, and threatened two workers with guns and stunguns, police said. The men took the key to a vault and tied the workers with tape before rushing off with the cash, police said. Their investigation revealed that ¥524 million (US4.8 million) was stolen, police said. It was the second-biggest amount of money stolen in the country, following a 1994 bank heist in Kobe in western Japan where ¥540 million yen was taken.
■ Australia
Frequent sex helps sperm
Abstinence may make the heart grow fonder, but it doesn't boost the quality of your sperm. In fact, the more frequent the sex, the better the quality of the sperm, and the greater the chance of conception, an Australia fertility expert believes. Sydney IVF clinician and reproductive medicine specialist David Greening said his research showed that frequent ejaculation improved sperm quality. His findings defy the accepted wisdom that couples undergoing IVF treatment should abstain from sex before providing sperm. "There's no doubt that there's increased DNA damage to sperm with abstinence, and the quicker you get the sperm out, the less damage there is," Greening told Australia's AAP agency.
■ Belarus
Voters say no to term limits
Belarusians overwhelmingly approved a referendum on scrapping presidential term limits, the Central Elections Commission announced yesterday, allowing the authoritarian leader of this ex-Soviet republic to seek a new term in 2006. Opposition figures claimed that Sunday's vote was rigged in order to allow President Alexander Lukashenko, often branded as Europe's last dictator, to stay in power. He has led the nation of 10 million since 1994. Central Elections Commission Chairwoman Lidiya Ermoshina announced early yesterday that the preliminary tally of all the ballots showed more than 77 percent of voters approved dropping the term limits and that nationwide turnout was nearly 90 percent.
■ Ireland
Burglar killed by sweater
A suspected burglar accidentally strangled himself while trying to break into a house in the south-western town of Tralee, police said yesterday. Police said the home owner discovered the body of a man on Sunday afternoon hanging from the outside frame of a bathroom window. The victim appeared, they said, to have been standing on a lawnmower while trying to break in when he slipped off -- and his sweater caught on a hook, choking him. Police declined to name the victim but confirmed he was from the nearby city of Limerick and was on their list of local criminal suspects.
■ Colombia
Pirates hasten book launch
Fans of the Nobel prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez have waited more than a decade for his latest work of fiction. Now, thanks to bootleggers, the wait has been shortened by a week. Garcia Marquez's new book, Memorias de Mis Putas Tristes, or Memories of My Melancholy Whores, will be published in Spanish tomorrow, a week before the original launch date. In a full-page advertisement in Colombia's leading news-paper on Saturday, the publishers announced the early launch and denounced the pirated versions being peddled on the streets of Bogota as "mutilating the content of the work."
■ Russia
Public boozing ban mulled
The Russian government is to outlaw beer drinking on public transport, at sport stadiums, in the street or in parks. The measure from United Russia, the dominant pro-Putin party, would end a key characteristic of urban Russian life, where males, from schoolchildren to the elderly, idle away days and evenings standing drinking beer and chatting. Every Russian drinks an estimated 53 liters a year, a figure that has nearly doubled in the past decade as traditional vodka has been forsaken for lighter "healthier" beer. One survey suggests that peak consumption time is 7am. The Health Ministry believes that one in seven Russians is an alcoholic.
■ Vatican city
Pope marks anniversary
Pope John Paul II on Sunday thanked well-wishers who celebrated the 26th anniversary of his election as pontiff but warned of "threatening shadows" hanging over humanity. After addressing thousands of believers at his weekly Sunday address, he presided at a special mass in St Peter's basilica to inaugurate the Eucharistic Year -- a year of special devotion to the sacrament of the Eucharist. "The world needs light in the difficult search for a peace which appears distant, at the beginning of a millennium ravaged and humiliated by the violence of terrorism and war," he said.
■ United Kingdom
Rally slams Iraq war, Blair
Up to 70,000 people from more than 70 countries rallied on Sunday in the center of London against the Iraq war, calling for troops to be pulled out and British Prime Minister Tony Blair to be tried in the international courts. The rally in Trafalgar Square brought to a close the third meeting of the European Social Forum, one of the largest political gatherings held in London. Organizers yesterday estimated that 20,000 people had attended more than 500 meetings in three days. Yesterday's rally was marred by scuffles as activists tried to break into the cordon around the main stage in Trafalgar Square.
■ United Kingdom
Soft Cell singer in hospital
British singer Marc Almond, who scored a worldwide hit in 1981 with Tainted Love as part of the duo Soft Cell, is in critical condition in hospital after a motorcycle crash, police said yesterday. "There was a serious collision between a car and a motorcycle in London on Sunday afternoon and the motorcycle passenger, Marc Almond, suffered severe injuries," a City of London police spokesman said. The motorcycle driver, who has not been named, was also hospitalized in the crash. Almond, 47, formed Soft Cell in Leeds, England, with synthesizer player David Ball in 1980.
■ Russia
Putin gives Bush a boost
Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that terrorists are aiming to derail US President George W. Bush's chances at re-election through their attacks in Iraq. "I consider the activities of terrorists in Iraq are not as much aimed at coalition forces but more personally against President Bush," Putin said at a news conference after a regional summit in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. "International terrorism has as its goal to prevent the election of President Bush to a second term," he said. "If they achieve that goal, then that will give international terrorism a new impulse and extra power." Still, Putin didn't say which candidate he favored in the Nov. 2 election. "We unconditionally respect any choice of the American people," he said.
■ United States
Navy updates dress code
The US Navy is getting a 21st century makeover, with a new dress code that makes skirts optional for its more than 54,000 female sailors for the first time since women officially entered the service in 1908. Women can still choose to wear skirts, which come in colors that vary according to rank and sometimes the season. But until the new rules went into effect this month, they had
to maintain skirts in their sea bags and could be ordered to wear them for special events such as change-of-command and retirement ceremonies. As a result of the survey of more than 40,000 sailors, all those in working uniform can also wear mobile phones and carry garment bags over their shoulders.
■ Ecuador
Voters punish president
Ecuadoreans punished President Lucio Gutierrez's Patriotic Society party in local and provincial elections on Sunday, throwing their support behind behind parties leading a growing opposition movement. Preliminary results showed Gutierrez's party, which helped him win the presidential election in 2002, losing by hefty margins in the country's two main provinces and three cities. The results could deal a blow to Gutierrez's already weak image and make it harder for him to push reforms of the oil and electricity sectors through Congress where his party has five of 100 seats.
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