■ Philippines
Plane crash kills four
Four people were killed and two others injured on Sunday when a private Cessna plane crashed shortly after taking off from an airstrip in the Philippines. The six-seater plane plunged into a coconut grove near the private airstrip in Tanauan town, Batangas province, 70km south of Manila, said air force Colonel Eduardo Oban. The bodies of the four fatalities were found near the crash site, while the two injured victims were rushed to a nearby hospital. Oban said the identities of the casualties and the survivors were still being determined, but added that all were Filipino and mostly skydivers.
■ Fiji
Tourist found dead in hotel
An Australian has been found dead in his hotel room in the capital Suva and authorities suspect foul play, the Australian foreign ministry said yesterday. The 22-year-old man from Queensland state died early Saturday, possibly as the result of an assault, a ministry spokeswoman said. Fiji police are investigating. Fijian tourist Web site fijilive.com said police were looking for a Fijian male in connection with the case. Police spokeswoman Constable Prashila Narayan said the suspect was seen in the company of the tourist at his hotel. Narayan said the cause of death remained unclear but injuries were found on the body.
■ South Korea
Defense drill to be held
The maritime police plan a defense drill near two disputed islands next week to prevent any "violence of sovereignty" amid lingering tension with Japan, which also claims the isles, Yonhap news agency said yesterday. Relations between the neighboring nations have deteriorated since February when Japanese nationalists began stressing Tokyo's claim to the two rocky South Korean-held islands, known as Tokto in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan. The drill, scheduled for May 17, will be held about 10km northwest of the islands midway between the two countries, Yonhap News quoted a provincial police agency and a coast guard as saying.
■ Pakistan
Man found with explosives
Police in the capital have arrested a soldier who was carrying 1kg of explosives and some detonators, police said yesterday. The man, named by police as Imtiaz Hussain, was arrested on Friday during a routine check of passengers at a bus station on the outskirts of Islamabad, one policeman said. The Daily Times newspaper said the man had been planning an attack but police, intelligence and military officials could not confirm the report. Security agents have made a series of arrests across Pakistan since Monday's capture of senior Islamic militant Abu Faraj Farj al Liby, a Libyan whom President George W. Bush described as one of Osama bin Laden's top generals.
■ Hong Kong
Police raid legal aid office
Police were embroiled in an unprecedented legal row over attempts to raid the Legal Aid Department for sensitive materials linked to a rape case and alleged false evidence, press reports said yesterday. The department criticized the police for violating the "fundamental human right" of attorney-client privilege to protect confidential legal documents. It filed a writ against Police Commissioner Dick Lee asking the court to set aside two search warrants on its office. The court later granted the department an interim junction against the raids, the Sunday Morning Post reported.
■ Canada
Church torn by gay unions
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