■ South Korea
Eight Koreans injured
South Korea said yesterday it believed eight of its citizens were injured in a series of deadly bombings that rocked the Indonesian resort of Bali. Six of them had been identified, said Bae Young-han, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry. He said the ministry was preparing an official statement which it would release later in the day. Vice Foreign Minister Lee Kyu-hyung said a ministry team had already left for the island.
■ Indonesia
Bashir aides deny link
Alleged Indonesian terror chief Abu Bakar Bashir had nothing to do with Saturday's bombings on Bali island, a spokesman for the imprisoned cleric said yesterday. Suspicion for Saturday's attacks is falling on the al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiyah terror group, which was also blamed for the 2002 nightclub bombing on Bali. Bashir is serving a two-year sentence for conspiracy in the 2002 attacks.
■ United States
Embassy gives warning
The US Embassy in Jakarta warned citizens yesterday that they and their interests could be targets of attacks in Indonesia, after three bombs ripped through restaurants on the resort island of Bali. In an e-mail sent yesterday afternoon "the embassy has received continued indications that terrorists could be planning additional acts in Indonesia," the statement said. It added that: "Americans should be aware that during the Moslem holy month of Ramadan, which begins on or about Oct. 4 ... it is not uncommon for bars and nightclubs which remain open despite local regulations to be the subject of `sweeps' by local militants attempting to shut down these establishments."
■ China
56 years of communism feted
Tens of thousands of Chinese marked the 56th anniversary of Communist rule in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Saturday with the country enjoying the benefits of two decades of rapid economic growth but still facing deep-seated social problems. The crowds in the square enthusiastically waved Chinese flags and posed for pictures as security forces looked on placidly. Security was tight in the capital, Beijing, at the start of the weeklong holiday. Police bomb squads were out in force, and human rights groups said authorities have been expelling people with grievances from the capital to prevent disruptions. Increasing numbers of poverty-stricken farmers are protesting against widespread graft, industrial pollution and seizures of land for development.
■ Thailand
Bomb kills 2 policemen
Suspected Muslim militants denotated a bomb with a remote device in the latest violence in restive southern Thailand on Sunday, killing two policemen and wounding a volunteer, a police officer said. He said the explosion occurred close to a police checkpoint in the southern province of Songkhla when the three men went to inspect a piece of wood lying on a railway track nearby. More than 900 people have died in the insurgency, led by militants from the region's ethnic Malay, Muslim majority wanting autonomy or independence for what used to be an independent sultanate bordering Malaysia. The predominantly Buddhist government in Bangkok has flooded Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani with more than 30,000 soldiers and police, but has failed to curb the violence.
■ Japan
Capsized boat investigated
The coast guard yesterday recovered a Japanese fishing boat found capsized last week in Hokkaido with seven of its crew dead, and said marks on it seemed to match damage found on an Israeli ship. Israeli-registered vessel Zim Asia's captain has denied any involvement in the accident, telling South Korean authorities he didn't feel any collision. But Korean officials examined the Zim Asia and confirmed there was damage to the left hull of the ship, as well as traces of paint which appeared to be from another boat. Fishing radar showed a ship passed through the accident site and suddenly changed direction. Because the incident took place in high seas, neither Japan nor Korea have the authority to conduct investigations on ships other than their own.
■ Australia
Indonesian crew detained
Officials on Saturday said they had seized an Indonesian boat and detained its crew following reports the fishermen had attempted to board an Australian vessel. The boat was found off the remote northern coast of Western Australia with two Indonesian fishermen on board, a customs spokesman said. "The boarding party went aboard the boat, which is to be destroyed on the spot, and after the two crew have been put board the [Western Australian Fisheries vessel] Walcott," he said.
■ India
Tigers rescued from circus
Eleven endangered Royal Bengal tigers have been rescued from circuses in eastern India and will be held in a game sanctuary where it is hoped they will breed. Royal Bengal tigers are near extinction due to poaching for their skins and bones that are used in traditional medicines, and habitat loss due to human encroachment. Three years ago, West Bengal passed a law banning the exhibition of tigers, lions and monkeys.
■ Russia
Fifteen bikes crash
A driving error by at least one member of a group of motorcyclists crossing a bridge on Saturday in Moscow set off a chain reaction traffic accident that saw 15 motorbikes crash, police said. Eleven of the riders received hospital treatment, including four with serious injuries. Fatal motorcycle accidents are common in Moscow, where two-wheel riders have a reputation for weaving through even heavy traffic at high speed.
■ United Kingdom
Royal church wedding out
The Archbishop of Canterbury rejected the idea of a church wedding for the divorced Prince Charles and his longtime companion Camilla Parker Bowles, according to official royal biographer Jonathan Dimbleby. Archbishop Rowan Williams said religious leaders would find a church ceremony unacceptable, Dimbleby told the BBC's Panorama program last night. "As I understand it, Lambeth Palace [office of the archbishop] said that it would not be possible," Dimbleby said. The royal couple, both of whom had been married before, wed in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall on April 9. A church wedding could have caused an uproar within the Anglican Church and trouble for the archbishop, Dimbleby said.
■ Afghanistan
UK plans to deploy troops
Britain plans to deploy troops to volatile southern Afghanistan and take over command of the NATO security force in the country next year, its top defense official said on Saturday. Visiting British Defense Secretary John Reid downplayed differences within the alliance over whether the NATO force should be involved in offensive combat operations -- currently the realm of the US-led coalition. Reid said Britain was committed to leading the NATO force from May next year and running the headquarters of its rapid reaction force.
■ South Africa
Elephants die in fire
Eleven elephants died tragically after being caught in a bush fire in South Africa's Pilanesberg National Park. On Friday, one elephant succumbed to injuries which included burns to the ears and a part of the trunk, according to a report in the Saturday Times. Another animal was eaten by lions and four others had to be euthanized because their injuries were so severe. "It's the saddest thing I've seen in 20 years of conservation," park manager Peter Leiter said. "Some had burns so bad they could not walk." The elephants fled the flames to a mountainous area of the park where they became trapped in a ravine. Upon their discovery, they were anaesthetized and taken by truck to a nearby reserve along with 10 others.
■ United Kingdom
Three held for sex slavery
Two men and a woman faced magistrates on Saturday after a police raid on a Birmingham massage parlour freed a number of foreign women thought to have been held as sex slaves. The two men, aged 52 and 22, and the 50-year-old woman have been charged with running a brothel and with firearms offences after a specialist police team stormed the Cuddles massage parlour on Thursday evening, releasing 19 women. Police said they believed the women, who come from countries including Greece, Turkey, Poland, Latvia, Italy, Japan and Hong Kong, were forced into prostitution by a human-trafficking gang.
■ Zimbabwe
Aid group's help approved
International aid group Doctors Without Borders has been given permission to provide relief aid to thousands of Zimbabweans affected by the government's urban clearance campaign, a state-run newspaper reported Sunday. Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French name Medecins Sans Frontieres, will "provide medical care, water and ablution facilities in Hatcliffe, Whitecliffe and Hopley residential areas," the Sunday Mail reported. Hatcliffe, a poor suburb in northern Harare was one of the areas worst affected by the police blitz.
■ Afghanistan
Suspected Taliban caught
Police have captured a suspected key Taliban commander in Afghanistan's southern province of Ghazni, US-led coalition forces said on Saturday. A US military statement said Abdul Gafar was captured "after a local man reported his location to Afghan forces. US forces provided security while Afghan National Police detained Gafar." The statement said Gafar, who was detained already on Wednesday, was behind a number of improvised explosive devices, rocket and small arms attacks against Afghan and US forces in the Ghazni area. Over 20,000 US-led troops are hunting the remnants of Taliban and their allies from al-Qaeda network, mainly in the southern and southeastern region of Afghanistan.
■ Israel
Egypt terror warning issued
Israel released a "concrete terror warning" to its citizens to leave Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, Israeli media reported yesterday. According to the report, Israeli security services had clear evidence of planned attempts to kidnap Israeli tourists from the Egyptian area. Around 30,000 Israelis were expected to travel to the Sinai for the beginning of Jewish New Year holidays today. Nearly 2,500 are thought already to be there, the reports said.
■ United States
Oklahoma blast probed
Police were investigating an explosion at the University of Oklahoma late on Saturday that apparently killed one person outside a campus building. Campus police Sergeant Gary Robinson said authorities believe the blast was caused by an explosive device. Robinson did not know the identity or gender of the person whose body was found outside the university's botany-microbiology building. He also did not know if there were other injuries or if the building was occupied. Police cordoned off an area west of a packed Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, where the Oklahoma Sooners were playing a football game against Kansas State.
■ France
`White Night' draws crowds
Hundreds of thousands of revellers and curious onlookers invaded the streets of Paris on Saturday night for the annual "White Night" celebration of culture, with everything from video installations to an electric guitar orchestra on offer throughout the French capital. At the popular tourist site of Sacre Coeur, Parisians filled the pedestrian area around the Catholic basilica to listen to an orchestra of 300 electric guitars under the baton of New York composer Rhys Chatham. A Brazilian nightclub sprang up in the garden next to the Les Halles shopping precinct, with novice samba dancers of all ages shaking their stuff. Two thousand bicycles were available free to the public and night buses offered free rides.
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
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
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not