■ Philippines
Greenpeace fined
Environmental activist group Greenpeace was fined yesterday for damaging coral reefs in a World Heritage Site in the western Philippines after its flagship Rainbow Warrior ran aground in the protected area. The incident occurred on Monday as Greenpeace led an expedition to the Tubbataha Reefs off Palawan Province, 600km southwest of Manila. According to a joint statement by Greenpeace and the management office of the Tubbataha National Marine Park, the Rainbow Warrior's bow sliced through a reef formation and damaged a total area of 96m2. The fine for the damage was assessed at 384,000 pesos (US$6,857), the statement added.
■ Kyrgyzstan
20 killed in prison riots
At least 20 inmates were killed yesterday after riots in four jails in the Central Asian state of Kyrgyzstan sparked by the transfer of a jailed criminal gang leader, a prison administration official told reporters. "More than 20 prisoners were killed after special operations this morning," the official said on condition of anonymity. The riots were sparked by an attempt to move around 25 inmates led by criminal kingpin Aziz Batukayev out of Moldovanovka jail near Bishkek where a lawmaker was killed last month during a visit in clashes between inmates and prison guards, officials said. "There was an attempt to move several criminal gang leaders, including Aziz Batukayev, into quieter prisons and search all the prisoners," the official said.
■ India
Acclaimed writer dies
Renowned Indian writer Amrita Pritam, whose prose and poetry reflected the pain of the subcontinent's division and the turbulence of her own life, has died in her sleep at age 86. Pritam died Monday at her home in New Delhi, where she had been bedridden since a 2002 fall broke her pelvis bone, Press Trust of India reported. Pritam was first published at 17. In a career that spanned more than six decades, she wrote 24 novels, 15 collections of short stories and 23 volumes of poems in both Punjabi and Hindi.
■ Japan
Death penalty may be nixed
Speculation that Japan, one of the few developed nations to maintain the death penalty, may review its policy grew yesterday after the country's new justice minister said he would not sign execution warrants. Seiken Sugiura later retracted the remark, made at a late night news conference after his appointment on Monday, but not before stirring talk that the government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi may consider a review of capital punishment. Japan, alongside its close ally the US, is among a small group of developed nations retaining the death penalty. Kyodo news agency quoted Sugiura as saying he would not sign for executions, carried out in Japan by hanging.
■ Azerbaijan
Election doomed: report
Human Rights Watch said that it would be impossible to hold a free and fair parliamentary election in Azerbaijan this coming weekend due to violence and intimidation of the opposition. In a report issued on Monday, the New York based group described arrests and beatings of opposition supporters, and expressed fear of a new crackdown against protesters. "The existing climate of intimidation, particularly against the opposition Azadliq bloc, has sent a strong message to voters about whom they should support" in Sunday's balloting, Human Rights Watch said.
■ Tanzania
Opposition claim victory
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