Print

Mail

wiki links

World News Quick Take

■ Uzbekistan
Million dollar' group busted
Police arrested a group of suspected swindlers who tried to sell what they said was US$1 million bill -- offering it at half price, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported on Friday. The suspects told a potential buyer they were prepared to sell the banknote for US$500,000 because they needed quick cash, the agency reported, citing prosecutors in the Uzbek city of Samarkand. The fake bill was made on a color printer, the report said. The US does not print US$1 million bills.

■ India
Security upped after bombs
Security was tightened at religious places in Delhi, as the Indian capital remained on high alert yesterday, a day after twin blasts hit the city's main mosque, the Jama Masjid, police said. At least 13 people were injured as two low-intensity bombs exploded in the 17th-century Jama Masjid complex soon after evening prayers on Friday. But there was no damage to the structure of the building, also India's largest mosque. "Additional police have been deployed at key installations, government offices, particularly religious places like Hindu temples to foil any militant attacks," a senior police officer said.

■ Sri Lanka
Tigers `threatened' by ship
Tamil Tiger rebel commanders yesterday canceled a trip to an internal meeting that they had insisted is crucial for upcoming peace talks in Switzerland, saying they felt threatened by the presence of a naval ship. "They were getting onboard the ferry and suddenly they said they will not go because a Sri Lankan navy vessel was coming too close," said Helen Olafsdottir, a spokeswoman for the European cease-fire monitoring group. A statement issued by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said the commanders aborted the trip because they felt threatened. They did not say if the trip will be rescheduled, or whether the rebels still intend to attend peace talks with the government in Geneva.

■ Hong Kong
Shops join `no plastic' day
More than 1,000 shops and supermarkets in Hong Kong yesterday took part in a "no plastic" day to discourage shoppers from using environmentally unfriendly plastic bags. Shoppers across the city of 6.8 million were asked to use alternatives to plastic bags or donate HK$0.50 for every plastic bag they use. The event, organized by the Green Student Council, was one of the biggest environmental awareness campaign staged in the city, famed for its pollution and rampant consumerism. Council chairman Angus Ho said he hoped the event would draw attention to the environment, saying awareness of green issues was "not deep-rooted enough" in Hong Kong.

■ Indonesia
Trains collide, killing 13
A passenger train traveling to the city of Surabaya plowed into the back of a stationary train early yesterday, killing at least 13 people and injuring 26 others, officials said. TV footage showed rescue workers trying to free a man who was trapped in a mangled section of one of the trains, which lay on its side in a muddy rice field close to Gubuk station in central Java province. The trains were carrying around 1,000 people in total, officials said. Transportation Minister Hatta Radjasa said initial reports indicated that the driver of the moving train had failed to heed a conductor's call to stop before it crashed into the other train just after 2am.

■ Israel
Olmert becomes PM
After a 100-day deadline since former incumbent Ariel Sharon went into a coma passed at midnight, Ehud Olmert became Israel's new prime minister yesterday. Since the government declared Sharon unfit for office and named Olmert as his successor in January, Olmert has been representing Sharon in office. In parliamentary elections on March 28, Olmert's Kadima Party was elected as the largest faction. He must now form a new government.

■ South Africa
Bean-fart link unassailable
It's a "factual reality" that beans make you break wind according to the advertising watchdog. A TV advertisement for sweet onions showed a rugby player eating beans that made him smell "stinky." The ad claims that "with sweet onions there are no tears, no burn and definitely no stink." The Dry Bean Producers Organization complained about the advert on the basis that the "stinky" charge was untrue but the Advertising Standards Authority threw out the charge and said it was widely known that beans produce gas.

■ GAZA Strip
Security men demand pay
Masked Palestinian security men stormed a government building yesterday demanding the Hamas-led administration pay overdue salaries. "Salaries, or go home," the protesters chanted in the town of Khan Younis, directing their message at Hamas in the biggest such demonstration since the Islamic militant group assumed power last month following its January election victory. The security men, some firing in the air, briefly occupied offices and forced workers to leave. They also blocked a main road leading south to Rafah. Salaries for the 140,000 employees on the Palestinian Authority's payroll are two weeks overdue.

■ France
Hunger striker ends protest
A parliamentarian on a five-week hunger strike to prevent the closure of a local factory called off his campaign on Friday after the government won a pledge from the plant's owners to protect jobs. Jean Lassalle, 50, a center-right deputy of the UDF party from southwest France, had taken nothing but water, salt and vitamins since he began his strike on March 7. The deputy's high-profile campaign aimed to block alleged plans by the Osaka-based Toyo Aluminum company (Toyal) to close a factory employing 150 people in his constituency -- plans repeatedly denied by the company. Toyal pledged that its car-paint factory in the village of Accous would remain open and pledged to develop its activities there before investing in any other French sites.

■ Egypt
Christians protest murder
A man fatally stabbed an elderly Coptic Christian and wounded at least five other worshippers outside churches on Friday, provoking about 600 Christians to demonstrate against what they saw as government indifference. The Interior Ministry said the assailant, Mahmoud Salah-Eddin Abdel-Raziq, was "psychologically disturbed," but the protesters blamed the government of President Hosni Mubarak for what they called a sectarian attack on Christians, who number about 10 percent of Egypt's 72 million people. Numerous worshippers said there was only one police guard outside the three churches where the assailant struck on Friday morning.
■ United States
Texas halts bar drunk arrests
A controversial Texas program to send undercover agents into bars to arrest drunks has been halted after a firestorm of protest from the public. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has "temporarily suspended" what it called "Operation Last Call" even though it still believes it was worthwhile, commission spokeswoman Carolyn Beck said on Thursday. "We understand that everything has room for improvement, this included," she said. She said most of those arrested in the sting operations had been "dangerously drunk" and might have tried to drive if the commission's agents had not busted them.

■ United States
Ambulance joyrider jailed
A man apparently on a joyride drove off with an ambulance on Thursday, as its crew was outside helping an elderly woman, then led authorities on a 84km chase before getting stuck in a muddy field, officials said. When asked why he took the vehicle, clearly marked for emergency medical use, he said just because it was there, investigators said. Jesse Matthew Vasquez, 26, was jailed for investigation of felonies in Washington State and Idaho, Spokane County sheriff's corporal Dale Toliver said.

■ United States
Bones found at Ground Zero
About 300 bone fragments of victims of the Sept. 11 terror attacks were found this week near Ground Zero in New York during preparations for a demolition, sparking an outcry on Friday from families. The remains were found on a work site preparing to tear down the Deutsche Bank skyscraper next to the location of the World Trade Center. Seventy-four human remains were discovered on April 1 on the building's roof. In a statement on Friday, The Skyscraper Safety Campaign, joined by other Sept. 11 family groups, said they were "shocked and horrified" to learn of the discovery of the 300 human remains nearly five years after the attacks, not from the medical examiner's office but from the New York media.

■ Iraq
Two US Marines killed
Two US Marines were killed and 22 wounded in enemy action in Iraq's western Al Anbar province, the US military announced yesterday. The latest casualties occurred on Thursday. The military said one Marine assigned to 1st Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group died at the scene of the attack, while the other assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 died at a medical facility. Eight wounded Marines were evacuated by air to a medical facility in Balad. Ten other wounded Marines were evacuated to a medical facility at Camp Fallujah, the military said.

■ Peru
Garcia drops legal call
A former president with a tenuous lead in the race to win a spot in the presidential runoff called on his party on Friday to end legal challenges seeking to annul overseas ballots expected to favor his closest rival. Disqualifying votes to win in a tight race would not be worth it because Peruvians would always doubt the result, said ex-president Alan Garcia."I believe if you win, you have to win it right, and I have decided to ask the Aprista party to rescind all legal challenges that were presented," Garcia told Radioprogramas radio. "I want nothing to cloud what could be a close victory, but a victory." With 89 percent of votes tallied, Garcia maintained his second-place position with 24.4 percent, compared with former congresswoman Lourdes Flores' 23.4 percent.

This story has been viewed 1608 times.