■ Bangladesh
Fifty injured in rally clash
At least 50 people were injured in Dhaka yesterday in clashes between the police and opposition workers trying to march to the election commission, witnesses said. Police used batons, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse rock-throwing activists pushing through barbed-wire barricades at Russel Square and Agargaon. A 14-party opposition alliance led by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League called for yesterday's march to push demands for removal of the chief election commissioner and his deputies, as well as changes in the way caretaker administrations operate to ensure a free and fair poll.
■ Philippines
Gunmen kill two journalists
Two gunmen, one with a towel over his head and face, shot dead a husband-and-wife radio political commentators on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, a police official said yesterday. George Vigo and his wife, Mazel, were on their way home late on Monday when two gunmen on a motorbike shot them, said Danny Reyes, police chief in Kidapawan City. Police were trying to determine if the murders were related to their work at the station.
■ Thailand
Aussie shot in bar dispute
An Australian tourist was fighting for her life in a hospital in Bangkok yesterday with a gunshot wound to her neck after men on motorcycles opened fire on a bar she was in, officials said. Pamela Fitzpatrick, 26 of Brisbane, was in a bar in Kanchanaburi early on Monday when the shooting occurred. Police believe the shooting was part of a long-running dispute between the bar's owner and local residents.
■ Malaysia
Accused woos victim
A man charged with rape asked a court to postpone his trial by a month, saying he needed the time to woo his future bride -- his alleged victim, a news report said yesterday. Hariol Azmi Mohmmed Shah, 28, a quality control assistant, told the court on Monday that he was not trying to avoid being punished, but that he genuinely wants to marry the victim, a teenager, the New Straits Times reported. "I need more time to discuss marriage plans with her," Hariol was quoted as saying. Sessions Court judge Azimah Omar turned down Hariol's appeal for a one-month delay in his trial, which is set for Nov. 6.
■ India
Two legislators arrested
Two former ministers were arrested yesterday and a reward offered for information about a missing lawyer in a prostitution case that has rocked conservative Indian Kashmir, reports said. G.A. Mir and Raman Matoo were arrested in New Delhi and Srinagar respectively yesterday by the federal Central Bureau of Investigation, the Press Trust of India news agency said. Mir is a sitting member of the Kashmir legislature and a senior leader of the ruling Congress party, while Matoo is an independent legislator.
■ china
Cheaters go to great lengths
Using microscopic earphones and wireless devices, students upped the ante in the high-tech battle to counter cheating during university entrance exams this month, putting some in hospital as a result. With 9.5 million students competing for only 2.6 million vacancies, some universities installed cameras and mobile-phone blocking technology at exam halls to foil the cheats. But students "racked their brains" and in some cases injured themselves with "low-quality devices" to come up with new ways to cheat, state media reported yesterday.
■ Pakistan
Water war erupts
Authorities sent troops to a remote region on the Afghan border yesterday to end clashes over scarce water after five people were killed. The country faces a serious water shortage this year after light rain and snow over the winter. Water rights are a divisive issue in many parts of the country, but the clashes in the Kurrum region are the most serious this year over the resource. Violence erupted on Monday when people of one clan tried to divert water from an irrigation canal to their fields and men from another clan resisted. The rivals battled with rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades and five people were killed and 27 wounded.
■ Spain
ETA suspects arrested
Spanish and French police arrested 12 suspected ETA guerrillas yesterday in the biggest operation against the Basque separatists since they declared a ceasefire in March. The pre-dawn arrests of suspects believed to be in charge of collecting a "revolutionary tax" from Basque businesses came as Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero prepared to announce the start of peace talks with ETA. Justice Minister Juan Fernando Lopez Aguil said the arrests will not affect the talks. Five suspects were arrested in Spain and seven in southern France. One of those arrested, Julen de Madariaga, is believed to be one of the founders of ETA.
■ United Kingdom
Woman jailed over sex life
An HIV-positive London woman who infected her boyfriend has been jailed for 32 months. Sarah Porter, 43, kept her condition secret while having regular unprotected sex with a 31-year-old man with whom she had a two-year relationship. The man attempted suicide after being diagnosed as HIV-positive. Porter admitted to one count of recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent in May 2003. The court heard that she was in denial about having the virus.
■ United Kingdom
Labour support slips again
Support for the Labour Party slipped by 2 percent, matching a 19-year low reached in April, while the Conservatives saw their popularity fall by a point, a poll to be published by the Guardian newspaper yesterday showed. The survey, conducted by ICM, put the popularity for Prime Minister Tony Blair's party at 32 percent. The Tories saw their support drop by 1 percent, but they remained in the lead with 37 percent. Support for the Liberal Democrats rose by one point to 21 percent.
■ Mexico
Striking teachers end talks
Striking teachers who have occupied the main square in Oaxaca for a month broke off talks with authorities and blockaded government offices on Monday after federal officials said they could not meet their pay demands. Carrying sticks, rocks and bottles, the teachers set up blockades on several streets and outside the state justice department and electoral institute in the city, the government news agency Notimex reported.
■ Turkey
Officers jailed for bombing
Two paramilitary officers were sentenced to almost 40 years jail on Monday for a bombing which critics and some in the media suspected was a bid by some in the armed forces to stir unrest in the Kurdish southeast. Ali Kaya and Ozcan Ildeniz were sentenced to 39 years and 5 months each for last year's bombing of a bookstore in Semdinli in which one person was killed. The attack prompted riots in the region and a parliamentary inquiry after critics said the military may have orchestrated the attack so that it could justify tougher tactics.
■ Netherlands
Taylor heads for tribunal
Former Liberian president Charles Taylor is on his way to The Hague where he is to face war crimes charges before the Special Court of Sierra Leone using court facilities the Hague, the Dutch foreign ministry said yesterday. "He is en route for The Hague," ministry spokesman Gijs Gerlag said. "I cannot give any more operational information because of security concerns." Gerlag said Taylor was flying in on a UN flight.
■ United States
Belarus leader targeted
US President George W Bush on Monday ordered sanctions against Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko for undermining democracy. The executive order means any assets by Lukashenko in the US will be frozen. Lukashenko won a third term in March elections widely viewed as fraudulent in the US and Western Europe and he has been regularly criticized for the jailing and beatings of dissidents. The EU last month froze the assets of Lukashenko and 35 other top officials allegedly responsible for rigging the presidential elections and for the crackdown on democratic protests following the polls. Lukashenko has been referred to as the "last dictator" in Europe.
■ United Kingdom
Reid targets `knife culture'
Home Secretary John Reid said on Monday he was considering raising jail sentences for criminals convicted of carrying knives. The move comes amid fears of a growing knife culture in Britain and follows calls from the Conservatives for sentences to be increased to five years from two. "I'm giving serious consideration and reviewing sentencing options to the suggestion that maximum sentence for having a knife or blade in a public place should be increased," Reid told parliament. About 17,000 knives, machetes and axes have been handed to police in an amnesty on weapons which was launched last month. Reid said he could make changes to a bill going through parliament.
■ United States
Bush raises money
US President George W. Bush helped Republicans raise US$27 million toward the fall congressional elections, acknowledging that the unfinished war in Iraq remains a top concern in a difficult political season. "It is important to have members of the United States Congress who will not raise the white flag of surrender in the war on terror," Bush told donors at a fundraiser sponsored by House and Senate Republican campaign committees on Monday. He criticized proposals, such as those being advocated by some leading Democrats in Congress, for a phased withdrawal of US troops. Organizers said the event raised US$27 million -- US$15 million for Senate candidates and US$12 million for House candidates.
■ United States
Geriatric tried for murder
A 79-year-old woman accused of fatally shooting her 85-year-old ex-beau in Atlanta is being deprived of her constitutional right to a fair trial, her attorney said, because the potential jurors are not old enough for her to be judged by a jury of her peers. Lena Sims Driskell is accused of fatally shooting Herman Winslow on June 10 last year as he read the newspaper at the senior citizens home where the two lived. After dating for a year, police said Driskell became angry when Winslow broke off their relationship and started seeing another woman. Police say she was wearing a hairnet, stockings, a bathrobe and slippers when she confronted Winslow at his apartment. Winslow complained and a security guard tried to calm Driskell down, but when he turned around she drew an antique handgun she had hidden behind her back, put the gun to Winslow's head and fired up to four times, Detective D.B. Mathis said. "I did it and I'd do it again!" Driskell was quoted as yelling to the officers who found her waving the gun and holding her finger on the trigger when they arrived.
Far from the violence ravaging Haiti, a market on the border with the Dominican Republic has maintained a welcome degree of normal everyday life. At the Dajabon border gate, a wave of Haitians press forward, eager to shop at the twice-weekly market about 200km from Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. They are drawn by the market’s offerings — food, clothing, toys and even used appliances — items not always readily available in Haiti. However, with gang violence bad and growing ever worse in Haiti, the Dominican government has reinforced the usual military presence at the border and placed soldiers on alert. While the market continues to
An image of a dancer balancing on the words “China Before Communism” looms over Parisian commuters catching the morning metro, signaling the annual return of Shen Yun, a controversial spectacle of traditional Chinese dance mixed with vehement criticism of Beijing and conservative rhetoric. The Shen Yun Performing Arts company has slipped the beliefs of a spiritual movement called Falun Gong in between its technicolored visuals and leaping dancers since 2006, with advertising for the show so ubiquitous that it has become an Internet meme. Founded in 1992, Falun Gong claims nearly 100 million followers and has been subject to “persistent persecution” in
ONLINE VITRIOL: While Mo Yan faces a lawsuit, bottled water company Nongfu Spring and Tsinghua University are being attacked amid a rise in nationalist fervor At first glance, a Nobel prize winning author, a bottle of green tea and Beijing’s Tsinghua University have little in common, but in recent weeks they have been dubbed by China’s nationalist netizens as the “three new evils” in the fight to defend the country’s valor in cyberspace. Last month, a patriotic blogger called Wu Wanzheng filed a lawsuit against China’s only Nobel prize-winning author, Mo Yan (莫言), accusing him of discrediting the Communist army and glorifying Japanese soldiers in his fictional works set during the Japanese invasion of China. Wu, who posts online under the pseudonym “Truth-Telling Mao Xinghuo,” is seeking
‘SURPRISES’: The militants claim to have successfully tested a missile capable of reaching Mach 8 and vowed to strike ships heading toward the Cape of Good Hope Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim to have a new, hypersonic missile in their arsenal, Russia’s state media reported on Thursday, potentially raising the stakes in their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways against the backdrop of Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The report by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited an unidentified official, but provided no evidence for the claim. It comes as Moscow maintains an aggressively counter-Western foreign policy amid its grinding war on Ukraine. However, the Houthis have for weeks hinted about “surprises” they plan for the battles at sea to counter the