■ 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.
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