■ Malaysia
Group protests Iraq war
A small group of protesters gathered outside the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur yesterday to mark the Iraq war's fourth anniversary. About 200 people massed outside the embassy, reading out anti-war speeches and holding up posters and banners denouncing Washington's decision to invade Iraq. The government opposes the war, and has urged Washington to seek a peaceful resolution to conflicts in the Middle East.
■ Afghanistan
Journalist reportedly freed
Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo has been freed after two weeks in captivity, the Italian news agency ANSA reported yesterday. ANSA reported from Kabul that Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi gave the news by telephone that the veteran 52-year-old journalist for La Repubblica had been freed. A La Repubblica employee earlier said that the paper had "learned that the journalist has been freed," but deputy editor Mauro Bene later said it did not have confirmation. The Italian Foreign Ministry also could not confirm the report, spokesman Pasquale Ferrara saying: "We'll consider him free when he's safely in Italian hands." Ahmadi said that tonight was the deadline for the Taliban's demands to be met, including a date for the withdrawal of Italian troops and the release of two Taliban spokesmen being held by authorities.
■ Sri Lanka
Navy sinks unflagged ship
The navy sank a ship believed to be ferrying arms and ammunition to separatist Tamil Tiger rebels off the east coast, the military said on Sunday. Patrolling naval vessels spotted a ship off Arugam Bay, 322km east of Colombo early yesterday, an official at the Defense Ministry's media center said on condition of anonymity, citing policy. He said the ship was not flying a flag and when contacted by the navy gave false details about the ship and refused permission for a search. The navy destroyed the ship after it fired at naval vessels, the official said.
■ New Zealand
Mud flow hits North Island
A potentially lethal mix of mud, acidic water and rocks tore down the slope of Mount Ruapehu yesterday, emergency officials said, but there was no immediate threat to life. The mud flow -- also known as a lahar -- broke through a rubble wall atop the mountain's crater lake at 10:47am yesterday, triggering an alarm, the Horizon Regional Council said. Dave Wakelin, a senior officer with the Conservation Department, said that a "moderate lahar" was flowing down the mountainside, on the North Island. There are no settlements in the path of the flow. Police and civil defense workers immediately closed roads round the southern base of the mountain.
■ Japan
Tokyo presents Pasmo card
Tokyo introduced yesterday a computer chip-embedded travel card that lets residents use more than 100 train and bus lines with a single swipe. Until yesterday, travelers in the metropolis had to juggle multiple cards and tickets to navigate a network run by a collection of operators. But the new Pasmo card lets users ride most buses and trains in the metropolis, regardless of operator, by touching the cards on an IC chip reader.
■ France
Anti-nuclear protests held
Thousands of people filled the streets of five cities on Saturday to protest plans to build the next generation of nuclear reactors -- fuel-efficient but seen by anti-nuclear activists as a relaunching the country's nuclear energy program. Organizers put the number of protesters in Rennes at 30,000 to 40,000 -- a figure that could not be officially confirmed. The collective Get out of Nuclear put the number in Lyon and Toulouse at 10,000 and claimed another 5,000 protesters in Lille, in the north, as well as in the eastern city of Strasbourg.
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