■ AFGHANISTAN
Police search for German
Police continued their search yesterday for a female German aid worker who was kidnapped at gun point in Kabul. The Interior Ministry said the abductors were not Taliban guerrillas who have seized more than 30 people, many of them foreigners, in several parts of the country in recent weeks. It said the culprits could be members of a criminal gang, but added that their motive was not known. The woman was having lunch with her husband at a restaurant in the southwestern part of the city on Saturday when two gunmen seized her. Her kidnapping is the first of a Westerner in the Afghan capital for more than two years.
■ AUSTRALIA
Woman killed by camel
A woman was killed by a pet camel given to her as a 60th birthday present after the animal apparently tried to have sex, police said yesterday. The woman, whose name was not released, was killed on Saturday at her family's sheep and cattle ranch near Mitchell, 600km west of the Queensland state capital Brisbane, state police Detective Senior Constable Craig Gregory said. The 10-month-old male camel -- weighing about 150kg -- knocked the woman to the ground, lay on top of her, then exhibited what police suspect was mating behavior, Gregory said. "I'd say it's probably been playing, or it may be even a sexual sort of thing," Gregory said, adding the camel almost suffocated the family's pet goat by straddling it on several occasions.
■ INDIA
Flooding death toll rises
The death toll from floods triggered by heavy rains and snow melt in South Asia topped 2,700 yesterday as some rivers continued to overflow and delay aid efforts, officials said. In the eastern state of Bihar -- one of the worst hit -- the Ganges and other rivers surged above the danger mark, a government statement said, adding that efforts to bring food and drinking water aid had been affected. More than 1,900 people have died nationwide from the annual monsoon rain floods since June and millions have been displaced, the statement said.
■ SRI LANKA
Navy rescues fisherman
The navy rescued four Indian fishermen who used ice boxes to stay afloat for four hours after their boat capsized on yesterday, an official said. The fishermen were found in waters off the northern coast, an official at the Defense Ministry information center said. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing policy. He said the fishermen told their rescuers their boat capsized while they were fishing. The fishermen will be sent back to India soon, he said.
■ SOUTH KOREA
Opposition party votes
The opposition Grand National Party (GNP) voted yesterday to elect a presidential candidate, with the nominee likely to become a favorite to win office in December amid a backlash against President Roh Moo-hyun. Tens of thousands of delegates, ordinary members of the GNP, and selected citizens cast their votes across the country at 248 polling stations, said the nation's election watchdog. Voting was to end at 8pm and the winner was not expected to be announced until today at the GNP's national convention, said a party official who asked not to be named, citing policy. The party will also combine yesterday's vote with the outcome of an opinion poll of 6,000 people when choosing its candidate.
■ GAZA STRIP
Fuel deliveries allowed
Israel yesterday allowed deliveries of fuel into the Gaza Strip after a freeze that plunged some parts of the impoverished territory into darkness, the army said. Fuel was delivered into Gaza through the main transit point, the Nahal Oz terminal, a spokesman for the army said. Israel halted fuel deliveries through the terminal for "security reasons" on Thursday. The next day, the Palestinian electricity company said that it was stopping almost all its electricity production in the territory because of the lack of fuel, causing power cuts in several districts of Gaza City and the north of the strip.
■ ISRAEL
Palestinian report rebutted
The government yesterday denied Palestinian reports that it is prepared to drop its pursuit of more than 100 West Bank gunmen. On Saturday, Palestinian officials said Israel had submitted a list of 110 militants to whom it was prepared to grant amnesty -- most from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party. Government spokesman David Baker said there was no basis to the report. "No such list has been presented to the Palestinians," Baker said. Since early last month, Israel has offered amnesty to 214 gunmen, most from Fatah, even as it continues its arrest raids against militants in the West Bank.
■ UNITED KINGDOM
Woman on hold for hours
A customer trying to call telecoms operator BT Group was left hanging on the telephone for a total of 20 hours, the Times reported on Saturday. In a statement, BT blamed long response times on a new calling system. Hannah King, 51, called the BT helpline after an engineer failed to turn up to install a telephone line at her home in Milford Haven, south Wales. For eight hours she endured the sound of piped music. She gave up and tried again the next day, waiting eight hours before putting the phone down. The following day, she spent four hours on hold before hanging up. "I was so frustrated and angry I broke down in tears," she said.
■ NIGERIA
Film clip draws ban
The government of Kano has called for a one-year ban on local filmmaking to "sanitize" the industry after a sex video of an actress circulated widely on mobile phones. The video sparked criticism from conservative Muslims. The state's Filmmakers Association expelled 17 members for suspected involvement in "immoral acts such as drunkenness and fornication," even though they were not connected to the clip. The actress in question has gone into hiding. The Directorate of Societal Orientation also banned Hausa-language filming for one year.
■ IRAN
Drug smugglers caught
Eighty-five people from African countries have been arrested in a crackdown on an international drug trafficking network, the anti-narcotics police chief was quoted as saying on Saturday. "In the operation, 90 members of the group including 85 Africans from Tanzania, Nigeria and Ghana as well as two Pakistanis were arrested," Commander Hamid Reza Hosseinabadi said, quoted by the Fars news agency. He said the men "swallowed cocaine before traveling to Iran from Dubai and on their way back swallowed heroin, crack and crystal." He said the drugs were headed for Dubai, China, Thailand and European countries.
■ UNITED STATES
Woman, 73, locked in bank
A 73-year-old woman became trapped in a California bank when employees accidentally locked her in the building while she was examining her safe deposit box's contents. Marian Prescher, who has diabetes, apparently passed out during the ordeal because she did not have her diabetes medication with her. Prescher went to the Bank of America branch in Laguna Woods on Wednesday and was given use of a privacy room to examine her valuables. Employees left her in the room when they closed the bank at about 6 pm. Shortly after midnight, deputies received a call from a cleaning person who had discovered Prescher, cold to the touch and unconscious. She was treated at a hospital and released. "I just couldn't believe it, that they would leave me in there," she said.
■ UNITED STATES
Lottery machine pays double
A malfunctioning video lottery terminal gave gamblers credit for twice as much money as they had inserted, erroneously paying out US$450,115 during two months at a casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island. The machine was removed on July 15 after the error was discovered. The company that supplied the machine said it has reimbursed the money to the state. It is investigating whether any criminal activity occurred, whether the company can recoup any of the lost money and whether the problem could have been discovered earlier, a company spokesman said. He said the machine's money-doubling feature apparently was turned on accidentally.
■ UNITED STATES
Teen arrested for gang rape
A Florida judge ordered an 18-year-old man held without bail on Saturday after he was charged in a brutal gang rape on June 18 during which a woman was allegedly forced to perform oral sex on her son. Tommy Lee Poindexter will appear in Palm Beach County court today with three other teens who are also charged. All face possible life sentences if convicted. Poindexter was indicted on Thursday on 14 counts, including sexual battery, kidnapping and burglary. The teenagerss are accused of repeatedly raping and sodomizing the woman, beating both her and her son and forcing her to perform oral sex on her son.
■ UNITED STATES
Senator to be in "Batman"
Senator Patrick Leahy has a part in the next Batman movie. "I don't wear tights," said the 67-year-old Vermont Democrat, who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy's scene was filmed this summer for The Dark Knight. The longtime Batman fan would reveal little about his role other than he is called the "distinguished gentleman." "It's a pretty tense scene," Leahy said. "It's going to be a very interesting one." He's done voice-overs on Batman cartoons, written the preface for a Batman book and had small roles in the last two Batman features. He said he will donate his earnings from the film to the Kellogg-Hubbard children's library in Montpelier, where he got his first library card.
■ UNITED STATES
House fire sparks blaze
A house fire sparked a blaze on the west shore of Lake Tahoe, California, destroying at least two other homes and forcing evacuations, Placer County sheriff's deputies said. The wind-whipped,10-hectare blaze began on Saturday near the Sunnyside resort community just south of Tahoe City, the deputies said. No injuries were reported. The initial house was fully engulfed when crews arrived and the fire spread to nearby structures, forcing the evacuation of nearby homes and businesses, deputies said.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia