■ VATICAN
Officials to meet Chinese
Representatives of China's official Catholic Church are to hold three days of talks later this month at the Vatican with Holy See officials, the Vatican said on Saturday. A commission, set up by Pope Benedict XVI and led by Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, will meet from today to Wednesday to discuss relations, a statement said. China severed ties with the Vatican in 1951 when the Holy See recognized Taiwan. The Vatican says it will abandon ties with Taiwan if China guarantees religious freedom and allows the pope to name Chinese bishops.
■ INDIA
Autopsy suggests foul play
Doctors who conducted a fresh autopsy on a British teenager found dead on a beach in the resort of Goa believe she was murdered, officials said. The panel of three doctors recommended that police open a murder inquiry into the death of Scarlette Keeling. A first autopsy on 15-year-old Keeling concluded she had drowned, leading to charges by her family of a cover-up. The autopsy panel did not confirm rape but said that some of the injuries indicated sexual assault, the Times of India said yesterday. Keeling's body was found on the beach with her clothes partially removed on Feb. 18, while her family was on holiday in the state of Karnataka.
■ THAILAND
PM vows not to interfere
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej yesterday vowed not to interfere in the trial of his old ally Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted prime minister who is due in court this week to face corruption charges. "People said be careful, this government should not interfere with the justice system," Samak said on his weekly television address. "This government would not dare to interfere with justice." Thaksin returned to Thailand on Feb. 28 for the first time since his ouster in a military coup in September 2006. He is due in court on Wednesday when he is expected to enter a plea on charges of using his political office to win a property deal for his wife.
■ SRI LANKA
Military clashes with Tigers
At least 56 Tamil Tiger rebels and four government troops have been killed in heavy fighting across the embattled north over the weekend, the defense ministry said yesterday. Helicopter gunships were deployed against suspected Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam strongholds in the coastal district of Mannar on Saturday, the ministry said. There was no immediate word from the Tigers, but the pro-rebel Puthinam.com Web site said the guerrillas had resisted the military offensive, killing 22 government troopers and wounding 72.
■ AUSTRALIA
Dig finds outlaw's remains
Archaeologists said yesterday they believe the remains of iconic outlaw Ned Kelly have been found in a mass grave at the site of a former prison. Kelly was hanged at the Old Melbourne Gaol in 1880, but documents show his remains and those of 32 other executed prisoners were exhumed and reburied at Pentridge Prison in 1929. Digs at the site of the former prison have unearthed unmarked coffins containing the badly decomposed remains of the prisoners. Kelly, a bank robber who killed three policemen, evaded capture for nearly two years before his gang faced a final showdown with the law on June 28, 1880. Three of the four gang members were killed and Kelly, wearing heavy armor made out of ploughshares, was wounded and captured.
■ FRENCH GUIANA
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