■ANTIGUA
Newlyweds’ killers arrested
A man and a teenager were charged on Monday in the killing of a British couple on their honeymoon, officials in the Caribbean island said. Kaniel Martin, 20, and Avie Howell, 17, appeared before a judge in the capital, St. John’s, on charges of murder, robbery and receiving stolen property. They were ordered held without bond. Neither suspect entered a plea to the charges, though the lawyer for Martin later said he would plead innocent. Benjamin and Catherine Mullany, both 31 and from Wales, were married on July 12 and went to Antigua for a two-week honeymoon. They were shot before dawn the day before they were meant to leave.
■CANADA
Rider hammers bus driver
Police say three people were injured when a woman attacked the driver of a Toronto public transit bus with a hammer. Police say Chelsea Simon, 23, boarded the bus on Monday morning and accused the driver of not stopping for her earlier on the route. They say she then began swinging the hammer and injured the bus driver. Police say passengers tackled the woman to the floor until police arrived. Police say two other people suffered minor injuries. Simon is charged with assault with a weapon.
■ARGENTINA
Gays can claim pensions
The government on Monday announced its first nationwide gay-rights measure: granting same-sex couples the right to claim their deceased partners’ pensions. Couples must prove they have been living together for at least five years to receive the benefit, Amado Boudo, executive director of the national social security administration, told local television reporters. Gay activists welcomed Monday’s announcement as the fruition of years of campaigning for the government to grant them the same rights as heterosexual married couples. Gay civil unions already are legal in five cities, including Buenos Aires. The Argentine capital has become one of the hotspots on the international gay-friendly tourist circuit, going head-to-head with Rio de Janeiro.
■ALGERIA
Islamists hit police school
More than 40 people were killed in a suicide attack yesterday morning on a police school at Issers in the Kabylie region, 60km east of Algiers, witnesses said. The attacker drove a car packed with explosives at the main entrance to the school as candidates for an entry exam were waiting outside, witnesses said. Civilians as well as police officers were among the victims they said. Authorities had not yet issued an announcement about the attack, but witnesses at the scene said that a major security operation was under way there. Yesterday’s attack comes as newspapers reported an attack on Sunday in which Islamist extremists killed 11 members of the security forces and a civilian.
RSS