■INDIA
Saving Gandhi’s belongings
The country is preparing legislation to prevent more of Mohandas Gandhi’s belongings being auctioned off abroad, after a recent sale sparked outrage, the Press Trust of India reported yesterday. A senior official at the ministry of culture told the news agency that the government planned to obtain injunctions in advance in European and US courts against possible auctions of Gandhi’s possessions. “We want to preempt any auction of Gandhi items in the future by making it known that selling or buying these heritage articles is illegal,” the official was quoted as saying. “No one has the right to do this.”
■MYANMAR
New pagoda inaugurated
In a ceremony presided over by military supremo Senior General Than Shwe and attended by the junta hierarchy, a new pagoda for the capital of Naypyitaw was inaugurated on Saturday, media reports said yesterday. Than Shwe and his wife Kyaing Kyaing presided over the hoisting of the umbrella on top of the Uppatasanti Pagoda on Saturday in Naypyitaw, the country’s capital since 2004 that is situated about 350km north of Yangon, the former capital. The couple also donated a Buddha tooth relic, provided by China, to be placed inside the pagoda, the first to be opened in Naypyitaw since it became the country’s new capital, the New Light of Myanmar reported.
■PHILIPPINES
Rebels kill three fishermen
Gunmen attacked a fishing boat in the volatile south, shooting to death three fishermen and abducting two others, officials said yesterday. Government troops and police were trying to determine who was behind Thursday’s attack off Basilan Island, where al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants have been blamed for a surge in kidnappings for ransom, navy Commodore Alex Pama said. The gunmen on a motorboat approached the fishing vessel and opened fire. The two surviving fishermen were abducted and the boat’s engine and fishing equipment were seized, Basilan Vice Governor Al Rasheed Sakkalahul said.
■AUSTRALIA
Cyclone Hamish closes in
Thousands of holidaymakers fled one of the country’s top tourist destinations yesterday as a tropical cyclone lashed the northeast coast. Authorities in Queensland State ordered the evacuation of Fraser Island as Tropical Cyclone Hamish approached the World Heritage-listed site shortly after it was upgraded to a category five storm, the most severe on the weather scale. The cyclone has been tracking south about 120km off the Queensland coast, but meteorologists warn its path is unpredictable and it could veer onto the mainland, potentially sparking a major disaster. Five tourist islands have been evacuated.
■AFGHANISTAN
Two policemen killed
A joint Afghan-coalition patrol killed two Afghan policemen who opened fire on their team in the northeast, the coalition said in a statement yesterday. The joint patrol was conducting an operation against a senior insurgent leader in Kapisa Province late on Friday when the policemen began shooting, despite attempts to identify themselves as friendly forces, the statement said. “In self-defense, the patrol returned fire killing two individuals,” it said. The coalition said it is reviewing the incident. “We sincerely regret the loss of life of our friendly forces and we are continually working with our Afghan partners to prevent situations like this from happening in the future,” said Colonel Greg Julian, a spokesman for US forces.
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