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World News Quick Take

■INDIA

Seven militants killed

At least seven suspected militants were killed in combat with security forces in the northeastern state of Manipur yesterday, a news report said. A group of heavily armed rebels clashed with paramilitary troops in the Imphal East district, 30km southeast of state capital Imphal, the IANS news agency reported quoting police sources. “Based on hard intelligence inputs, an Assam Rifles column went to the area for an anti-insurgency operation when they came under attack from militants with automatic weapons,” a police officer told IANS. The troops retaliated and the encounter lasted for nearly an hour, leaving seven rebels dead, he said.



■THAILAND

Obama invites ASEAN heads

US President Barack Obama plans to invite the 10 ASEAN leaders to Washington next year to further strengthen ties with the region, media reports said yesterday. “Kurt Campbell, the assistant state secretary for East Asia and Pacific, revealed during an informal talk with international participants attending a conference in Washington on Burma [Myanmar] last week that Obama would make an official [invitation] announcement during the upcoming ASEAN-US summit in Singapore,” the Nation newspaper reported.



■AFGHANISTAN

Canadian soldier killed

A Canadian soldier has been killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) that detonated while he was on foot patrol in southern Afghanistan, the Canadian military said on Saturday. Sapper Steven Marshall was killed on Friday 10km southwest of Kandahar City, Canada’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement.



■ROMANIA

Hawke praises Madonna

Actor Ethan Hawke on Saturday praised Madonna for her boldness in speaking out against discrimination against Gypsies, words that provoked boos from thousands of fans at her concert in Romania. Hawke, visiting Romania to help promote his mother’s charity supporting education for Gypsy children, placed the pop superstar alongside Bob Marley and John Lennon as part of a tradition of artists speaking out against racism. “She transcended being a pop star,” he told reporters. “She drew international attention and shone the spotlight on a level of racism and the need for greater education.” At an August concert in Bucharest on her “Sticky & Sweet” tour, Madonna called for an end to widespread discrimination against Eastern Europe’s Gypsies, also known as Roma. Thousands of fans responded by booing her.



■MALTA

Government denies probe

The Maltese government said on Saturday it “is not prepared” to investigate the testimony of the key Lockerbie trial witness, despite claims his evidence wrongly incriminated the Libyan man convicted of the bombing. The Justice Ministry was forced to issue a denial after British newspaper the Daily Telegraph quoted unnamed Maltese official legal sources saying Malta wanted to look at Tony Gauci’s claims. The ministry said in a statement: “The government categorically denies that any government official said that the Maltese government is preparing to look into the testimony Maltese national Tony Gauci gave during the trial. The Maltese government is not prepared to do any such thing.” Gauci, a shopkeeper, had identified Libyan Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi as the man who bought clothes from his shop later found wrapped around the bomb. Documents published recently by al-Megrahi’s lawyers claim that after the trial Gauci was paid a sum “in excess of US$2 million,” while his brother Paul was paid “in excess of US$1 million” for their cooperation.



■UNITED KINGDOM

‘Rocky Horror’ record broken

Some 1,570 fans of the cult musical The Rocky Horror Show gathered in Brighton, England, on Saturday to break the Guinness world record for the largest Time Warp dance, organizers said. The event was led by the show’s writer Richard O’Brien, who said he was “over the moon” over the accomplishment. Fans were recruited through the show’s Web site, social networking sites and a recent appeal on British TV. The previous record was set in July last year by 192 people in Staffordshire, England, but an unofficial attempt took place in Melbourne, Australia, in September last year involving 1,050 people.



■RUSSIA

Limonov, protesters arrested

Special units of Russian police arrested a number of protesters, including writer Eduard Limonov, at an unauthorized demonstration by government opponents on Saturday, a report on the Web site of opposition leader Garry Kasparov said. Witnesses said hundreds of police were deployed to prevent the demonstration, which was broken up violently.



■RUSSIA

Plane crashes in Yakutia

An Interior Ministry plane crashed shortly after takeoff in northeastern Russia yesterday and all 11 people on board were feared dead, authorities said. Itar-Tass reported that six bodies had been found after the Il-76 Candid aircraft crashed after leaving Mirny airport in Yakutia. IANS news agency quoted a regional ministry official as saying that everyone on board had died.



■BOLIVIA

Church urges end to skulls

The Catholic Church has called on the faithful to stop using human skulls at special Mass celebrations, a practice they link to occult powers. The Bolivian Episcopal Conference on Friday asked its faithful to cast aside the “growing” trend of seeking protection from bad luck by making offerings of coca, cigars or drinks to human crania. The plea came just days before a major festival, the Day of Skulls, on Nov. 8. Known locally as Natitas, the festival, which is believed to be pre-Colombian, sees families adorn skulls, sometimes those of relatives, with flowers, hats, candles and other decoration. La Paz’s Archbishop Edmundo Abastoflor warned many of the skulls in fact belonged to “unknown people, obtained by grave robbing and later conserved, donated or even sold.” He urged practitioners of the Andean ritual to “let them rest in piece.”



■MEXICO

Tzotzil Indians seize office

Some 150 indigenous farmers took over a UN office in San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas to demand the release of three jailed leaders, their group said on Saturday. The Tzotzil Indians, who also sought “refuge as internally displaced persons” during Friday’s move, took this “desperate measure to attract attention and secure the release of three comrades,” the Emiliano Zapata Farmers’ Organization said in a statement. The three were arrested last weekend by the police and army on charges of using the group for drug and arms trafficking. Prosecutors say the trio are part of “Los Pelones,” the armed wing of the Sinaloa drug cartel, “and are known for being very active in arms and drug trafficking.” The farmers accuse the Chiapas government of trying to “criminalize social struggle.”



■MEXICO

Farm leader, 14 more, slain

A farmworkers leader and 14 people who were apparently his relatives and employees are dead in a mass shooting in Sonora state on Friday. Prosecutors’ spokesman Jose Larrinaga says the victims include farm leader Margarito Montes, 10 other men, one woman and three minors. It appears the killers used assault rifles. The Permanent Agrarian Council farm group said Montes was ambushed by a gang of gunmen near his home, and called on the government to catch the killers.



■UNITED STATES

Crews clean up Bay spill

Crews are working to clean up a fuel leak in San Francisco Bay a day after an oil tanker spilled hundreds of liters into the water. Coast Guard officials say skimmer boats are scooping up shipping fuel about 4km southeast of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. An estimated 1,500 to 3,000 liters of oil spilled into the water after a fuel line ruptured on Friday during a fuel transfer on the Panamanian-flagged Dubai Star. There are no reports so far of oiled wildlife. The California Department of Fish and Game has suspended fishing between the Bay Bridge and the San Mateo Bridge along the Alameda County shoreline.



■UNITED KINGDOM

Man locked in ambulance

A 65-year-old man in Manchester was locked inside an ambulance for five hours when his driver forgot about him after finishing his workday, it was reported on Saturday. The man was trapped inside an ambulance used for ferrying patients to appointments. The driver, who was supposed to return him to his care home after a hospital appointment on Tuesday, is thought to have forgotten about the man after dropping off three other patients. The driver has been suspended.


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