■AFGHANISTAN
Five workers shot dead
Five Pakistani road construction workers were shot dead and one was wounded in Kandahar yesterday, police said. The workers were traveling to a construction site when two gunmen on motorbikes opened fire at their minivan at about 7am, Kandahar deputy police chief Mohammad Shah Faroqi said. The Pakistanis worked for Saita Construction Co, a Japanese joint-venture with a contract to repair the road from Kandahar to Punjwai district, Faroqi said.
■AFGHANISTAN
70% of recruits drop out
Nearly 70 percent of recruits to the elite armed police force drop out, the top US army officer in charge of training new Afghan security forces said on Tuesday. Lieutenant-General William Caldwell said the 67 percent “attrition rate” in the Afghan National Civil Order Police was “far too high” and revamping the way they worked to avoid burn-out was one of his main priorities. The elite police force makes up 3 percent of the national police overall. Following his speech to the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London on Tuesday, Caldwell told journalists at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday the overall dropout rate in the police was 25 percent.
■PAKISTAN
30 militants killed in clash
The military killed 30 Taliban fighters in a battle in the northwest tribal belt yesterday, officials said. More than 100 armed Taliban militants stormed a checkpost of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in the district of Mohmand local official Maqsood Ahmed said. The pre-dawn assault in the town of Chamarkand left one soldier dead and four wounded, he said. “Troops equipped with mortars and long range cannons retaliated killing 30 militants,” he said.
■INDIA
Villagers attack ashram
Angry villagers ransacked a Hindu guru’s ashram about 30km from Bangalore on Wednesday after TV stations aired footage allegedly showing him fondling two women in bed, police said. The long-haired Paramhamsa Nityananda, 32, who claims to have devotees in 33 countries, was not present when the villagers stormed the retreat and smashed furniture located, police said. The ashram believes the footage was faked. Police said they had taken steps to guard it against further attacks. “We have deployed about 100 men to guard the Nityananda Mission and protect the devotees,” area police superintendent S.B. Bhisanhalli said. He said the footage did not appear to have been recorded at the ashram.
■SINGAPORE
Gum ban sticks
The government yesterday stuck to its 18-year ban on the import and sale of chewing gum, which has become an international symbol of the city-state’s image as a strict society. “The government stands by its decision to ban chewing gum,” Maliki Osman, parliamentary secretary at the Ministry of National Development, told parliament. “Chewing gum has not been a significant problem since that ban took effect. There have been concerns that lifting the ban on chewing gum could result in chewing gum litter and undermine ongoing efforts to curb littering.”
■SOUTH KOREA
N Koreans pursue defector
Several North Korean soldiers crossed the border into the South this week, apparently to pursue a defecting soldier, Seoul’s military spokesman Park Sung-woo said yesterday. The North Korean soldiers crossed the border about an hour after a fellow soldier fled to the South on Tuesday, Park said, adding that they retreated after South Korean soldiers fired warning shots and did not return fire. The defector is being questioned, Park said.
■INDONESIA
Terror suspects charged
Police have charged 14 suspected Islamist militants arrested in Aceh Province with planning terrorist attacks and shot dead another, an official said yesterday. The men were caught in several raids since Feb. 22, when the first four were arrested by police after a gunbattle in a suspected militant training camp, police spokesman Major General Edward Aritonang said. “We have been able to prove that they were planning terrorist acts,” he told reporters. They confessed to undergoing paramilitary training including weapons use and hand-to-hand combat at the raided camp in preparation for a terrorist attack, he said, declining to specify the alleged target.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Michael Foot dies, aged 96
Michael Foot, whose left-wing leadership of Britain’s Labour party in the early 1980s prompted a split which paved the way for the modernizing Tony Blair, died on Wednesday aged 96, the party said. Prime Minister Gordon Brown led tributes to Foot, known for his unkempt appearance, eccentric manner and sharp intellect when he led Labour from 1980 to 1983, before quitting after a heavy election defeat by Margaret Thatcher. “Michael Foot was a man of deep principle and passionate idealism, and one of the most eloquent speakers Britain has ever heard,” Brown said.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Theaters infested with mice
Any West End theater wanting to mount a production of Cinderella the Pied Piper of Hamelin or the Nutcracker Suite won’t have far to look for the furry co-stars — a whisker-twitchingly gruesome survey by the actors’ union Equity showed that three-quarters of theaterland is infested with mice, rats and fleas. Perhaps the most shuddery response was from an anonymous actor who left makeup on her dressing table after a show: “I had tiny bite marks on my lipstick recently when I left the lid off.” Another said: “Mice, mice, mice. Quite often there is an unpleasant smell which usually turns out to be a dead one.”
■UNITED KINGDOM
Lords mull getting cats
The House of Lords has a momentous decision to make: Should it get cats to chase the mice that have infested one of Britain’s most famous buildings? London’s Houses of Parliament, also known as Westminster Palace, has rodents and the peers aren’t exactly sure what to do about it. Ivan Anthony Moore-Brabazon, the House’s administration chief, on Wednesday turned down suggestions to acquire cats. He says the felines could ingest mice poison or wander around the chamber and disrupt business. He favors the current tactic of using poison and mousetraps.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Women barred from flight
Two women, one a Muslim, have become the first people to be barred from boarding a flight because they refused to go through a full-body airport scanner. Manchester airport confirmed on Wednesday that the women, who were booked to fly to Islamabad with Pakistan International Airlines, were told they could not get on the plane after they refused to be scanned for medical and religious reasons. The women had been selected at random, the airport said. The Muslim woman decided to forfeit her ticket and left her luggage at the airport. Her companion also left the airport.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Lazy dog-owner fined
An English dog-owner has been fined after taking his pet for a stroll while driving next to him in his car. Prosecutors said Paul Railton was spotted driving at low speed along a country lane in December, holding his dog’s leash through the car window as the animal trotted alongside. Railton pleaded guilty on Monday to not being in proper control of a vehicle. He was ordered by magistrates to pay a £66 (US$100) fine, plus costs.
■YEMEN
Al-Qaeda suspects arrested
Security forces arrested 11 al-Qaeda suspects in the capital Sana’a, killing one man during the operation, the defense ministry’s news Web site reported yesterday. The man killed was the father of one of the suspects and opened fire on security forces, wounding one of them, before being shot dead, the Web site said.
■SOCCER
Brazil bans fan cursing
Fans have been prohibited from cursing and making obscene gestures inside some Brazilian stadiums as authorities look to promote a “healthy environment” at matches. The soccer federation in the northeastern state of Paraiba has included a rule in this year’s regional championship saying that “violent, immoral and offensive” acts, including curse words and obscenities, are not allowed during matches. The federation says the ban is intended to “make [soccer] stadiums in Paraiba a healthy and safe” environment for families and children. There is no specific punishment for those who disrespect the rule.
■SOCCER
Pioneering manager dies
Macclesfield Town manager Keith Alexander has died at age 53 after returning home from Tuesday’s league match with Notts County, the League Two club announced on Wednesday. Alexander created history in 1993, after a respectable playing career as a striker in the lower divisions, when he became the first black manager in English soccer on being appointed at Lincoln. Alexander — who played internationally for St Lucia — enjoyed a second successful spell back in charge of Lincoln from 2002 to 2006 guiding them on four successive occasions to the League Two play-offs despite them being on the verge of going out of business when he took over. Alexander had suffered from health problems before, the most serious when in November 2003 he collapsed with a double aneurysm, revealing afterwards that he had to be brought back to life three times. He had recently returned to work after taking time out because of illness. “Keith was a splendid man. He will be sorely missed at the Moss Rose [Macclesfield’s ground] and by everyone involved in football,” a club statement said.
■SOCCER
Romario to run for Congress
Star Romario de Souza has announced plans to run for Congress in October elections as a Brazilian Socialist Party candidate. “My principal objective is to work with all my strength to aid impoverished children,” the Brazilian star known simply by the name Romario said in his first television ad on Tuesday evening. The prolific striker is no stranger to controversy. His luxury Rio apartment was auctioned off last year for US$4.5 million to pay debts and he was convicted of tax evasion and investigated in connection with a murder linked to an illegal gambling network. He spent 22 hours in custody until he paid a debt of US$45,000 to his first wife and mother of two of his six children.
■TENNIS
Hantuchova progresses
Second-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia defeated Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain 6-3, 7-6 (6) to reach the second round of the Monterrey Open. The Slovakian next faces Kaia Kanepi of Estonia. In a key second-round match, third-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia defeated Polona Hercog of Slovenia, 6-2, 6-3. Hercog reached the final last weekend against Venus Williams in Acapulco in the Mexican Open, a clay-court tournament. Pavlyuchenkova faces Klara Zakopalova of Czech Republic in the quarter-finals. Zakopalova defeated Patricia Mayr of Austria, 6-4, 6-3, while Alize Cornet of France ousted seventh-seeded Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada, 6-2, 6-3. Also in the second round, American Vania King defeated Julie Coin of France 6-3, 6-3.
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
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
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not