PAKISTAN
Stray mortar strikes family
A stray mortar smashed through a house in a northwestern village early yesterday, killing three children and their mother and injuring their father, police said. The pre-dawn incident took place in Shaikhan village, a suburb of Peshawar close to the Khyber tribal district, where the military is fighting against local warlord Mangal Bagh and his Lashkar-e--Islam faction. Senior police officer Shafiullah Khan said it was not yet clear who fired the mortar.
AFGHANISTAN
Minister survives bombing
A minister survived a roadside bombing yesterday, the third attack on high profile officials in three days, a provincial governor said. Higher Education Minister Obaidullah Obaid was traveling between the northern provinces of Baghlan and Kunduz when his motorcade hit a roadside bomb, similar to those used by Taliban insurgents. The minister escaped unhurt, but two policemen escorting his convoy were wounded, Baghlan Governor Munshi Abdul Majeed said, blaming the blast on the Taliban. In a separate attack the same day, a twin bombing wounded 14 people in Logar Province. The second explosion hit security forces as they gathered to investigate the first and the casualties were mostly police, army and intelligence investigators, police said.
SCOTLAND
ETA suspect arrested
The Spanish Ministry of the Interior says a suspected member of Basque separatist group ETA has been arrested in Scotland. The 36-year-old man was taken into custody in Edinburgh by police, with the assistance of Spanish officers. The ministry said on Saturday that Benat Atorrasagasti Ordonez was arrested late on Friday. Atorrasagasti allegedly joined ETA in 1996 as a courier whose mission it was to facilitate border crossings for ETA members and material between Spain and France. ETA is blamed for killing more than 825 people in a campaign for an independent Basque state. It is classified as a terrorist organization by Spain, the US and the EU.
BAHRAIN
Protestors, police clash
Anti-government protesters have clashed with police in widespread demonstrations against moves by authorities to ban opposition rallies. The clashes on Saturday included demonstrators hurling fire bombs and challenging riot police carrying out raids. The government said it would not approve further opposition marches, claiming they disrupt everyday life. Dozens of state-authorized opposition marches have been held, but most demonstrations are spontaneous street protests that lead to clashes. The government’s decision is likely to escalate confrontations between the Sunni monarchy and protesters led by Bahrain’s Shiite majority, which claims it faces systematic discrimination.
CYPRUS
Suspected terrorist detained
Police have detained a young Lebanese man who holds a Swedish passport on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack against Israeli interests in the country, media reports said on Saturday. A police spokesman said he could not confirm or deny the reports because it was a “sensitive political issue.” Online news Web site Sigmalive said the man was arrested in his hotel room last week. It said the suspect appeared before a closed court for a second time on Friday where he was detained in police custody for another seven days. State television said Israeli intelligence agents had supplied information to the authorities regarding the suspect.
MEXICO
Gunmen rape seven girls
A group of gunmen has attacked a juvenile religious retreat outside of the capital, raping seven underage girls and beating and robbing other residents, officials said on Saturday. A statement by the prosecutor’s office said the attack, which occurred on Thursday night, targeted a juvenile prayer camp located at Colibri Park outside of Mexico City. About 90 young boys and girls were camping at the retreat, dedicating their time to prayer and religious studies, the officials said. The attackers, which included about a dozen armed individuals, “sexually assaulted seven underage girls and beat several other people,” said the statement.
BRAZIL
March draws 1 million
Police say at least 1 million evangelical Christians took part in Saturday’s annual “March for Jesus” in Sao Paulo. The event was organized by the Reborn in Christ Church and drew faithful from hundreds of Protestant churches across the nation, which is the world’s largest Roman Catholic country. Police Captain Luis Fernando Otaviano said that “the number of people participating is extremely high — at least 1 million.” Organizers have described the march as the “largest Christian event in the world,” saying they expected at least 5 million people to rally behind 15 sound trucks and attend religious music shows likely to last well into the night.
UNITED STATES
Toddler shoots dad dead
Police said a three-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his father after finding the man’s loaded handgun in a southern Indiana home. Indiana State Police Sergeant Jerry Goodin said the 33-year-old Martinsville man had brought his gun with him on Friday to a home he was remodeling in Salem, about 40km northwest of Louisville, Kentucky. Goodin said the man, his wife, their three children and a juvenile relative were at the home when the three-year-old boy apparently found the gun and it accidentally discharged, fatally wounding the man.
HONDURAS
Woman sold baby for US$5
Police have arrested a woman said to have sold her two-month-old daughter for 100 lempiras (US$5) and US$1 worth of grapes, local media reported on Saturday. Karina Castro, an 18-year-old from west of the capital, Tegucigalpa, was reported by a friend to guards at the Hospital School. Emerita Ondina Vega said Castro, who allegedly suffers from mental illness, gave her daughter, born on May 2, to an unknown woman, who has not yet been located, for 100 lempiras and grapes at Belen Market northwest of the city.
CANADA
Bird ruins PM’s jet
A jet used to ferry the prime minister and top government officials, as well as the British royal family on visits, has been grounded after a mid-air collision, possibly with a turkey vulture. The Challenger jet was on approach to land at the MacDill Air Force Base in Florida on May 24 when it collided with a “very large bird,” a defense department official said on Saturday. It landed safely, but was so badly damaged that it was grounded for several weeks until a temporary fix allowed it to return to Ottawa on July 10. The bird strike caused damage to the radome and bulkhead, the official said, adding: “Due to the extent of the damage to the aircraft, a course of action for its repair has not yet been determined.”
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
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
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