■ Afghanistan
UN convoy ambushed
A UN convoy was ambushed in southern Afghanistan, the latest violence ahead of next month's parliamentary elections, and two people were injured. A driver for the UN Population Fund and a policeman guarding the convoy were hurt in the attack. There were no more details about who may have carried out the attack in Sangin district of Helmand province, which is infested with drug runners, disgruntled militia commanders and Taliban insurgents. But Afghan officials said the ambush was set by Taliban guerrillas, who have declared a holy war against government and foreign forces and aid workers. Dozens of aid workers, including some foreigners, have been killed in Taliban-linked raids since the US-led forces arrived in 2001.
■ Hong Kong
Dead birds investigated
Officials found a cluster of more than 170 dead birds at a Hong Kong park and were testing them for bird flu, the government said yesterday. The small song birds were Japanese white-eyes, and officials thought they might have died because they were raised as pets and set free but couldn't survive in the wild. The Oriental Daily News published a picture showing stacks of abandoned bird cages near where the birds were found. The birds were being tested for bird flu as a precaution.
■ Hong Kong
Lifeguards go on strike
Hundreds of Hong Kong lifeguards went on strike yesterday to protest government outsourcing of lifeguard services to private contractors, leaving 10 beaches unstaffed and forcing 23 public pools to partially close or shut entirely. Hong Kong has so far outsourced lifeguard services at four of the Chinese territory's 36 public swimming facilities and 32 public beaches. "When you make money the priority, the quality is bound to decline," lifeguard union official Alex Kwok said. Yesterday, about 300 lifeguards at Repulse Bay beach held signs reading, "How can you take people's lives lightly?" and "Outsourcing lifeguard services threatens swimmers' safety."
■ Australia
Ali G to tie the knot
The love interest in the box-office bombshell Wedding Crashers, Isla Fisher, said yesterday she was likely to marry British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen in her native Australia. Fisher, a former staple of the Home and Away soap opera television series, has been engaged to Cohen, better known as Ali G, for about a year. Fisher, 29, is in Australia to promote the romantic comedy Wedding Crashers that stars Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn and which is her breakthrough Hollywood film. Cohen has achieved worldwide success with "gangsta rapper" Ali G and other creations, including silly Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev.
■ Singapore
Smoking rules changed
Smokers will be allowed to light up only in designated areas at pubs, discotheques and outdoor food outlets starting next July, in the city-state's latest move to crack down on tobacco use. The move comes after the city-state passed a ban on smoking at bus stops, public swimming pools, toilets and open-air stadiums that will take effect in October. Singapore already bans the habit in many public areas and fines are levied for offenders. Under the plan, smokers at food and entertainment establishments may only smoke in designated areas. Also, separate ventilation systems must be installed in indoor smoking areas. Since last year, cigarettes packs have been plastered with pictures of sick babies, bleeding brains and other grisly images that the country hopes will persuade smokers to kick the habit.
■ United Kingdom
Teen arrested in ax killing
North of England police on Sunday arrested a 17-year-old in the Liverpool suburb of Huyton in connection with a racist attack in which a black student was bludgeoned to death with an axe, they announced early yesterday. The 18-year-old student, Anthony Walker, was left with the ax embedded in his skull in the "vicious and unprovoked" assault near his home in Liverpool on Friday night, in a shocking case in multi-cultural Britain. "Merseyside police has arrested a 17-year-old man from Huyton in connection with the death of Anthony Walker. He has been taken in a Merseyside police station where he will be questioned," the announcement said.
■ France
Two firefighters killed
The pilot and co-pilot of a fire-fighting plane were killed yesterday when the aircraft crashed while battling a blaze on the island of Corsica, the island's police said. The plane crashed in an uninhabited area near the city of Calvi, where it had been trying to contain a fire that has destroyed some 100 hectares of brush since it broke out on Sunday. The fire had been contained late Sunday, but broke out again yesterday because of the hot weather and rising winds.
■ Germany
Carousel kills child
Owners of an amusement park in Germany faced charges of negligent homicide yesterday after a 3-year-old boy was trampled to death under the hooves of horses on a children's carousel. The tot eluded his parents and hopped onto the moving carousel in the Rhine Valley town of Schoenborn Sunday evening. Losing his balance, he fell and became pinned under the mechanical horses. Eyewitnesses said there was a delay in stopping the carousel because the master switch was located in the cashiers booth, which was locked and unstaffed.
■ France
European banker dies
Wim Duisenberg, the former European Central Bank chief who helped create the euro currency, was found dead in his swimming pool in southeastern France, officials said. He was 70. An autopsy showed Duisenberg had drowned after an unspecified cardiac problem, a regional prosecutor said. He was found unconscious on Sunday in the swimming pool at his home in the town of Faucon and could not be resuscitated, police said. Duisenberg "died a natural death, due to drowning, after a cardiac problem," said Jean-Francois Sanpieri, a state prosecutor in the nearby town of Carpentras. He did not give further details about the autopsy. Prairie, and two adult sons from a previous marriage.
■ United States
More abuse at juvenile jails
Sexual assaults and other illicit incidents of sexual contact are reported at juvenile prisons at 10 times the rate than at adult lockups, a US government study finds. The research found 10 reported incidents for every 2,000 youths at state-run juvenile facilities. At state-run adult prisons, it was one reported incident for every 2,000 inmates, according to the study by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics released Sunday. The numbers are based on substantiated reports to corrections officials last year. Better reporting is one factor contributing to the higher rate at the juvenile corrections centers, said study co-author Allen Beck. State laws require staff to report sex allegations involving minors, he said.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
COMPETITION: The US and Russia make up about 90 percent of the world stockpile and are adding new versions, while China’s nuclear force is steadily rising, SIPRI said Most of the world’s nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their arsenals last year, setting the stage for a new nuclear arms race, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Nuclear powers including the US and Russia — which account for about 90 percent of the world’s stockpile — had spent time last year “upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions,” researchers said. Since the end of the Cold War, old warheads have generally been dismantled quicker than new ones have been deployed, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of warheads. However, SIPRI said that the trend was likely
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
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