■ INDIA
Autopsy says teen drowned
A fresh autopsy report on British teenager Scarlett Keeling says she was drowned by her killers, according to a document released on Saturday. The autopsy shows the 15-year-old girl was raped and then held under water for five to 10 minutes and that the cocktail of alcohol and drugs in her body was "not enough to cause coma and death," the report released in Goan state capital Panaji said. The report said her killers had covered her nostrils and mouth. "The findings in this case are consistent with exact [text] book picture for homicidal drowning in shallow water," the report said. Earlier police had said Scarlett was drugged, raped and left to die in the Arabian Sea last month by two men.
■ INDIA
Mid-range missile tested
A medium-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile capable of hitting most targets in Pakistan was test fired yesterday, a defense official said. The Agni-1 missile, which has a range of more than 700km, was fired at 10:15am from an island off the coast of the eastern state of Orissa. "The user trial of the missile passed the requisite expectations," the official said. The Agni -- Sanskrit for "fire" -- is a 12m medium-range ballistic missile that can be fired from mobile launchers and can carry a 1 tonne warhead.
■ JAPAN
Man stabs mall shoppers
One person was stabbed to death and at least seven others injured in a knifing spree at a shopping mall yesterday, police said. The attack occurred in the city of Tsuchiura, said Kiyoto Ogata, a police spokesman. At least seven shoppers were injured and an eighth -- a 27-year-old man -- died as he was rushed to a nearby hospital, Ogata said. Police arrested the alleged attacker, a 24-year-old jobless man who was already wanted for the earlier slaying of a 72-year-old man. The extent of the victims' injuries and the attacker's motive were not immediately known, Ogata said.
■ MYANMAR
Protester sets self afire
A man set himself on fire at Yangon's most famous landmark in a political protest against the military junta, witnesses said yesterday. Thousands of pilgrims were gathered at the city's famed Shwedagon pagoda for a Buddhist holiday on Friday when a 26-year-old man shouted "Down with the military regime," doused himself with gasoline and set himself ablaze, witnesses said. The man remained in critical condition with severe burns at a hospital yesterday, a hospital official said. The incident was the first known case of self-immolation in the country since the military regime took over in 1962.
■ TURKEY
Bird flu detected
Authorities detected bird flu in chickens at a village in the northwest and culled 1,000 birds, state-run media said on Saturday. It was not clear whether the virus found at Esetce, close to the border with Greece, was the H5N1 strain. Officials did not immediately confirm the report. Esetce Mayor Muazzibin Nekes was quoted by Anatolia news agency as saying the area was under quarantine.
■ CROATIA
Man builds chocolate castle
A man claimed on Saturday that he has built the biggest castle made of chocolate after working for 24 hours on his candy construction in a central Zagreb square, national television reported. The 3m high construction with a 6m-by-2m base was made of chocolate bars from a local producer Kras. The candy castle builder, Krunoslav Budiselic, boasted that his effort deserved a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Some 100,000 chocolate bars were used to build the castle, which weighs 10 tonnes. After the castle was built its "bricks" were being sold as part of an Easter-time charity event to help disabled athletes.
■ ITALY
Pope busy over Easter
After presiding over two Good Friday ceremonies, Pope Benedict XVI's next public Holy Week ceremony was an Easter night vigil Mass in St Peter's Basilica. The vigil, which traditionally opens with candles lighting up a darkened basilica, was scheduled to start at 9pm on Saturday night. Yesterday morning, there were more Easter traditions awaiting the pontiff. Tens of thousands of faithful were expected to flock to St Peter's Square for a midmorning outdoor Mass led by Benedict on the steps of the basilica and to hear him read holiday greetings in many languages.
■ GERMANY
Peace demonstrations held
Thousands demonstrated for peace on Saturday in traditional Easter marches around the country. Some 1,000 marched in both Stuttgart and Duesseldorf, and 40,000 to 50,000 people were expected to join 32 demonstrations around the country, said Willi van Ooyen, spokesman for the organizers. Demonstrations included signing a petition against extending the German military's mission in Afghanistan, which would later be presented to the German parliament, van Ooyen said. Since the 1970s, Germans have taken advantage of the country's four-day Easter weekend to stage a variety of protests calling attention to a host of international and national issues and urging peace.
■ CONGO
Religious group banned
The government said on Saturday it has banned a religious sect after clashes between its members and police left at least 68 people dead. The Bundu Dia Kongo -- meaning "Kongo People," a group urging a return to traditional African values -- clashed with security forces from late last month after its leader accused police of bombing its temples. "The government has decided to remove the Bundu Dia Kongo's authorization to function," Minister of Information Emile Bongeli said. Bongeli said the government has ordered security forces to destroy "36 Birds," the name of a hallucinogenic drug plant used by the sect's followers. Nsemi Ne Mwanda, the spiritual leader of the sect and a member of the National Assembly, has refused to comment.
■ UNITED STATES
Cornflake sells for US$1,350
Two sisters sold their Illinois-shaped cornflake on eBay on Friday night for US$1,350. The winner of the auction is the owner of a trivia Web site who wants to add the cornflake to a traveling museum. "We're starting a collection of pop culture and Americana items," said Monty Kerr of Austin, Texas. "We thought this was a fantastic one." This is not the first cornflake Kerr has tried to buy. He said he bought a flake billed as the world's largest, but that by the time it arrived it had crumbled. McIntire and her sister Emily, 15, listed the cornflake last week, but eBay canceled the auction saying it violated its food policy. The sisters then advertised a coupon redeemable for their cornflake, instead of the cereal itself.
■ UNITED STATES
Man brings horse to hospital
A man hoping to cheer up an ailing relative at Wilcox Memorial Hospital hadn't considered one of the visitation rules: No horses allowed. The man thought the patient would enjoy seeing his stallion, said Lani Yukimura, a spokeswoman at the Kauai, Hawaii, hospital. He and the horse entered the hospital earlier this month and rode an elevator up to the third floor, where they were met and stopped by security personnel. The hospital has a pet visitation policy, but it's for dogs and cats, not horses. The man's good intentions were further dashed when his relative was brought out to see the horse. "That's not my horse," the patient said to hospital staff.
■ UNITED STATES
Body found after tornado
Workers found a body on Saturday while clearing rubble from a building damaged over a week ago when a tornado slammed into downtown Atlanta, police said. "We may have the first tornado victim in the city of Atlanta, but we won't know for sure until the medical examiner" returns with results, Officer James Polite said. The front of the damaged building had been a store while the rear had been rented out to a local church. Workers using a Bobcat to scoop up bricks and debris saw a hand sticking out of the rubble and called police, Polite said. Investigators brought in two cadaver dogs to search the rubble east of downtown, but no other bodies were found.
■ UNITED STATES
Speeder blames Oreo
Police say a man's excuse for speeding through a small Connecticut town takes the cake -- or, at least, the cookie. A state trooper who stopped the 1993 BMW last fall says its driver, 28-year-old Justin Vonkummer of Millerton, New York, blamed his driving problems on an errant Oreo. Vonkummer told the trooper that an Oreo had slipped from his fingers as he dunked it in a cup of milk, and that he was trying to fish it out when he lost control of his car. Vonkummer was charged with speeding and driving under a suspended license. The case is pending.
■ VENEZUELA
Nine dead in prison riot
A prison riot between rival gangs left nine inmates dead and 20 more wounded, media said on Saturday. The fighting began on Friday morning when gunfire broke out in the San Fernando de Apure lockup in the center of the country, according to the Caracas-based El Nacional daily. The uprising was controlled with the help of more than 100 national guard and police agents, it said. Of the country's nearly 20,000 inmates, about 500 were killed and more than 1,000 wounded last year in riots and other violence, according to the Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons watchdog group.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
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