Fri, Aug 20, 2010 page7

• World News Quick Take

  • AGENCIES
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  ■ INDIA

  Truck crashes, kills 38

  A truck crowded with people returning from a party swerved off a mountain road into a gorge in the state of Himachal Pradesh, killing 38 people and injuring 37. Police and villagers helped pull out the injured and take them to hospitals after Tuesday’s crash, and emergency workers used ropes and pulleys to retrieve the truck, police officer Roop Chand said on Wednesday. Doctors have described the condition of at least eight people as critical, Chand said.

  ■ MALAYSIA

  Volunteer security expanded

  The country is expanding a volunteer security corps accused of human rights abuses and adding to its responsibilities, even though the new recruits won’t be trained for now, the corps leader said yesterday. The government-backed corps, known by its acronym RELA, is meant to help police and other authorities conduct neighborhood patrols and track down foreigners without valid documents. However, activists have said in recent years that the Home Ministry should disband the force of 1.6 million volunteers because many have been accused of extorting money from illegal immigrants and physically abusing them.

  ■ CHINA

  Fireworks factories closed

  Authorities in Heilongjiang Province have shut all fireworks factories after a blast this week at an unlicensed plant killed 20 people, state media said yesterday. The provincial work safety board has rescinded the production permits of all nine factories in Heilongjiang and ordered them to dismantle all manufacturing facilities by Sept. 15, Xinhua reported. The explosion on Monday at the unlicensed plant near the city of Yichun left more than 150 people injured, and shattered windows in buildings 1km away. Four people are still unaccounted for. The plant’s permit had been canceled in June amid safety concerns, the report said. Two local work safety officials have been fired over the incident. Another official, along with the factory chief and his deputy, have been detained, Xinhua said.

  ■ INDONESIA

  Women-only trains launched

  The country launched women-only train carriages yesterday to counter sexual harassment on public transport. The carriages, fitted out with pink seats, are initially available only on the Jakarta to Bogor line and can be found at the front and back of commuter trains, an official with the state rail company said. “We want to improve our service and protect female passengers so they feel more safe,” rail official Makmur Syaheran said. He said the single-sex wagons were optional and women could still use the other carriages if they wished. “We want to prevent sexual harassment on public transport. There has to be moral support from everyone,” he said.

  ■THAILAND

  Arms dealer faces extradition

  The suspected Russian arms dealer known as “The Merchant of Death” is tired of prison life, but optimistic that an appeals court will rule in his favor today and refuse to extradite him to the US, his lawyer said. Viktor Bout, a 44-year-old former Soviet air force officer, is reputed to be one of the world’s most prolific arms dealers. Bout’s high-profile arrest in a 2008 US sting operation in Bangkok ended nearly a quarter century of cat-and-mouse chases for the elusive Russian. The Bangkok Criminal Court ultimately rejected the US extradition request in August last year.

  ■ UNITED STATES

  Ex-NASA man pleads guilty

  NASA’s former chief of staff pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a federal conspiracy charge stemming from a US$600,000 contract awarded by the agency to Mississippi State University, a client of his consulting firm. Courtney Stadd pleaded guilty to one conspiracy charge in a nine-count indictment in federal court in Gulfport, Mississippi, said Sheila Wilbanks, a US attorney office spokeswoman. He faces up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of US$250,000 at sentencing, set for Nov. 18, she said.

  ■ UNITED STATES

  Bees take cop hostage

  A swarm of bees held a North Carolina policeman hostage in his car for three hours after escaping from a broken-down truck near Raleigh on Tuesday morning. Brandon Jenkins responded to calls about a vehicle stopped on the side of the road, which turned out to be a truck transporting 60 beehives. Such journeys are routinely done at night so the bees stay in the hives, but this time, they flew out when they sensed light and warmth of the day outside. “They were confused, without their queen, they swarmed the police car probably because that was the biggest thing around that they could find,” Wake County sheriff’s spokeswoman Phyllis Stevens said. Between 30,000 and 50,000 bees were removed from the white exterior of the police car, which had largely disappeared under the swarm, she said. Jennifer Keller, a beekeeping expert from North Carolina State University was called in to help. “I had never seen anything quite like that,” she said. “The bees had nowhere to go. I guess they used the car as a resting spot.” Freed from the swarm, Jenkins continued on his way.

  ■ CANADA

  Bears guard drug cache

  The Mounties said on Wednesday they were astonished to find at least 14 wild black bears guarding an illegal marijuana growing operation after a recent raid on the property in British Columbia. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sergeant Fred Mansveld said two growers arrested in the raid apparently used dog food to lure the bears onto the property. “They were tame, they just sat around watching ... at one point one of the bears climbed onto the hood of a police car, sat there for a bit and then jumped off,” he said. “We also found a pot belly pig and a little raccoon sleeping on the bed ... it was friendly, it tried to climb one officer’s leg.”

  ■ BRAZIL

  Ex-sex worker seeks office

  A former prostitute turned anti-AIDS campaigner plans to make a run for state office in general elections in October. Gabriela Leite, 59, launched her campaign to become a Rio de Janeiro state congresswoman for the Green Party under the slogan Puta Deputada, a pun on a Portuguese term that can mean either “deputy whore” or “hell of a deputy.” She has gained fame for launching a clothing label, Daspu, whose revenues go to providing aging prostitutes with a sort of pension and promoting the prevention of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases

  ■ UNITED STATES

  Hairdresser arrested

  Police have arrested a Beverly Hills hairdresser accused of defrauding celebrity clients such as Jennifer Aniston, Cher and Anne Hathaway. Maria Gabriela Perez, 51, is accused of using the credit card numbers of the stars who used her salon to run up bills in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Perez, who was arrested without resistance in front of her clients, faces 25 years in prison if convicted.
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