Two policemen and one insurgent killed in militant attack
Kabul: Taliban militants ambushed a patrolling police vehicle in southern Afghanistan yesterday, killing two policemen and losing one of their own fighters, an official and the group said. Four rebels were also wounded in the fighting in Shajoy district of insurgency-hit Zabul province, provincial police chief Mohammad Nabi Mullahkhil said.
Gomez freed but his passport is seized
Singapore: An opposition candidate detained after Singapore's election was released yesterday but police seized his passport while investigating a criminal complaint filed by poll officials against him. "I was told I cannot leave the country and they have impounded my passport," James Gomez, who ran unsuccessfully for the opposition Workers' Party in Saturday's parliamentary election, said.
Lightning kills five boys playing cricket
Dhaka: At least five children were killed by lightning while playing cricket on a school pitch near the northern town of Gafargaon, police said yesterday. The children, aged 9 to 10, died on the spot as lightning struck the pitch at Makhal Kaldhair village, local police chief Abdur Rashid Shikder said. "Among the dead were two brothers. Other kids who were playing the cricket match on Sunday afternoon were unhurt," he said.
Fertility rate hit record low in 2005
Seoul: South Korea's fertility rate fell to a record low last year as women have been having fewer children due to economic constraints and waiting until later in life to have them, according to a report released yesterday. The average number of children per women of child bearing age was 1.08 in 2005, down from 1.16 in 2004, the National Statistical Office said in a report.
Judges for genocide tribunals appointed
Phnom Penh: Cambodia's King Naradom Sihamoni has approved the Cambodian and UN judicial officials selected to oversee a trial of surviving Khmer Rouge leaders, paving the way for a long-awaited genocide tribunal. The tribunal's international officials come from Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Japan, Poland, Sri Lanka, the Netherlands and the United States, according to a list released by the court.
Polls back on track after shaky start
Suva: Voting in Fiji's racially charged election resumed yesterday as officials sought to assure voters opening day glitches would not affect the outcome, but observers feared that the real trouble may come after ballots are cast. Some minor problems were reported but there was no repeat of the chaotic start to the week-long poll on Saturday, when thousands of voters waited for hours because ballot boxes and papers were late arriving. Some voters were turned away.
Court prepares for Bali bombing trials
Jakarta: A court in Bali prepared yesterday to open the trials of four people accused of involvement in triple suicide bombings on the resort island last October which killed 20 bystanders. "The separate trials of the four suspects will all open tomorrow (today). Everything is ready," Denpasar district court deputy chief Nyoman Gede Wirya said.
Relatives kill boy rather than obey tribal elders' order
Karachi: An 11-year-old boy was strangled by relatives who killed him rather than obey a tribal elders' order for them to marry one of their womenfolk to the child, police in Karachi said yesterday. The marriage had been ordered in compensation for the kidnapping of the boy's sister.
Four nations conference begins
Islamabad: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan began a two-day conference here yesterday to discuss sale and tranmission of electricity from power surplus Central Asian states to other states. The four-nation meeting on electricity trade is also being attended by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank.
31 die as mercury hits 47 Celsius
Multan: At least 31 people have died as a searing heatwave brought temperatures of nearly 47C to central Pakistan, officials said yesterday. The hot spell comes amid a warning from the country's top meteorologist that Pakistan faces a possible drought with no significant rain expected in the next two months.
Gunmen kill Sunni cleric in Korangi
Karachi: Unidentified gunmen killed a Sunni cleric in a poor western neighbourhood of Karachi. At least two gunmen barged in to Mufti Shafique-ul-Alam's house in Korangi area and shot at him at close range.
Some 5,000 African immigrants arrived so far in 2006
Madrid: Some 5,000 immigrants from Africa, travelling in small boats, landed on Spain's Canary Islands during the first four months of 2006, and most were transferred to the Spanish mainland, officials said yesterday. To prevent overcrowding in centres on the islands, some immigrants are regularly sent by plane to continental Spain from where they are expelled if their nationality cannot be established after 40 days.
Berlusconi party to reject Prodi candidate
Rome: Outgoing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said his centre-right bloc would vote against the candidate for Italy's presidency proposed by centre-left leader Romano Prodi in the first round of voting yesterday. Berlusconi told reporters the centre-right would support Gianni Letta, his closest aide. Prodi on Sunday put forward Giorgio Napolitano, a member of the Democrats of the Left party.
Row over Armenian genocide intensifies
Ankara: Turkey said yesterday it had recalled its envoys to France and Canada "for consultations" amid a growing row over Armenian genocide claims. Turkey strongly denies claims that some 1.5 million Armenians perished in a systematic genocide committed by Ottoman Turkish forces. Several countries have passed resolutions in the past recognising the genocide, sparking Ankara's ire and brief trade boycotts, but a French Bill would go further by imposing a heavy fine or imprisonment for genocide denial.
