Nationwide protests over mosque deaths
ISLAMABAD Protests were staged in Pakistan over a government assault that left more than 100 people dead at the Red Mosque in the capital, as security was tightened to foil possible revenge attacks. At least 1,200 demonstrators chanted slogans denouncing President Musharraf after emerging from mosques following afternoon prayers in Karachi. Smaller rallies were held in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad and elsewhere. Islamic militants have called for retaliatory attacks against the Government. (AP)
Journalist killed
BAGHDAD An Iraqi journalist working for The New York Times was shot dead in the Sadiyah area of southwest Baghdad as he drove to the newspaper’s bureau. Khalid Hassan, 23, was able to speak to his mother on his mobile phone after he was shot. He was the third journalist employed by a Western news organisation to be killed in Iraq in the past two days. (AP)
Hope for nurses
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SOFIA Ivailo Kalfin, the Bulgarian Foreign Minister, has expressed optimism that a settlement is close in the case of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who have been sentenced to death in Libya for allegedly infecting more than 400 children with the Aids virus. The Libyan Supreme Judiciary Council is due to review the case on Monday, and could reject the convictions. (AP)
British jail for Taylor
FREETOWN Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia who is on trial over atrocities allegedly committed in Sierra Leone’s civil war will, if convicted, serve his sentence in Britain under a deal signed by British authorities. The United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, sitting in The Hague, has accused him of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. (Reuters)
Extradition backed
DELHI The Indian Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Maninder Pal Singh Kohli to stop his extradition to Britain to face trial for allegedly raping and killing Hannah Foster, 17, near her home in Southampton in 2003. However, on July 20 the court is to hear arguments on his appeal challenging a magistrate’s decision that there was enough evidence to justify sending him back to Britain. (AP)
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Fight for grandson
PHILADELPHIA A couple in their eighties are fighting in a Philadelphia family court for custody of their five-year-old grandson, whom authorities took away because they said the pair were too old to bring up the hyperactive boy. Mildred Brasovankin, 85, and her husband Morris, 89, are seeking the return of Steven, who was born a crack baby and has developmental problems. (Reuters)
Concerns raised over surgical castration
STRASBOURG The Czech Republic’s use of chemical and surgical castrations for sex offenders has raised concerns in the Council of Europe’s antitorture committee after members visited prisons and psychiatric hospitals in Brno and Dobrany. The committee’s report said that safeguards were lacking, and it questioned how informed and free the choice was for prisoners volunteering for castration. It said: “Free and informed consent is hardly reconcilable with a situation in which the options open . . . are extremely limited: surgical castration or possible indefinite confinement in a psychiatric hospital.” (AFP)
Landslide deaths
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KATHMANDU At least 21 people, including several women and children, were killed by a landslide that was triggered by heavy rains in western Nepal. The landslide swept away six houses in the Gwalichour village in Baglung district, about 250km (150 miles) west of Kathmandu. Rescue workers have been sent to the remote village with tents, clothes and medicines, according to police. (Reuters)
Islamists’ threat
MOGADISHU Delegates from across Somalia are pouring into the capital for a reconciliation meeting tomorrow, regarded as the Government’s last hope of securing peace and strengthening its legitimacy, but Islamist insurgents have vowed to disrupt it. President Yusuf’s interim Government has struggled to impose authority since ousting the Islamic Courts in late December. (Reuters)
Searching the skies
TENERIFE The new Great Canary Telescope (GTC) in the Canary Islands, one of the world’s most powerful telescopes, will be trained on the skies next week to search for planets similar to our own. The Canary Islands Astrophysics Institute said that the GTC, one of the world’s largest telescopes, “would be able to reach the weakest and most distant celestial objects of the universe”. (AP)
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Scenes not stolen
BEIJING A court ruled that a Chinese science fiction writer did not have enough evidence to prove that 20th Century Fox stole his ideas when making the 2004 movie The Day After Tomorrow. Li Jianmin, 43, had said there were at least 308 scenes in the film that were similar to the plots of two plays he completed in 2001 and 2002. Fox denied infringing Mr Li’s copyright. (AP)
Late fatherhood
NEW YORK Alfonse D’Amato, the former US Republican senator, and his wife, Katuria, 41, are expecting their first baby next February. Mr D’Amato reaches 70 on August 1 and the couple celebrate their third wedding anniversary next week. The three-term senator, who now runs a consulting firm, has four adult children from his previous marriage and 14 grandchildren. (AP)