Globetrotting — 4 ISI men killed in copter crash

LONDON: Four senior Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) personnel including brother of former Pakistan army chief Gen Aslam Beg wer...

LONDON: Four senior Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) personnel including brother of former Pakistan army chief Gen Aslam Beg were reported killed when a Taliban helicopter crashed near the embattled northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif, a Pakistani newspaper reported. The Taliban helicopter crashed in inclement weather at Sholgarah. “The personnel were playing a significant role in the ongoing Taliban offensive in northern Afghanistan”, a radio report said.

China executions

BEIJING: Chinese authorities have executed eight members of a Muslim separatist gang that bombed three public buses in the northwestern Xinjiang region in February killing at least nine people and injuring 58 others, China’s official news agency said today. The eight were executed on Thursday immediately after a public trial in the provincial capital of Urumqi, where the gang had placed five home-made explosive devices on buses throughout the city, three of which exploded.

Vietnam deaths

HANOI: An artillery shell left over from one of Vietnam’s many conflicts exploded and killed three children while they were banging on the shell’s metal casing like a drum. A fourth child was wounded in the blast earlier this week, a communist party newspaper reported today. The shell was likely a remnant from Vietnam’s war for independence against French colonialists.

US evacuation

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WASHINGTON: US Marines began evacuating between 200 and 300 Americans in helicopters early today from Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone in West Africa, where rebel soldiers have overthrown the elected president. The evacuations started at 0700 GMT, with 152 marines using ten helicopters, Pentagon spokesman Michael Byers said. The Americans were being taken to the amphibious warship USS Kearsarge, positioned about 20 miles (32 kms) offshore of Sierra Leone.

Kabila oath

KINSHASA: Self-proclaimed President Laurent Kabila took office as head of state of the democratic republic of Congo, formerly Zaire, today at a ceremony at Kinshasa’s main sports stadium. Kabila, whose forces marched into the capital on May 17 after a seven-month civil war, swore the oath of office in front of the head of the supreme court and a crowd of tens of thousands of people.

Teresa mission

NEW YORK: Mother Teresa, who arrived here this week without any fanfare or announcement, is expected to attend two ceremonies, one here and the other in Washington, where new members of her order of Missionaries of Charity will take vows. The ceremony in Washington is slated for June seven and in New York on June 11.

The 86-year-old mother stayed in Bronx convent of her order. But the convent did not release any itinerary. However, reports said she is travelling to Washington in a day or two. It is not known whether she plans any public appearances. Mother Teresa had gone to Rome to meet Pope John Paul and introduce her successor Sister Nirmala as superior general of the order .