Pakistan remembers Bhutto's birthdayISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP):
Pakistani officials commemorated Benazir Bhutto's birthday Saturday with plans to rename an airport after the former prime minister, build a monument on the site of her assassination and grant clemency to thousands of death row inmates. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani announced the measures in a speech to Parliament, which observed a minute of silence for the slain leader, who would have turned 55 Saturday.
Bhutto, who was head of the Pakistan People's Party, was assassinated in a bombing and shooting attack outside a December election rally in the garrison town of Rawalpindi. The country was stunned by her death, and Bhutto's party went on to win February elections and form the new governing coalition. Her birthday was marked in low-key ceremonies at her mausoleum in the town of Naudero, where dozens of sombre supporters gathered to offer prayers.
Mugabe says opposition lies HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP):
President Robert Mugabe accused the Zimbabwe opposition of lying over political violence to justify claims that next week's presidential runoff vote will not be free and fair, the official media reported Saturday. Mugabe said the Movement for Democratic Change was compiling names of alleged victims and falsely claiming that their supporters were being beaten up.
"They say this so that they can later say the elections were not free and fair. Which is a damn lie," the state Herald newspaper quoted him as saying at a campaign rally Friday in the western city of Bulawayo. Mugabe faces opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the June 27 run-off. Tsvangirai won the first round but not by an outright majority. The High Court on Saturday overturned a police ban on the opposition party's main pre-election rally scheduled for today at Harare's showground, opposition spokesman Nelson Chamisa said.
Tamil rebels killed
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP):
Sri Lanka's military attacked Tamil Tiger rebel positions along the civil war's northern front lines by land and air Saturday, killing at least four guerrillas, the military said. Four other rebels were killed in clashes a day earlier, it said. Air force helicopter gunships attacked a rebel gathering point in northern Mannar district to assist army troops fighting the rebels in the area, said air force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara. Nanayakkara did not give details about damage or casualties, but said the pilots hit their target.
Political crisis in Thailand
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP):
Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej planned to address the nation today on its escalating political crisis after he refused to yield to anti-government protesters who have vowed to besiege his office until he resigns. The demonstrators continued Saturday to occupy the area around Government House, the seat of Thailand's government, after breaking through a police cordon Friday. The crisis has escalated over the past three weeks as demonstrators took to the streets against his coalition government, which they claim is a proxy for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup.
Naomi Campbell says sorry
LONDON (AP):
Model Naomi Campbell says she is sorry she assaulted two police officers during a dispute about lost luggage aboard a British Airways plane. But she has refused to apologise to the airline, accusing it of racism. British Airways strongly denied the charge. Campbell, 38, was sentenced Friday to 200 hours community service and fined 2,300 pounds (US$4,600; €2,950) after she pleaded guilty to kicking, spitting and swearing at the officers aboard a plane at Heathrow Airport in April.
In an interview with Sky News broadcast Saturday, Campbell said she regretted her behaviour and said "I apologise profusely" to police.
"As for British Airways, I don't apologise," she said. Campbell accused British Airways staff of having racist attitudes. "I was called a racial name on that flight," Campbell said, adding that her violent behaviour "was part of my reaction." She did not say who had called her the name, but said it was not a passenger. In a statement, British Airways said it "does not accept any allegations of racism."
