SOUTH ASIA

PAKISTAN STAMPEDE LEAVES 29 DEAD

KARACHI, Pakistan – A stampede at the end of a religious gathering yesterday to mark the birth of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad left at least 29 women and children dead in southern Pakistan. The stampede occurred as thousands of women were leaving the Sunni Muslim Faizane-Medina center in the port city of Karachi after listening to clerics deliver sermons, a spokesman for the center, Hanees Billu, said. Witnesses said the fatal crush happened when a woman bent down to pick up a young girl who had fallen, causing other people behind her to trip.

– Associated Press

MIDDLE EAST

U.N. INVESTIGATOR VISITS DAMASCUS TO MEET PRESIDENT ASSAD

Serge Brammertz, who is leading the U.N. investigation into the assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri, was due to arrive in Damascus yesterday to meet the Syrian president, Bashar Assad, for the first time, the BBC reported.

Mr. Brammertz will also question Vice President Farouk Sharaa, foreign minister when Hariri was killed, whom the investigators say gave them false information.

Investigators have already concluded that Hariri could not have been murdered without the knowledge and assistance of senior Syrian officials. Syria’s former vice-president, Abdel Halim Khaddam, has accused President Assad himself of being involved in the assassination.

The Syrian government, which has denied any connection with the murder, has been criticized in two U.N. reports for failing to help the investigators.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

EAST ASIA

COSTUMED HONG KONG DISNEY WORKERS ACCUSE COMPANY OF UNFAIR PAY

Workers at the Hong Kong Disneyland have accused the company of unfair pay and working practices because workers who dress up as Mickey Mouse and other characters are not all paid the same amount, according to a BBC report.

The Hong Kong Disneyland Cast Members Union said there was a discrepancy in pay of up to 22% between those who appear in the theme park as Disney characters and those who appear in its stage shows. The BBC said that Disney was not immediately available for comment.

“Although character performers in the parade section and meet-and-greet … have similar roles and qualifications as those of the show cast, their salaries differ unreasonably,” the union, which also accused the company of making staff work more than the 45 hours a week outlined in their job descriptions and forcing them to multitask, said.

The BBC reports that the union also complained that workers at the park, which opened last September and is co-owned by the Hong Kong government, have been placed on short-term contracts so Disney can avoid paying healthcare and other benefits.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

WESTERN EUROPE

BRITISH, AMERICAN BOMBING VICTIMS SEEK COMPENSATION FROM GADHAFI

British IRA victims are to join with American victims of IRA bombings to seek compensation from the Libyan government and its dictator, Colonel Gadhafi, over claims the country supplied the Irish terrorist organization with Semtex explosives, the BBC reported.

Jason McCue of H2O Law said the case would cite 10 IRA bomb attacks, including the Enniskillen Remembrance Day bombing in Northern Ireland in 1987,which killed 11, the 1993 Warrington, England bombing, the “Harrods bomb” of 1983, which killed six, and the Manchester, England bomb of 1996, the BBC reported.

Colin Parry, whose son Tim, 12, died in the Warrington bombing, told the BBC, “It is important the state of Libya is held to account.”

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

IT’S TIME FOR YOUR TABLETS … AND YOUR CHOCOLATE

LONDON – Heart patients at a leading hospital will be treated with chocolate if a revolutionary experiment is given approval. A professor of experimental therapeutics, Roger Corder, is so convinced of the possible benefits of consuming dark chocolate that he has asked for permission to test the theory as part of the treatment for 40 cardiovascular patients. While the notion that chocolate could be good for you is not new, this would be the first time it is has been used on heart patients.

The key, scientists argue, is in its molecules, or polyphenols – especially the largest group, flavonoids. Flavonoids possess an anti-oxidant effect that acts on the body’s LDL-cholesterol – the so-called “bad cholesterol” found in the blood that hardens arteries and causes blockages.

– The Daily Telegraph