20 killed in Indonesian karaoke bar fire

JAKARTA – A least 20 people died and two were injured when fire engulfed a third-floor karaoke bar in one of Indonesia's largest cities yesterday, police said, adding that the death toll could rise. Fire fighters contained the blaze in the multistory building in Medan on Sumatra island and extinguished it within hours, fire brigade spokesman Mohammad Zein said. The bar had been filled with hundreds of patrons, local media reported. More victims could still be found in the debris, police chief Maj. Gen. Badrudin Haiti said.

Ammo crates found at suspect's home

MANILA – Philippine soldiers using metal detectors, sniffer dogs and an excavator dug up more than a dozen crates of bullets yesterday in the mansion of a local mayor linked to last week's massacre of 57 people, a spokesman said. Hundreds of army and combat-trained police units searched houses belonging to local mayor Andal Ampatuan, Jr., main suspect in the country's worst election-related violence, and his father. They seized a shotgun, several mortar shells, military uniforms and combat boots from two more houses belonging to another Ampatuan son. Outside the walled compound, half a dozen armoured vehicles mounted with machineguns stood guard.

Harper speaks out on rights in China

SHANGHAI – Canada's prime minister said yesterday that he would continue to speak out on human rights in relations with China, a day after his host publicly chided him for taking so long to visit the country. Canada's differences with China have widened since Prime Minister Stephen Harper's conservative government took office nearly four years ago. His visit, part of a swing through eastern Asia, appears aimed at overcoming negative sentiment on both sides. In a speech to a business group in China's commercial capital, Harper said Canada wants better ties with the Asian powerhouse, especially as the world's economy increasingly becomes centred on the Pacific. But he said economic growth was also connected to human rights.

Lawmakers demand testimony by Rogers

WASHINGTON – A House Democrat says someone from the White House social secretary's office should have helped the Secret Service clear people into last week's state dinner, saying "even Walmart has a greeter". Continuing a ten-day uproar over the security breach last Tuesday, Rep. Loretta Sanchez of California told NBC's 'Today' show she believes Congress has a right to hear social secretary Desiree Rogers explain how a Virginia couple got into the state dinner without invitations.

Rebels deny they carried out suicide bombing

MOGADISHU – A spokesman for Somalia's al Shabaab rebels denied yesterday that the group was behind a suicide bombing at a medical graduation ceremony that killed at least 22 people, including three government ministers. But analysts pointed out that the bloodshed had been a PR disaster for the insurgents, and the UN envoy to the country said it was "outrageous" to suggest anyone else was to blame. Doctors, students and their parents were among the dead at Mogadishu's Shamo Hotel following Thursday's attack, which was the worst in the failed Horn of Africa state for five months.

Impunity may fuel Uganda poll instability

KAMPALA – Impunity over past electoral violence and abuses in Uganda may mar the 2011 vote and increase the chances of instability in east Africa's third largest economy, Human Rights Watch said yesterday. Uganda is gearing up for a presidential election in early 2011, probably between the same contenders as in previous polls, in a coffee-producing nation that is emerging onto the world oil scene and attracting more investors. "The lack of accountability for election-related violations can sow the seeds of civil unrest if political opposition is quashed," the New York-based group said.

Zuma says lust for money undermines ANC

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa's ruling ANC is in danger of being undermined by a lust for money and a scramble for positions within the party, President Jacob Zuma said yesterday. In an unusually harsh criticism of the party he leads, Zuma told veterans of the African National Congress' military wing that some ANC members used bribery to attain positions of power. "Money and positions have undermined the ANC. They sought to change the character and values of the ANC," SAPA news agency quoted Zuma as telling delegates at the launch of the ANC Veteran's League.

'Encouraging' signs for cash at climate summit

OSLO – A UN-led drive to raise cash to help poor nations cope with global warming is looking "fairly encouraging", three days before a 190-nation climate conference, the UN's top climate official said yesterday. Yvo de Boer also expressed hopes that US President Barack Obama would announce significant new aid on December 9 when he visits Copenhagen near the start of the December 7-18 talks. Raising cash to help poor nations shift economies away from fossil fuels and adapt to environmental changes – such as shifts in monsoon rains, desertification or mudslides – is one of the big obstacles to a new UN deal to fight climate change.

UK ministry shuts down UFO unit

LONDON – Britain's Ministry of Defence has had a close encounter of the credit crunch kind. After more than 50 years of service, the ministry has shut down its UFO investigation unit, saying it could no longer justify the cost of running the service. The ministry said it had found no evidence of a threat to Britain or proof of the existence of extra-terrestrials, despite the public sending thousands of reportings of UFOs to a ministry hotline and email address. It said it held no opinion on the existence or otherwise of alien life, but added it had "no specific capability for identifying the nature of such sightings".

Adviser calls for review of foreign student visas

LONDON – The government's chief immigration adviser called yesterday for a review of jobs taken by foreign students in Britain to check they are not flouting visa rules. David Metcalf, chairman of the Migration Advisory Committee, said he was concerned about the number of colleges and further education bodies students could attend and then apply for post-study visas. Students are allowed to stay for two years to give them time to find a job, although this is meant to be work requiring a higher qualification.

Man shot dead in Manchester robbery

LONDON – A 30-year-old man has died after being shot outside a money transfer bureau in Manchester, police said yesterday. A gunman had confronted the victim, named locally as Khurram Ashraf, after he and a colleague shut up shop on Thursday evening at the business where they worked in the Longsight area of the city. Ashraf was shot in the stomach and later died in hospital. The gunman made off with £10,000 in cash and a laptop computer, a police source said. Greater Manchester Police said they had arrested 20-year-old man from the area on suspicion of murder.

Glaxo's swine flu shot may give kids fever

LONDON – The European Medicines Agency warns that young children given GlaxoSmithKline's swine flu shot may get a fever after their second dose. In a statement issued yesterday, the European drug regulator said data from GlaxoSmithKline Plc showed a higher number of children aged six months to three years had a fever after their second dose of the Pandemrix vaccine, compared with the first. Kids were also more likely to have side effects like muscle pain, drowsiness, and irritability. The European regulator recommends children get two doses of swine flu vaccine, though Glaxo says one dose is enough.

Network Rail signal staff to strike in Wales

LONDON – Network Rail signalling staff are to strike for six days in south Wales this month over plans to introduce new work rosters, their union said yesterday. The strike action at the rail operator will begin on December 14 and run until Saturday, December 19, after a ballot returned a two-to-one vote in favour, the RMT union said. The new rosters would see the current 12-hour rosters changed to eight hours at a control centre opening in south Wales in January.

'Dam Busters' star Richard Todd dies aged 90

LONDON – British actor and Second World War hero Richard Todd died on Thursday aged 90, British media reported yesterday. Todd was one of the first British officers to land in Normandy in advance of the main D-Day landings and then went on to become Britain's highest-earning post-war matinee idol. His most memorable screen role was that of Wing Commander Guy Gibson in the 1955 film 'The Dam Busters'. A spokesman for his family said Todd died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday at his home near Grantham in Lincolnshire.

America declared Iraq win 'too soon'

LONDON – A former British military chief said yesterday the United States decided it had won the war in Iraq too soon. Lt. Gen. Anthony Pigott, a former deputy chief of the defence staff, said the US was too triumphant in the immediate aftermath of the invasion. "Nobody had won anything when the statue came down," Pigott said, referring to the incident when US Marines tore down a statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad in 2003 in what became one of the iconic images of the US-led invasion. He added that the reconstruction of Iraq after the invasion had not been handled correctly.

EU calls for more unity in Ukraine

KIEV – EU President Jose Manuel Barroso says Ukraine needs to show more political unity on European integration and more predictability on gas supplies, if the bloc's relations with Ukraine are to move forward. Barroso spoke yesterday at annual EU-Ukraine summit, which fell short of signing a new framework for ties. He said energy relations were the key sticking point in the talks with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.