TEHRAN – The Iranian army has arrested 36 officers who planned to attend last week’s Friday prayer sermon by former president Hashemi Rafsanjani in their military uniforms as an act of political defiance, according to Farsi-language websites.
The officers intended the gesture to show solidarity with the demonstrations against last month’s controversial presidential election result. – (Guardian service)
Iran releases Briton on bail
TEHRAN – Iran has released local British embassy employee Hossein Rassam on bail, according to his lawyer, three weeks after he was detained on charges of inciting unrest after the disputed presidential election. – (Reuters)
Two killed in Grozny shoot-out
MOSCOW – A senior police officer and an Islamist militant were killed in Russia’s turbulent Chechnya in a late- night shooting on Saturday, according to media reports.
The head of the criminal investigation department for a region within the Chechen capital, Grozny, died after militants opened fire from their vehicle, RIA news agency reported yesterday. – (Reuters)
Options for French hostages in Somalia
NAIROBI – Somali prime minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke has said that the government has not ruled out any option to free two French hostages, including letting Paris send commandos into the Horn of Africa nation.
Several abductions have rocked the interim government which is battling to wrest control of the country from Islamist insurgents. – (Reuters)
London to tackle Games trafficking
LONDON – A team of police officers is moving into the five Olympic boroughs in east London to tackle the expected surge in sex trafficking in the run-up to the 2012 games.
The Met has secured £600,000 (€695,000) to pay for the specialist unit which will work over the next three years to rescue young women who have been sold into prostitution to meet the expected demand from more than 25,000 construction workers in the next year alone. – (Guardian service)
Johnson to appear on ‘EastEnders’
LONDON – Mayor of London Boris Johnson will make a guest appearance on BBC soap opera EastEnders later this year.
He will appear in a scene set in the show’s famous Queen Vic pub where he has a run-in with its fiery landlady, Peggy Mitchell, played by Barbara Windsor. – (PA)
Costa Rica coup talks to resume
SAN JOSÉ – Costa Rican president Oscar Arias said both sides in the talks to resolve the coup in Honduras had agreed to resume talks, but they remained far apart.
Ousted president Manuel Zelaya threatened to declare negotiations a failure if no deal was reached by midnight and return to Honduras on his own. But his representative said they would give the talks at least one more day. – (AP)
Death of world’s oldest man at 113
LONDON – Henry Allingham, the world’s oldest man and the oldest surviving British serviceman from the first World War, died on Saturday at the age of 113.
Mr Allingham had five grandchildren and 12 great- grandchildren, 14 great-great grandchildren and one great- great-great grandchild.
He joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1915 before transferring to the RAF in 1918. He was the last survivor of the Battle of Jutland. – (PA)