Other world news in brief
Dutch queen in security scare as 30 injured
AMSTERDAM – Dutch police detained two suspects after a disturbance at a Remembrance Day ceremony yesterday that injured 30 people and forced security officers to escort Queen Beatrix from the scene.
During a two-minute silence for victims of war at the war memorial in Amsterdam, someone yelled an unintelligible remark which caused panic and confusion among the crowd. More than 30 people were hurt, most trampled underfoot or falling against safety barriers. Police detained two suspects.
Just over a year ago the queen was the target of an attack on the April 30th Queen’s Day national holiday when a Dutchman rammed his car into onlookers at a royal parade in Apeldoorn, killing himself and seven others. – (Reuters)
Bakiyev 'will not be extradited'
MINSK – Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko says he will not hand over Kyrgyzstan’s ousted president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, to face charges over the violent upheaval in the central Asian nation last month. On the same day that Kyrgyzstan’s interim government ordered prosecutors to seek Mr Bakiyev’s extradition, Mr Lukashenko said such a request would be futile.
“Nobody has appealed to me officially [with an extradition request],” Mr Lukashenko said, “but I want to immediately declare officially: these requests will be hopeless and humiliating for the interim government.” – (Reuters)
Suspect gas attack on girls' school
KABUL – Twenty-two Kabul schoolgirls and three teachers were brought to hospital yesterday in what Afghan authorities described as the fourth suspected poison gas attack on a girls’ school in weeks.
The incident was the first in the capital after three suspected poison attacks on girls’ schools in the northern city of Kunduz over the past few weeks, and several at provincial schools last year.
Authorities have failed to identify the substance they say caused girls and teachers to fall unconscious, but they say it could have been a poison gas released by opponents of girls’ education. – (Reuters)
Woman fined for wearing face veil
MILAN – A 26-year-old Tunisian woman has been fined for wearing a face veil while walking to a mosque in northern Italy, stoking debate on the integration of Muslim minorities in Europe.
Police in the city of Novara, a stronghold of Italy’s anti- immigration Northern League, stopped the Muslim woman on Friday while she was walking with her husband to prayers wearing a black niqab that covered her face but left her eyes exposed.
In Germany, interior minister Thomas de Maizière said talk of a ban there was “inappropriate and therefore unnecessary” after Belgium’s parliament voted to outlaw veils and France said it would start debating a possible ban soon. – (Reuters)
Christopher Walken nominated for Tony
NEW YORK – Film actor Christopher Walken has been nominated for a Tony award for his performance in English-born Irish playwright Martin McDonagh’s play A Behanding in Spokane.
Fela!, a new dance musical that tells the story of Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, and a revival of the musical La Cage aux Folles lead the nominations for Broadway’s top theatre honours, announced yesterday.
Both musicals picked up 11 nominations, followed by a revival of August Wilson’s play Fences, which picked up 10. Fences actors Denzel Washington and Viola Davis were both nominated.
Other Hollywood stars nominated include Jude Law for Hamlet and Catherine Zeta-Jones for A Little Night Music. Scarlett Johansson was nominated for A View From the Bridge. – (Reuters)