A suspected drone strike on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan killed five to seven people Thursday, intelligence sources said. The move will save the company £26 million ($42 million) annually and is the latest measure to help the airline through the economic downturn. Under the deal, pilots will see their pay cut by 2.6 percent while extra flying time allowances are reduced by 20 percent.
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BA pilots offered shares for pay cut
British Airways pilots are being urged to accept a deal under which they will receive shares in the struggling company in return for a pay cut, their union said Thursday. The move will save the company £26 million ($42 million) annually and is the latest measure to help the airline through the economic downturn.
Myanmar junta justifies Suu Kyi detention
The trial of Aung San Suu Kyi has been postponed until Friday while the country’s military junta once again justified — albeit indirectly — its detention of the opposition leader. Without mentioning Suu Kyi by name, a full-page article in the New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Saturday laid out the penalty for someone running afoul of the state’s subversion laws — under which the pro-democracy advocate is being tried. “The restrictions can be extended up to a total of five years with the prior approval of the government in accordance with the law,” the article said
Clerics: We don’t want to ban Facebook, we use it
Indonesian Islamic clerics say they have not called for a ban on popular social networking sites like Facebook, and that they are avid users themselves. According to media reports, the clerics in East Java had banned the faithful from gossiping and flirting on social networking Web sites such as Facebook and Friendster. They also demanded an end to “lewd and pornographic” content, the reports said.
Gurkhas near victory in battle for UK settlement
The British government planned to announce Thursday that all 36,000 retired Gurkhas who served in its army will be allowed to settle in the UK, a campaigner told CNN, marking a major turnaround in official policy. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith planned to make an announcement on Gurkhas in the House of Commons on Thursday afternoon
Pregnant UK woman in Lao jail meets lawyer
A pregnant British woman jailed in Laos has met with a British lawyer for the first time ahead of her impending trial, a U.K. legal aid charity said Wednesday. Samantha Orobator, 20, has been in a Lao prison since August
Lego Violence
Warning: “This is not a blog for children.” That’s according to the mission statement of the blogger Legofesto, who’s amazingly found a way to use LEGO — the stackable, clickable, infinitely malleable children’s toys — to tell the story of Guantanamo Bay detainees, prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison, British bank instability, and civilian deaths in the Iraq War. Legofesto, a blogger located in the United Kingdom, won’t reveal her identity, but her politics are clear.
UK troops end combat operations in Iraq
Britain officially handed over authority of Basra to Iraq on Thursday, marking the end of combat operations in the country after six years.
Worldwide swine flu cases continue to rise
The number of confirmed swine flu cases worldwide rose to 154, with six additional cases reported in Spain, the World Health Organization said Thursday. Until now, the country had four confirmed cases.
UK’s Brown suffers first defeat — on Gurkhas
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown suffered a stinging defeat in Parliament Wednesday, losing a vote over the right of Ghurkha veterans to settle in the United Kingdom. It was the first time Brown has lost a vote in parliament since he became prime minister in 2007