Left ready to lead islands

FAROE ISLANDS: Left-wing opposition parties say they are set to govern the semi-autonomous Danish territory after defeating the ruling right-wing Union Party in elections.

Prime Minister Kaj Leo Johannesen’s Union Party, which has led the government since 2008, only won six seats.

Soyuz slowly blasts off to space station

KAZAKHSTAN: A Russian, a Dane and a Kazakh blasted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station (ISS) yesterday.

Andreas Mogensen became the first Dane in space, while Kazakh Aidyn Aimbetov got his chance to go into space when British singer Sarah Brightman pulled out.

The Soyuz spacecraft will taken an unusually long two-day flightpath to the ISS due to safety concerns after the station had to adjust its orbit to avoid orbital debris.

Wong pleads not guilty, boasts

HONG KONG: The leader of student anti-government protests last year pleaded not guilty yesterday to storming a government building, before boasting about it outside the court.

Joshua Wong denied inciting and participating in an illegal assembly at a magistrates’ court, along with accomplices Alex Chow and Nathan Law.

After posting bail, Mr Wong told reporters he didn’t regret the stunt, saying it was the “best decision” he had ever made.

Car bomb kills 10 and injures 25

SYRIA: A car bomb killed at least 10 people and injured 25 in the Syrian port city of Latakia yesterday.

It was one of the biggest bombings, and the highest single death toll, in the relatively peaceful town since the Western-backed rebellion against the government of President Bashar Assad broke out in 2011.

Ntaganda ‘not guilty’ of crimes

NETHERLANDS: Congolese militia leader Bosco Ntaganda pleaded not guilty yesterday to 18 charges, including murder, rape and sexual slavery, at the International Criminal Court.

The National Congress for the Defence of the People leader looked on impassively as chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda branded him a “notorious and powerful” military leader who had commanded troops responsible for slaughtering hundreds of civilians in the DRC’s eastern Ituri region in 2002 and 2003.

Bangkok suspect’s fingerprints match

THAILAND: The fingerprints of a suspect in last month’s Bangkok shrine bombing match those found on bomb-making materials and detectives are hunting a Turkish man, police said yesterday.

The new suspect, identified as Emrah Davutoglu, is the husband of a Thai woman who rented a flat where bomb-making materials were found at the weekend.

The wanted landlady has said she is now in Turkey but insists that she is innocent. Two other Turks are among eight wanted suspects.

Red Cross workers killed in convoy

YEMEN: Two Red Cross workers were killed yesterday when a gunman fired on a convoy they were travelling in between Saada and and the capital Sanaa.

On Tuesday, forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, which have controlled Sanaa since last year, announced that they would form a cabinet within 10 days after peace talks in Oman with the militias of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi broke down.

UN envoy meets rebel leaders

LIBYA: The United Nations special envoy for Libya met with leaders of the Tripoli-based government and says he hopes a draft agreement aimed at forming a national unity government can be finalised in coming weeks.

Bernardino Leon spoke of “tangible results” yesterday in the talks in Istanbul with the General National Congress, which controls much of north-western Libya.