2 die in wall collapse

BHUBANESWAR: Two people died in Orissa on Wednesday when the wall of their mud house collapsed while they were sleeping. Police said the incident took place in Mangalabasti on the outskirts of the state capital. — HNS

Blast suspects held

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police arrested three men accused of supplying arms and ammunition for the Babbar Khalsa International-triggered twin cinema blasts on May 22 here. “The three had supplied the arms and ammunition for the twin cinema blasts in the city. All three are Hindus from Jammu,” police said. — HNS

240 prisoners freed

YANGON: Myanmar’s military government released about 240 prisoners on Wednesday, mostly political detainees, an opposition spokesman said. Those released included members of the opposition National League for Democracy, party spokesman Nyan Win said. — AP

US team attacked

KABUL: Rebels attacked a US military medical team as it was helping villagers in the same region of eastern Afghanistan where a US airstrike that killed up to 17 civilians sparked sharp criticism from the government, the military said on Wednesday. No one was wounded in the assault. — AP

Tigers shoot at cops

COLOMBO: Assailants shot and seriously wounded two police intelligence agents on Wednesday in the latest in a surge of attacks blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels, the police and military said. The policemen were traveling on a motor bike when two suspected rebels opened fire on them in Kalmunai, about 220 km east of Colombo, police said. — AP

650 on death row

DHAKA: Fast-track courts in Bangladesh have sentenced 311 people to hang since 2002, taking the number of death row prisoners to 655, the law ministry said on Wednesday. The “speedy trial tribunals” began handing down death penalties in November 2002 for crimes like murder and rape, although the sentences have not yet been carried out. — AFP