SC relief for Sonia

New Delhi: In a major relief to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy’s petition asking for a case against her for a false declaration about her educational qualifications. Swamy contended that Sonia Gandhi had filed an affidavit stating that she had undergone an English course from Cambridge. But he found out from the university that she had never been a student of that university. — HNS

Fishermen on protest

HONG KONG: Fishermen on Monday stationed their boats off the building site of Hong Kong Disneyland, demanding the project be halted for allegedly polluting local waters and killing an estimated 1.6 million fish. But the government, which is funding the project due to open September 12, said the claims were false.— AP

Tigers kill pro-govt activist

COLOMBO: A suspected Tamil Tiger rebel on Monday fatally shot a member of a pro-government Tamil group in the island nation’s northeast, the military said. Wijedasan Wijendran, 25, was shot in Trincomalee by a suspected member of the LTTE, military spokesman Brig Daya Ratnayake said. — AP

Aceh guv gets 10-yr jail

JAKARTA: An Indonesian court on Monday sentenced the governor of Aceh province to 10 years in jail for corruption, in a verdict seen as an important test case for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s battle against endemic graft. A newly created anti-corruption court also fined Abdullah Puteh $431,000 for siphoning off state money. — AP

Impure water kills three

KARACHI: A girl and two women died and 42 others fell ill after drinking water from a reservoir in a village in southern Pakistan, officials said on Monday. The girl and women died on Sunday at the Civil Hospital in Wara, said Ghulam Fareed, a doctor at the state-run hospital. They were among 45 people who were taken to the hospital from the nearby village of Hamal. — AP

Three workers killed

QUETTA: The roof of a coal mine shaft collapsed in southwestern Pakistan on Monday, killing three miners and seriously injuring two others, an official said. Wooden beams supporting the mine’s roof gave way, burying the five men under tons of debris about 150 metres underground at the mine in the mountainous region of Sur, about 50 km east of Quetta, said Malik Abdul Aziz, an official in the area. — AP