2,800 machineguns seized

HONG KONG: Hong Kong customs officials have seized 2,800 sub-machineguns and 25,000 unloaded magazines being shipped to the United States from Malaysia, the government said on Monday. While shipping arms through the territory is allowed, this cargo had not been licensed, Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee said, adding the weapons were not terrorism-related. — AFP

Lightning kills 2, hurts 29

KUALA LUMPUR: Lightning struck trekkers on a mountain, killing two Malaysians and injuring 29 others, police said on Monday. The hikers, mostly students from a technical institute, were scaling Mount Rajah, about 60 kilometers northeast of Kuala Lumpur, when lightning hit them late on Sunday during a thunderstorm, a district police spokesman said. Two hikers were believed to have been killed instantly, while 29 others were hospitalized, including 12 with serious injuries, the spokesman said. — AFP

Probe into hiring scam

NEW DELHI: The Indian government has ordered a probe into private hiring agencies that illegally sent 1,500 retired Indian soldiers to work in Iraq, a newsreport in The Hindu said on Monday. Retired soldiers were taken by their employers to Iraq to guard oil wells, refineries, depots and other facilities, despite a government ban, the report said. The newspaper also reported some casualties among the retired soldiers but did not give any details or sources. The men were only allowed to take up jobs in Jordan and Kuwait, PTI quoted External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, as saying. — AP

Kalam visits LoC

NEW DELHI: Indian President A P J Abdul Kalam on Monday embarked on a visit to the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, his second to the country’s frontiers in a month. On April 2, Kalam undertook a historic visit to the Siachen glacier in Jammu and Kashmir and interacted with the troops stationed in the world’s highest battlefield at 6,000 metres. — HNS

36-hr jungle warfare ends

GAUHATI: Indian and US commandos have ended a 36-hour counter-insurgency training exercise in the dense tropical jungles of northeastern India. The special forces will have a two-day reprieve before beginning a 50-hour war game starting on Thursday. — AP