Scribe’s release sought

KABUL: A media rights group is asking the US military to charge an Afghan journalist held at the Bagram military prison with a crime or to set him free. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said it is “greatly concerned” by the detention of Jawed Ahmad, a journalist for Canadian Television. Ahmad was detained in Kandahar in October over allegations he had contacts with Taliban militants. — AP

Blasts in casino

YANGON: Four small bombs exploded in a casino in northeastern Myanmar, causing minor damage but no injuries, state-controlled media and a casino employee said on Tuesday. The attack happened early Monday at the Golden Triangle Paradise Resort Hotel in Tachilek, near the border with Thailand. There were no immediate claims of responsibility. A hotel employee confirmed that four small blasts occurred around 3 a.m. near the employees’ quarters at the hotel, which also houses a casino. — AP

Tigress rescued

Kolkata: Forest guards tranquilised then rescued a pregnant tigress from a date palm tree hours after it strayed into a village near the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve in eastern India. The tigress perched herself in the tree to escape a group of villagers chasing her and it took nearly 14 hours to tranquilise, then catch, her on Monday. The tigress suffered minor injuries from stones and burning sticks the frightened villagers threw at her in Deulbari, about 250 km south of Kolkata. — AP

3rd blast in Kandahar

KANDAHAR: A car bomb rocked Kandahar on Tuesday, killing one person and wounding several more in the third such attack in the province in as many days. The interior ministry in Kabul said the bombing was carried out by a suicide attacker — as were blasts on Sunday and Monday — but this was not confirmed by police on the ground. “There was a suicide bombing in a taxi. One civilian has been killed and another was injured,” interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said. — AFP

Shutdown in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: Most shops and businesses in Kerala remained closed and public transport vehicles remained off roads on Tuesday as the state observed a 12-hour dawn to dusk shutdown called by the Congress-led opposition. The opposition United Democratic Front called for the shutdown on the eve of the state assembly’s budget session to protest price rise amongst other demands. — HNS