Taiwan may void altered passports

TAIPEI • Taiwan has threatened to revoke passports that have been altered after pro-independence activists used stickers to change them and successfully travelled abroad.

The sticker campaign has seen activists cover the "Republic of China" logo on their passports with stickers saying: "Republic of Taiwan".

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Appeals over war atrocities rejected

DHAKA • Bangladesh's Supreme Court yesterday rejected final appeals from two opposition leaders against death sentences for atrocities committed during the 1971 war of independence, rulings that are likely to spark protests by their supporters.

Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, 67, of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was found guilty of five charges, including torture and the murders of intellectuals and minority Hindus while he commanded Al Badr, an auxiliary force of the Pakistani army, during the war to break away from Pakistan.

REUTERS

China landslide death toll rises to 35

HANGZHOU • Death toll of a landslide in east China's Zhejiang province has risen to 35, with two still missing as of yesterday. More than 2,300 rescuers, along with seven sniffer dogs, 60 machines and more than 80 vehicles, are helping with rescue work at the accident site.

XINHUA

UN protests against refugee deportation

BANGKOK • The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees agency protested against Thailand's deportation of two registered refugees to China yesterday, saying they should not have been sent back to a country "where their lives can be put in danger".

The agency said the two individuals were in possession of a UN "protection letter" at the time of their arrest by Thai authorities.

REUTERS