No takers for 'boost women at work' plan

TOKYO • Not one Japanese company applied for a subsidy programme aimed at promoting more women to senior jobs, an official said yesterday, a blow to Tokyo's push to boost the economy with female workers. Hundreds of firms had been expected to apply for cash rewards to place women in high-ranking jobs under the plan launched last year.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Maldives president unhurt in boat blast

MALE (Maldives) • An explosion ripped through a speed boat carrying Maldives President Abdulla Yameen yesterday, injuring his wife and two others.

It is unclear what caused the blast, which came during heightened tensions in the atoll nation after the controversial jailing of Mr Yameen's predecessor Mohamed Nasheed.

Unconfirmed reports said the explosion, which occurred as the vessel docked in Male, came from the engine room below deck.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Man hacks 5 children to death in Thailand

BANGKOK• A man with a history of mental illness hacked five young children - aged five months to eight years - to death and stabbed a pregnant woman in a knife rampage in northern Thailand, police said yesterday. The mass murder took place on Sunday afternoon in a Chai Prakarn village in Chiang Mai province. Pictures on social media showed blood-soaked corpses in the house.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Mount Everest ban for old climbers?

KATHMANDU • Nepal is considering banning climbers with severe disabilities and those deemed too old from Mount Everest and other mountains in a bid to improve safety, the head of its tourism department Govinda Karki said yesterday. The proposals came five months after an avalanche triggered by a huge quake killed 18 people at Everest base camp.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE