Briefly world

Thai Cabinet calls emergency meeting

BANGKOK: Thai officials on Saturday called an emergency Cabinet meeting in the face of unrelenting anti-government street protests that have raised fears of broader civil unrest across the country. Government spokesman Panithan Wattanayagorn said the Cabinet would meet on Sunday morning in a special session. Panithan declined to say what the agenda would be,but it was expected to focus on the seven-week crisis that has paralyzed parts of Bangkok.

China task force to protect schoolkids

Beijing: In the wake of a series of deadly attacks on children in the country,China has set up a special task force focused on beefing up security of the school campuses to protect over 270 million students. The force comprising of 22 university and government experts would draw up comprehensive plan to bolster security to the educational institutions,Education vice minister Hao Ping was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.

Bomb hoax: Plane diverted in Taiwan

Taipei: A China Airlines flight bound for Shanghai was forced to divert to another Chinese city after a passenger claimed to have a bomb in his luggage,Taiwanese media reported on Saturday. Passenger George Lin claimed there were explosives in his luggage,the Central News Agency said. All 293 passengers went through security checks in Hangzhou and Lin was taken away by Chinese police for questioning,the report said,adding Lin claimed that he was only making a joke.

Sikh woman likely killed her babies

Toronto: A 28-year-old Sikh woman who was found dead along with her three infants in Calgary in October last year likely killed the babies herself in depression,Canadian police has said. Harsimrat Kahlon was found dead in October 2009. Family members subsequently found the bodies of three infants hidden in sealed plastic bags and suitcases around the basement unit she shared with her partner.

US man jailed in N Korea calls home

boston: An American jailed in North Korea was allowed to call home for the first time since being sentenced to eight years8217; hard labour,as the United States urged his release. Thaleia Schlesinger,a spokeswoman for Aijalon Mahli Gomess family in his hometown of Boston,said that Gomes spoke with his mother on Friday.

Sandra Bullock,Jesse James put marital home up for sale

Los Angeles: Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock,who has filed for divorce from estranged husband Jesse James following reports of his infidelity,has put her Orange County home on market. The 45-year-old actress is said to be moving to New Orleans to start a new life with her newly adopted son Louis Bardo and has decided to sell the home that she once shared with James for 6 million. Realtors at First Team Real Estate,who will oversee the sale of the property,expect to make a quick sale. The house will be sold discretely and potential buyers must pre-qualify to get a guided tour,TMZ.com reported. Bullock moved out of the property in March after reports of her husbands infidelity hit the tabloids. The Blind Side star is reportedly putting the finishing touches to her new home which is located in the hometown of her newly adopted baby.

Owner of Stalin museum in Russia electrocuted,bludgeoned

Moscow: A Russian businessman who set up a museum dedicated to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin was electrocuted and bludgeoned to death on Friday,media reported. Vasily Bukhtiyenko set up the Stalin museum in 2005 in Volgograd,previously called Stalingrad,about 560 miles from Moscow. He was resting at a tennis court. That is where the murder happened, state-run RIA Novosti news agency quoted a spokeswoman for regional investigators as saying. Police said a motive for the attack was unclear at present. Volgograd newspaper Pervaya Gazeta reported that Bukhtiyenko was attacked by three men with electric shock devices and then repeatedly hit on the head,it said on its site pro-volgograd.ru.