1. U.K. students protest

    Thousands of British students protested last Wednesday against government plans to triple* university tuition fees* and there were some scuffles* with police, two weeks after a similar demonstration sparked a small riot*.

    The Metropolitan Police said two officers were injured in London, including one with a broken arm. Fifteen protesters were arrested.

    College and university students across the country held marches and sit-ins* to oppose the decision to increase university fees to 9,000 pounds (US$14,000) a year.

    2. Stampede victims mourned

    Cambodia began a day of mourning on Thursday with the prime minister weeping at the spot where hundreds died during a wild riverside stampede*.

    Prime Minister Hun Sen cried as he lit candles and incense* at a narrow bridge where thousands of festival-goers panicked*, trampling hundreds underfoot last Monday night. Flags throughout the country were flying at half-mast and a Buddhist ceremony was held later in the day. The latest official casualty tally was 347 dead and 395 injured.

    3. S. Korean minister resigns

    South Korea’s de-fense minister resigned on Thursday, two days after an artillery* attack by North Korea killed four people on small island near their disputed frontier.

    The move came as President Lee Myung-bak vowed to send more troops to the island and as residents tried to salvage belongings from its blackened wreckage*. Pyongyang warned of additional attacks if provoked*.

    4. Pay freeze

    U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Monday a two-year pay freeze for federal employees, in an effort to respond to Republicans political pressure and growing budget concerns.

    The freeze applies to all U.S. federal employees, including civilian employees of the Defense Department, and will not impact step increases or bonuses for federal workers.

    5. Miners dead

    A massive explosion deep inside a New Zealand coal mine last Wednesday erased* hopes of rescuing 29 miners caught underground by a similar blast five days ago. The prime minister declared it a national tragedy.

    Even if any of the missing men had survived the initial explosion at the Pike River Mine, police said none could have lived through the second.

    6. Cargo plane crash

    At least 12 people were killed when a Russian-made cargo plane crashed in a fireball seconds after taking off from Karachi on Sunday, a spokesman for Pakistan’s civil aviation authority said.

    Rescue workers recovered 12 bodies from the crash site, including three identified as local laborers.

    Authorities said the Ilyushin IL-76 operated by Georgian airline Sunway slammed into buildings soon after refueling* and taking off from the airport in Pakistan’s business capital.

    7. Loan for Ireland

    European Union nations agreed to give US$89.4 billion in bailout* loans to Ireland on Sunday to help it weather* the cost of its massive banking crisis, and sketched out* new rules for future emergencies in an effort to restore faith in the euro currency. The rescue deal, approved by finance ministers at an emergency meeting in Brussels, means two of the eurozone’s 16 nations have now come to depend on foreign help.

    (SD-Agencies)