PAN deplores attack

SURABAYA (JP): Unidentified people riding motorbikes threw fireworks and plastic bags filled with gasoline at the residences of five members of the National Mandate Party in different locations at Bondowoso and Cerme regencies, East Java, in the small hours of Friday.

Chairman of East Java chapter of the party Sulthon Amien deplored the attacks on Saturday, urging the police to investigate the crime.

Some parts of the houses were set ablaze by the fire, which was soon put down by neighbors.

The attackers also set ablaze the house of Golkar party member Surahman in the Grujugan area of Cerme.

Bondowoso police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Sobrie Effendy Surya said the force is working on the case. (nur/bby)

JP;BBY; ANPAa..r.. Hilight-Kupang Two murder convicts executed JP/2/HILITE

Two convicts executed

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): Two convicts sentenced to death for murder were executed on Friday midnight after their request for a presidential pardon was rejected.

Gerson Pandie and Fredik Soru, both 34, were killed by the gunshots of two different firing squads, deep in the eucalyptus woods in Oekabiti district.

The two, along with Dance Soru, were found guilty by Kupang District Court 12 years ago for robbing and brutally killing an old couple, as well as their two grandchildren. The defendants were sentenced to death.

Dance died last year at Penfui penitentiary in an accident, in which he was electrocuted.

The higher courts had earlier upheld the death sentence, while the President turned down their request for clemency.

In his last written message, Gerson called upon juvenile delinquents to stop their anti-social habits. (bby)

;REUTERS; ANPAi..r.. Highlight-ASEAN-Vietnam Nuk-free status discussed JP/2/HIGHLIGHT

Nuke-free status discussed

HANOI (Reuters): Senior Southeast Asian officials wrapped up on Saturday a three-day regional security meeting in Hanoi with talks on a protocol to make the region a nuclear-free zone.

Officials from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) met on Saturday morning with diplomats from five nuclear- capable nations - China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States - to discuss the proposal.

ASEAN has declared itself a nuclear weapons free zone.

Delegations from the United States and North Korea left the country on Saturday without a hoped-for meeting on the sidelines of the forum to reopen dialogue between the superpower and the Stalinist country it calls a threat to world stability.

The Hanoi talks were a preliminary meeting to set the agenda for the annual ASEAN Regional Forum to be held in the Vietnamese capital in July.

;AFP; ANPAi..r.. Highlight-US-Como Como buried in Florida JP/2/HIGHLIGHT

Como buried in Florida

MIAMI (AFP): Singing legend Perry Como was buried Friday, the day he would have turned 89, after a funeral service in which he was lauded as a humble, genuine man blessed with a warmth that informed his values and resonated in his silken-throated singing.

"Fame and fortune could not distract Perry from the love of God and the love of his family," Father Frank Lechiara said in his eulogy.

"We won't bury Perry," Lechiara said. "Nobody can bury the singing of a lark, or the roar of the ocean or the wind through the trees."

A single red rose adorned Como's white-draped casket at the funeral attended by some 700 mourners at Saint Edward Catholic Church in Palm Beach, Florida.

Como died last Saturday at his home in Jupiter Inlet Colony in Florida after an unparalleled career spanning seven decades, during which he delighted radio and TV audiences with novelty songs such as "Papa Loves Mambo," and mammoth hits like "Catch a Falling Star," and "It's Impossible."

;REUTERS; ANPAi..r.. Highlight-Thailand-turtle Turtle gets fiberglass shell JP/2/HIGHLIGHT

Turtle gets fiberglass shell

BANGKOK (Reuters): Six months after a nasty accident, Rama IX is coming out of his shell.

The 20-year-old male turtle, named after a busy road in central Bangkok, this week became the first turtle in Thailand to get a man-made shell.

"It's like a little helmet," veterinarian Nantarika Chansue said of the turtle's new fiberglass shell.

Rama IX, who lived in a pond beside the busy thoroughfare, was crossing the road when a pickup truck ran over him in October last year.

Two-thirds of his natural shell was smashed in the accident, shards of it piercing his lungs and other internal organs, Nantarika said.

Nantarika used wire and superglue at a Chulalongkorn University animal clinic to attach the man-made shell on Friday, protecting him from leeches and egg-laying insects during the year it will take his real shell to grow back.

;AFP; ANPAi..r.. Highlight-Japan-accident 6 die in chopper collision JP/2/HIGHLIGHT

6 die in chopper collision

TOKYO (AFP): A helicopter and Cessna plane collided midair in Japan Saturday, crashing in a residential area and killing six people, police said.

The accident happened in Kuwana City in the western Japan prefecture of Mie, with the debris setting fire two houses and smashing a car, a local police official said.

"We have so far confirmed the death of two people on board the helicopter and four on the Cessna," a police official said.

Television footage showed two houses burned black and plane parts scattered hundreds of metres apart.

The owner of one of the houses said he witnessed the accident while he was in a nearby field.

"I noticed a sudden change in the sound of the helicopter and looked up ... I saw it falling down, emitting fire," he said before television cameras.

;AFP; ANPAi..r.. Highlight-China-student Old Chinese eyes college JP/2/HIGHLIGHT

Old Chinese eyes college

BEIJING (AFP): A 72-year-old resident of the central Chinese city of Nanjing is trying to enter university as probably the oldest applicant in more than a decade, state media reported on Saturday.

Wang Xia was tempted to try his luck in the educational system after regulators scrapped a rule, introduced 20 years ago, to allow no applicants over 25 years of age, the Beijing Daily reported.

"My biggest advantage is that I'm in good health, and my memory also isn't bad," he told the paper.

Wang, a retired health worker who wants to study medicine, tried to enter university four times between 1954 and 1960, and each time he was turned down by the authorities, but he has not lost his confidence.