MPs reject bid to put Perez on trial

GUATEMALA: Congress voted against an attempt to remove President Otto Perez Molina’s immunity from prosecution on Thursday, disappointing those who hope to see him tried for corruption.

The opposition only mustered 88 votes to back the motion, short of the 105 needed. Some opposition members sided with the ruling Patriotic Party, while others abstained.

The vice-president resigned earlier this year over corruption allegations.

Reporter among six shot dead in bar

MEXICO: A journalist and a reputed gangster were among six victims of a shooting in a bar on Thursday in the state of Veracruz, notorious for murders of media figures.

The gunmen entered the bar and went straight up to the victims, including drug gang boss Jose Marquez Balderas and reporter Juan Santos Carrera.

Police chased the assailants and two officers were wounded in an shoot-out in the streets of the city of Orizaba.

Jeb Bush doesn’t rule out torture

UNITED STATES: Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush refused to rule out a resumption of the use of torture if he becomes president.

At a party campaign rally in Iowa, the former Florida governor said on Thursday that, in general, he believed torture was inappropriate.

But, asked whether he would enforce President Barack Obama’s ban on “enhanced interrogation” practices, he said: “I don’t want to make a definitive, blanket kind of statement.”

Islamabad in new Kashmir talks offer

PAKISTAN: President Mamnoon Hussain yesterday renewed an offer to India of bilateral talks to resolve the dispute over the Kashmir region.

In a speech marking Pakistan’s independence day, Mr Hussain said his nation believes in “peaceful coexistence.

“We want to resolve all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, with India,” he told a gathering of students, government and military officials in the capital Islamabad.

Hunger striker in intensive care

ISRAEL: A Palestinian detainee who has been on a hunger strike for 60 days slipped into unconsciousness yesterday and was taken to an intensive care unit.

Mohammed Allan, who went on a hunger strike in May over his detention without trial in Israel, lost consciousness early in the morning and was then taken to Barzalai hospital.

Israel recently passed a law to allow hunger strikers to be force fed, a practice that has been compared to torture.

Two arrested over republican’s killing

NORTHERN IRELAND: Two people have been arrested by detectives investigating the killing of a prominent republican in Belfast.

Kevin McGuigan was gunned down at point-blank range in front of his wife Dolores by two masked men outside the couple’s home in the republican Short Strand area on Wednesday night.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said a man and woman had been arrested in east Belfast on Thursday as part of the “overall investigation.”

Landmines not ours, says North

NORTH KOREA: Pyongyang denied yesterday that it had planted landmines that injured two South Korean soldiers last week.

The National Defence Commission said it “makes no sense” for its forces to have buried mines on the Southern side of the demilitarised zone separating the two states.

Warplanes bomb hospital, killing 22

IRAQ: Air force jets were accused of bombing a women and children’s hospital in Islamic State (Isis)-held territory near the city of Fallujah on Thursday, killing 22 people.

Anbar provincial council said yesterday that Iraqi warplanes were targeting Isis militants in the village of Nassaf, just south of Fallujah, when the hospital there was hit.

An Iraqi Defence Ministry spokesman denied the allegations, saying Iraqi troops did not target civilian facilities.