US SERVICEWOMEN SUE US MILITARY OVER COMBAT BAN
LOS ANGELES: Four US servicewomen, including two who won Purple Hearts in Afghanistan, sued the Pentagon on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) over its policy barring women from ground combat.

Backed by rights watchdog the American Civil Liberties Union, they slammed the policy as an “injustice to the women ... who continue to put their lives on the line for their country.” In February, the Pentagon announced incremental changes that will allow women to serve in more than 14,000 jobs, mostly in the Army and Marine Corps, that had previously been closed to female service members. But the overall prohibition against women in ground combat remains, denying women the chance to join infantry and armor units as well as special forces.

JAPAN STORM CUTS POWER TO TENS OF THOUSANDS
TOKYO: Tens of thousands of people in northern Japan spent the night without heat or light after a powerful winter storm knocked out electricity cables, local officials said on Wednesday. The blizzard cut electricity to some 56,000 households in the northern main island of Hokkaido on Tuesday, forcing nearly 300 people to evacuate their homes overnight. Noboribetsu city was blanketed by seven inches of snow and the temperature fell as low as minus 5.7 degrees Celsius early Wednesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Power was restored by the morning in some areas but went down again shortly afterwards. By mid-morning 42,540 households were still without power, the utility said.

ROTTING BODIES IN KOREAN-MARKED BOAT FOUND IN JAPAN
TOKYO: A wooden boat containing several rotting bodies and with Korean characters on its side has been found on the rocky shore of a Japanese island, local police said on Wednesday. The boat, 13 meters long, was discovered on Sado island, which lies in the Sea of Japan, police said. “The bodies are decomposed badly and we still cannot confirm exactly how many of them there are,” said a local police spokesman, adding belongings and rubbish were scattered inside. Kyodo News and the Yomiuri Shimbun daily said there were five bodies. The police spokesman said the Korean characters were impossible to read. “We cannot determine their nationality yet. The boat seems to have been drifting in the sea for quite some time,” he said.

CHINA MEDIA SLAMS ELTON JOHN FOR AI WEIWEI DEDICATION
BEIJING: Top Chinese daily Global Times on Wednesday condemned pop star Elton John for dedicating his Beijing show to dissident artist Ai Weiwei, saying it was disrespectful and could lead to bans on other Western performers. Ai is a world-renowned conceptual artist and outspoken critic of China’s communist government. He disappeared into police custody for 81 days in 2011, casting a spotlight on the government’s growing concern over social unrest. AFP