In Brief

Police, soldiers arrested COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s police said yesterday it has arrested policemen and soldiers as well as underworld figures in connection with a rash of killings and abductions in the latest chapter of the two-decade civil war.

The admission comes as the government faces mounting pressure from human rights groups and foreign governments to halt rights abuses blamed on elements of the military as well as Tamil Tiger rebels and renegades – and after the discovery of five corpses in the island’s north. * Gay rights divide ROME – Paola Binetti says homosexuality is “deviant”.Franco Grillini is openly and proudly gay.The problem for Prime Minister Romano Prodi is that both are parliamentarians in his centre-left coalition.The split over gay rights is a constant conflict in Prodi’s Catholics-to-Communists coalition.A bill that would give rights to unwed couples, including gays, went before parliament yesterday.This is going to be very messy,” said Professor James Walston, head of the international relations department of the American University of Rome.”It’s a fight between the Church and secular forces, the divide that has always bedevilled Italy.”The internal tensions boiled over recently when Binetti, a member of the conservative Catholic group Opus Dei, said on a television talk show that “homosexuality is a deviance of the personality”.Grillini, on the same show, called her a “racist”.* Cheney treated for blood clot WASHINGTON – US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has suffered four heart attacks, sought medical attention on Monday for a blood clot in his left leg and will have to take blood-thinning medication for months, his office said.”The vice-president experienced mild calf discomfort today.In light of his recent prolonged air travel, he visited his doctor’s office” in the afternoon, said spokesperson Megan McGinn.”An ultrasound revealed a deep venous thrombosis (DVT) or ‘blood clot’ in his left lower leg.His doctors will treat him with blood-thinning medication for several months.The vice president has returned to the White House to resume his schedule,” McGinn said in a statement.Nampa-Reuters -AFP* Gay rights divide ROME – Paola Binetti says homosexuality is “deviant”.Franco Grillini is openly and proudly gay.The problem for Prime Minister Romano Prodi is that both are parliamentarians in his centre-left coalition.The split over gay rights is a constant conflict in Prodi’s Catholics-to-Communists coalition.A bill that would give rights to unwed couples, including gays, went before parliament yesterday.This is going to be very messy,” said Professor James Walston, head of the international relations department of the American University of Rome.”It’s a fight between the Church and secular forces, the divide that has always bedevilled Italy.”The internal tensions boiled over recently when Binetti, a member of the conservative Catholic group Opus Dei, said on a television talk show that “homosexuality is a deviance of the personality”.Grillini, on the same show, called her a “racist”.* Cheney treated for blood clot WASHINGTON – US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has suffered four heart attacks, sought medical attention on Monday for a blood clot in his left leg and will have to take blood-thinning medication for months, his office said.”The vice-president experienced mild calf discomfort today.In light of his recent prolonged air travel, he visited his doctor’s office” in the afternoon, said spokesperson Megan McGinn.”An ultrasound revealed a deep venous thrombosis (DVT) or ‘blood clot’ in his left lower leg.His doctors will treat him with blood-thinning medication for several months.The vice president has returned to the White House to resume his schedule,” McGinn said in a statement.Nampa-Reuters -AFP