Election delayed until August

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Saturday that he would agree to postpone the presidential election until August, bowing to pressure from election officials and Afghanistan’s international backers who do not believe that fair and safe polls can be held by spring as scheduled.

But the president left unclear what should happen after his term expires in May. He declined to clarify whether he would seek to remain in power until the election and whether he would seek re-election after seven years in power.

In accepting the date proposed by the independent election commission, Karzai appeared to resolve a dispute that has thrown Afghanistan’s political transition into turmoil and raised doubts about the stability of the fragile, insurgent-plagued democracy.

Beijing

Tiger kills man taking shortcut

A Siberian tiger at a wildlife park near Beijing attacked and killed a man who climbed into its enclosure thinking he found a shortcut down from the Great Wall, a park official said today.

The 20-year-old man, surnamed Guo, had been hiking with two other people on the wall when the group decided to jump down to save time on the descent – unknowingly landing themselves in Badaling Wildlife World’s tiger enclosure.

The tiger pounced on Guo, knocking him down and clamping its jaws around his throat. He was killed instantly.

A park ranger who saw the attack chased the tiger in a jeep until it released the body, while the other two men escaped by clambering up a fence.