The world in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I see this election as the last chance, my last bet on Iraq. If things continue to be the same, I will leave, and this time for good.”

Saad Sadiq Mustafa, a 55-year-old retired army officer, who was voting in the country’s first nationwide election since U.S. troops withdrew in 2011 Article, this page

Ex-worker said to kill 2 at Canada mill

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - A former employee opened fire at a British Columbia lumber mill Wednesday, killing two people and injuring two others, authorities said.

Police Superintendent Mark Fisher said officers had arrested the 47-year-old suspect, accused of shooting people in the parking lot area and then in the mill office. Fisher said officers seized a shotgun at the Western Forest Products sawmill in Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island.

Two victims were pronounced dead at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, police said. The Island Health Authority said one injured victim was airlifted to a hospital in Victoria in critical condition, and another was in a hospital in Nanaimo in stable condition.

Western Forest Products President and Chief Executive Officer Don Demens confirmed the suspect is a former employee. “We’re a local [British Columbia] company, and it’s very tragic,” he said.

Such public shootings in Canada are rare. In March, a man was shot and killed after opening fire in a courthouse just outside Toronto, injuring a police officer.

New Thai vote set as protests persist

BANGKOK - Thailand’s government and election authorities agreed Wednesday to hold a new general election July 20 in an attempt to end the country’s political stalemate.

But the protesters who disrupted the vote earlier this year paid little heed to the decision, insisting they would seize power soon.

The Election Commission announced the July date after meeting with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and other members of her Cabinet. The commission will meet Tuesday to draft an election decree for the government to submit to King Bhumibol Adulyadej for his endorsement.

The election Feb. 2 was nullified by the Constitutional Court on March 21 because it failed to meet legal requirements after the protesters disrupted registration and voting.

The protesters want Yingluck to step down to allow an interim nonelected government to implement anti-corruption changes and remove her family’s influence from politics.

Their group, the People’s Democratic Reform Committee, has insisted it will not accept new elections before changes are instituted.

Toronto mayor to take leave for rehab

TORONTO - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford will take a leave of absence to seek help for substance abuse, he said Wednesday.

“I have a problem with alcohol, and the choices I have made while under the influence. I have struggled with this for some time,” Ford said in statement.

The announcement was made after The Globe and Mail newspaper reported Wednesday that it had viewed a new video of Ford smoking what was described as crack cocaine by a self-professed drug dealer. The video was secretly filmed in Ford’s sister’s basement early Saturday, the newspaper reported.

Ford acknowledged last year after months of denials that he smoked crack in a “drunken stupor” after police said they obtained a previous video that appears to show him smoking crack. That video has never been released to the public.

Ford has refused to resign, despite mounting pressure after a string of incidents including public drunkenness. Toronto’s City Council has stripped him of most of his powers.

Ford launched a campaign for re-election earlier this year.

Main ferry captain warned of instability

MOKPO, South Korea - An off-duty captain of the sunken South Korean ferry told investigators that the owners ignored his warning that the ship shouldn’t carry too much cargo because it wasn’t very stable, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

The captain, whom prosecutors identified only by his surname, Shin, was on vacation the day of the accident two weeks ago that has left more than 300, mostly high school students, dead or missing.

The ferry was piloted April 16 by a substitute captain, Lee Joon-seok, who is now being detained along with 14 other crew members who were involved in navigating the Sewol.

A stability-test report Jan. 24 from the Korean Register of Shipping showed that the ferry became top-heavy and less stable after a modification of the ship from October 2012 to February 2013 that involved adding more cabins in some of the ship’s floors.

Divers have recovered 212 bodies from the wreckage.

They fought strong currents and floating debris inside the ship again Wednesday as they searched for 90 passengers still missing.

Front Section, Pages 6 on 05/01/2014

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