Suu Kyi’s UK talk

WASHINGTON: Aung San Suu Kyi would be given the rare honour of addressing both British houses of parliament when she made her first trip outside Myanmar in 24 years next month, officials said.

Nelson Mandela and US President Barack Obama have also had the honour. – Reuters

Drug plan upended

AUSTIN, Texas: A man who tried to smuggle heroin into the US concealed in his rectum was caught by US officials – with the help of a drug-sniffer dog – as he walked across the border from Mexico.

Paulo Alfredo Macias, 35, was being held in El Paso County Jail without bail after being caught on Monday with 142g of heroin. – Reuters

Everest record

KATHMANDU: A 73-year-old Japanese climber, who became the oldest woman to conquer Mount Everest a decade ago, yesterday smashed her own record.

Tamae Watanabe set off from Kathmandu early in April and climbed the 8 848m peak from the Tibet side, accompanied by four team members. – SAPA-AFP

Blast kills teen

ROME: A bomb exploded in front of a school in southern Italy yesterday, killing a 16year-old girl and wounding at least six others, two seriously.

The blast occurred near the entrance of a girls’ school named after the wife of murdered anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone as pupils were preparing to enter the school. – Reuters

Telling porkies?

KIEV: A psychic pig is set to take over where Paul the Octopus left off at the 2010 World Cup by predicting the results of matches at the European championships in Ukraine and Poland.

Kiev officials said they would wheel out the porky tipster to give daily forecasts once the tournament kicked off next month. – Reuters

Pet tax call muted

ROME: A proposal to levy a tax on cats and dogs that stunned Italy on Friday turned out to be all bark and no bite after a wave of popular anger resulted in it being withdrawn on the same day it was made public. It had been proposed to boost cashstrapped cities. – Reuters