■Indonesia
Bali case moves forward
An Indonesian court yesterday ruled that the trial of an Islamic militant charged with masterminding last year's Bali bombings could go forward, dismissing defense arguments that the indictment was illegal. Imam Samudra, is the second of 34 suspects accused in the Oct. 12 blasts to go on trial. He is charged with planning and executing the attacks that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. Last week, Samudra's lawyers argued the indictment was illegal because foreign police officers took part in the investigation. They also said that the anti-terror laws used to try their client were invalid because they were passed after the crime.
■ Indonesia
Soldiers receive discipline
An Indonesian military court yesterday found three soldiers guilty of beating civilians in war-torn Aceh and sentenced them to four months and 20 days in jail -- about half what prosecutors had demanded. It is the first trial of government troops in the western-most province since Indonesia launched a major offensive there on May 19 to wipe out separatist rebels. "The defendants have conducted a crime because they could not hold their emotions, 7prompting the beating of civilians," presiding judge Major Hulwani told the court in Lhokseumawe, a key base for the military operation.
■ Australia
`Fat tax' on the menu
Doctors yesterday urged the government to combat an epidemic of obesity with a "fat tax" on fast food and fizzy drinks. The Australian Medical Association's Mukesh Haikerwal said the levy was based on a similar initiative being examined in Britain. "It's not about the money," Dr. Haikerwal said. "It's part of a strategy to make people more aware of the contents of the food that's bought." Six in 10 adults are overweight or obese -- double the 1980 level -- as are one in five children. Under Haikerwal's proposal, food saturated in fat and drinks laden with sugar would be slapped with an extra tax on top of the 10-percent value-added tax. Haikerwal said the "fat tax" idea would be put to Australian and New Zealand health ministers later this month.
■ Singapore
Memorial held for kitties
Cat lovers held a memorial service at a five-star hotel in Singapore to remember hundreds of felines culled as part of the government's crackdown on strays amid the SARS scare, news reports said yesterday. The 80-minute service included songs and flower tributes and a minute's silence for the dead animals. Some participants took turns dropping flowers in a vase at the Oriental Hotel Sunday in an observance organized by animal welfare groups. Many who attended wept openly over the 700 cats killed.
■ Hong Kong
Man shows devotion to wife
A woman awoke from a coma in China after her devoted husband stayed by her hospital bedside for four-and-a-half years, a news report said yesterday. Li Zhongqiu has lived in a Shanghai hospital and cared for his wife Jin Meihua 24-hours-a-day since she suffered serious brain injuries after falling from her bicycle in November 1998, the South China Morning Post reported. Doctors held out little hope of recovery but retired soldier Li, who married Jin in 1967, refused to leave her side. He once refused treatment for burns when he scalded his foot carrying boiling water because he did not want to spend a night away from her.
RSS