■Japan
Coast guard stops Chinese
The Japanese Coast Guard stopped a boat carrying activists from China and Hong Kong from landing yesterday on a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea. The 15 activists were planning to raise a Chinese flag on the small, uninhabited islands called Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyutai by China. But as the boat approached one of the five isles it was surrounded by Japanese naval vessels and patrolling helicopters began raining down slips of paper telling them to leave, said Albert Ho, a Hong Kong lawmaker and vice chairman of the Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyutai Islands. There were some minor collisions, but no one was injured, Ho said. Japanese Coast Guard spokesman Matsuyoshi Iramina said the activists were escorted out of the area and that their boat was currently outside territorial waters.
■ Japan
Tokyo says release Suu Kyi's
A senior Japanese official arrived yesterday in Myanmar to call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and try to clarify the events that led to the pro-democracy leader's arrest last month, a diplomat said yesterday. Senior Vice Foreign Minister Tetsuro Yano was expected to convey a message from Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi demanding that Myanmar's military rulers release Suu Kyi, who has been detained since a clash between her supporters and government backers on May 30 in northern Myanmar. Suu Kyi's detention has stirred international outrage, and the US, the EU and Britain have initiated sanctions to press for Suu Kyi's release. The US sanctions would bar most trade, dealing a harsh blow to Myanmar's export earnings. Japan is Myanmar's biggest donor and has generally taken a softer line on the military government than other nations.
■ Indonesia
Skeleton cut from womb
Indonesian naval doctors removed the skeleton of a fetus that had been stuck in its mother's womb for more than seven years, the navy said yesterday. The mother, identified only as Mariyati, said she knew she was pregnant in late 1995 but when she failed to deliver a child did not return to hospital because she was worried about expensive medical bills, said Lieutenant Colonel Guntur Wahyudi, a naval spokesman. Mariyati went to doctors complaining of stomach pains. Naval surgeons initially thought she had a tumor, but when they operated on her last week they discovered the skeleton of a fetus in her womb, Wahyudi said in a statement. The operation was performed aboard a warship in Maluku as part of a trip to the region to carry out medical and social work.
■ Tajikistan
Voters plump for change
An overwhelming majority of voters approved a constitutional change that will allow Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov to stay in power until the year 2020, according to preliminary results released yesterday. The central electoral commission said that with practically all the ballots counted, 93.13 percent of voters had voted in favor of the change and 6.13 percent had voted against it. It said 96.37 percent of the Central Asian nation's approximately 3 million registered voters had turned out for Sunday's referendum. Now presidents will be able to serve two seven-year terms instead of one.
■United Kingdom
Royal gatecrasher released
A stand-up comedian has been released on bail after crashing Prince William's 21st birthday party, police and the father of the man said on Sunday. The man, who had earlier paraded around in a pink dress and false black beard outside Windsor Castle where the party was held Saturday, was identified by his father as Aaron Barschak, 36. Fred Barschak, 72, said he recognized his son as the man being led away by police following the incident but stressed he would not have intended to harm anyone. He suggested his son was seeking to publicize his act.
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