■ Myanmar
18 fast for Suu Kyi
About 18 activists fasted yesterday to protest the detention of Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The US State Department reported last week that Suu Kyi was on a hunger strike. However, a Red Cross official on Saturday said Suu Kyi was well and not refusing food after a team from the organization visited her. The fast at Lumpini Park in the Thai capital began early yesterday and was scheduled to last 12 hours, according to the Bangkok-based human rights group Forum Asia, which organized the protest. "Today's event aims to send the message that ... [Myanmar's government] must release Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners immediately and unconditionally," the group said. Sunday marked the
■ China
Corruption clampdown
The son of a disgraced former Chinese governor and five others have been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for corruption, in a major expose of graft linking government officials, private businessmen and state corporations. Li Bo, the son of former Yunnan province Governor Li Jiating, was given the heaviest sentence by the Kunming Municipal Intermediate Court. Beginning in 1996, Li Bo allegedly collected more than 15 million yuan (US$1.8 million) in bribes and kickbacks involving contracts for tobacco and gasoline, the Beijing Morning Post said. Sentenced with him was the former governor's mistress, Xu Fuying, and a former county chief was given the second-heaviest sentence -- 10 years -- for corruption and embezzlement.
■ Indonesia
Four die escaping fire
Four people died after leaping early yesterday from a burning ballroom on the top floor of a hotel on an Indonesian tourist island, police said. Nineteen others were injured in the fire on Batam island, sparked by a cigarette during a late-night wedding in the nine-story Harmoni Hotel's ballroom, police duty officer Bachrul Effendi said. It took firefighters two hours to put out the fire, which began at around 4am, he said.
■ Pakistan
Al-Qaeda hunters attacked
Attackers fired three rockets at an airport housing Pakistan military troops hunting for al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives, but there were no injuries or damage, a military official said yesterday. The attack occurred late Friday in Bannu, a conservative tribal city about 250km southwest of the capital, Islamabad, said Major General Shaukat Sultan, a military spokesman. There was no claim of responsibility and Sultan said officials were investigating who was responsible. Two rockets exploded in deserted areas inside the airport grounds. The third rocket failed to explode, he said.
■ North Korea
Pyongyang sets up parade
North Korea has moved missiles and tanks to an airport near its capital for a military parade marking the founding anniversary this week of its communist government, reports said yesterday. North Korea is using the parade and other programs for tomorrow's national day celebrations to boost unity in a stand-off with the US over the Stalinist state's nuclear ambitions, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said. Scud missiles, tanks and military vehicles have gathered in Mirim Airport near Pyongyang for the parade, it said. North Korea was "decked in a festive attire to celebrate" the anniversary, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
■ Northern Ireland
Trimble wins tense vote
Northern Ireland's main Protestant party, the Ulster Unionists, on Saturday backed leader David Trimble and voted in favour of sticking with the province's stalled peace process. In a tense vote in a Belfast concert hall, the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) supported Trimble against hardliners who had urged the council to reject the landmark 1998 Good Friday agreement for peace in the British province. Northern Ireland's Roman Catholic republicans want the province reunited with the Irish Republic to the south, while Protestant loyalists want it to remain part of Britain.
■ United Kingdom
Woman top millionaires list
A new study shows that divorce, inheritance and sexual equality in schools have helped Britain's women overtake the men in terms of numbers of millionaires, London's Sunday Times said. The report to be published this week by research company Datamonitor -- based on information from tax collectors, banks and other financial institutions -- showed that there are now 299,300 female millionaires in Britain compared with 271,700 male. The number of women millionaires in Britain has been steadily rising on the back of social trends, especially equal treatment for sons and daughters in inheritance and the climbing divorce rate, The Sunday Times said.
■ Germany
Dogs protest treatment
More than 3,000 dogs were paraded through central Berlin in a demonstration by owners for more rights and public tolerance. A number of the dogs in the parade that snarled traffic throughout the center of the German capital were wearing costumes. Speakers at the second annual "Fiffi Parade" called on the local government to set aside larger areas where dogs can roam free without leashes. "We need pro-dog rules and not anti-dog laws," said Gisela Duellberg, one of the organizers.
■ Germany
Al-Qaeda investigation ends
Prosecutors said Saturday they have closed an investigation into a Syrian-born German businessman who was suspected of links to the Hamburg-based al-Qaeda cell that carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the US. The investigation against Abdel-Mateen Tatari for suspected membership or support of a terrorist group was closed at the end of June, said Frauke Scheuten, a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors. Tatari has said he and his family knew members of the Sept. 11 cell, including lead hijacker Mohamed Atta, but insisted they never had any hint of terror plots.
■ Colombia
President to probe claims
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said Saturday his office would investigate lawmakers' claims that former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt might soon be freed by her left-wing rebel captors. Uribe spoke after two Colombian lawmakers claimed Friday that Betancourt, is set to be freed shortly by FARC rebels who want her to push for a hostage-rebel prisoner exchange. "I am going to investigate the root of your curiosity, but I have no news," Uribe said when questioned by reporters about the lawmakers' claims. Betancourt, is a French diplomat and has also become a cause celebre in France, which in June sent a military plane to Brazil in an apparent abortive rescue mission.
Far from the violence ravaging Haiti, a market on the border with the Dominican Republic has maintained a welcome degree of normal everyday life. At the Dajabon border gate, a wave of Haitians press forward, eager to shop at the twice-weekly market about 200km from Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. They are drawn by the market’s offerings — food, clothing, toys and even used appliances — items not always readily available in Haiti. However, with gang violence bad and growing ever worse in Haiti, the Dominican government has reinforced the usual military presence at the border and placed soldiers on alert. While the market continues to
An image of a dancer balancing on the words “China Before Communism” looms over Parisian commuters catching the morning metro, signaling the annual return of Shen Yun, a controversial spectacle of traditional Chinese dance mixed with vehement criticism of Beijing and conservative rhetoric. The Shen Yun Performing Arts company has slipped the beliefs of a spiritual movement called Falun Gong in between its technicolored visuals and leaping dancers since 2006, with advertising for the show so ubiquitous that it has become an Internet meme. Founded in 1992, Falun Gong claims nearly 100 million followers and has been subject to “persistent persecution” in
ONLINE VITRIOL: While Mo Yan faces a lawsuit, bottled water company Nongfu Spring and Tsinghua University are being attacked amid a rise in nationalist fervor At first glance, a Nobel prize winning author, a bottle of green tea and Beijing’s Tsinghua University have little in common, but in recent weeks they have been dubbed by China’s nationalist netizens as the “three new evils” in the fight to defend the country’s valor in cyberspace. Last month, a patriotic blogger called Wu Wanzheng filed a lawsuit against China’s only Nobel prize-winning author, Mo Yan (莫言), accusing him of discrediting the Communist army and glorifying Japanese soldiers in his fictional works set during the Japanese invasion of China. Wu, who posts online under the pseudonym “Truth-Telling Mao Xinghuo,” is seeking
‘SURPRISES’: The militants claim to have successfully tested a missile capable of reaching Mach 8 and vowed to strike ships heading toward the Cape of Good Hope Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim to have a new, hypersonic missile in their arsenal, Russia’s state media reported on Thursday, potentially raising the stakes in their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways against the backdrop of Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The report by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited an unidentified official, but provided no evidence for the claim. It comes as Moscow maintains an aggressively counter-Western foreign policy amid its grinding war on Ukraine. However, the Houthis have for weeks hinted about “surprises” they plan for the battles at sea to counter the