■ Indonesia
Police battle slum dwellers
Indonesian police clashed with hundreds of slum dwellers yesterday, firing tear gas and warning shots as they attempted to evict them from land in the capital slated for a shopping center, a media report said. Wailing families burned tires and screamed "Go to hell," at police, according to privately owned El-Shinta radio. Most families ignored orders to abandon their homes and watched as police began destroying some 1,500 shacks, the radio station reported. In the past month, local authorities have stepped up a campaign to remove shanties from land abandoned after the 1997 to 1998 Asian financial crisis.
■ South Korea
Fines target illegal workers
South Korea's government said yesterday it will double the fines imposed on illegal workers and their employers in an effort to reduce the growing problem of foreigners overstaying their visas. The Justice Ministry has revised regulations to impose up to 20 million won (US$17,390) in fines for employers of foreigners with expired visas or without valid visas, the Yonhap news agency said. The maximum fine was previously 10 million won (US$8,695). Illegal foreigners will also be fined a maximum of 20 million won, deported to their native countries and banned from re-entering Korea, Yonhap said, quoting the Justice Ministry.
■ Australia
Archbishop speaks on gays
Sydney's Anglican Archbishop said yesterday that the Britain-based church may have to expel its American wing and a Canadian diocese which blesses same-sex unions. Archbishop Peter Jensen said the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has three options for dealing with deep divisions in the 77 million-member church over the issue of homosexuality -- ignore it, recognize different opinions on homosexuality as valid, or withdraw recognition from the American church and the Canadian diocese of New Westminster. Williams has called a meeting for later this month of Anglican primates from all over the world to discuss the issue.
■ Pakistan
Troops hunt down suspects
Pakistan sent in troops and helicopters to a remote tribal region near the border with Afghanistan yesterday to hunt down suspected al-Qaeda militants hiding there. Major General Shaukat Sultan, spokesman for the Pakistan military, said the operation in the mountainous Wana region, some 350km southwest of the capital Islamabad, was a fresh effort to apprehend suspected al-Qaeda members. "It started early this morning in the Wana area," he said. "Our Quick Reaction Force is involved. Our ground troops and aviation assets are also taking part in it. No US or foreign troops are involved," he added.
■ Bangladesh
Man killed for porn protest
A man was beaten to death with bamboo sticks and a hammer for protesting the screening of pornographic material at a movie theater in northern Bangladesh, a news report said yesterday. Mesba-ul Haq, 21, scuffled with several moviegoers when he protested the showing of clips from a Western pornographic film during the screening Wednesday of a Bengali movie in Godagari village in Rajshahi district, the Daily Janakantha newspaper reported. At the end of the show, about six men assaulted Haq outside the theater, leaving him seriously injured. He later died at a hospital in Rajshahi city, 270km north of Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital.
■ Australia
Brothels ready for rugby
Australian brothels are recruiting extra dominatrices in anticipation of a boom in business generated by this month's Rugby World Cup, a sex industry spokesman said yesterday. With more than 100,000 overseas visitors expected for the tournament, Eros Association coordinator Robbie Swan said brothels believed business would increase by at least 30 percent. Swan said rugby union's English public school heritage meant demand for bondage and domination services was likely to skyrocket. Swan said that major events were always good for business. He said that in Canberra, where his business is based, the biggest event they'd ever had was the World Council of Churches conference in 1994 when business was up 250 percent
■ France
Pope still leading
Pope John Paul II is "very ill" but still is able to lead his Church, the head of the French episcopacy said Wednesday. "Things shouldn't be hidden. This pope is very ill," Stanislas Lalane said on Europe-1 radio, noting that the pope has difficulty moving and talking. The 83-year-old pontiff doesn't work alone, he said. "He is surrounded by collaborators. "But I assure you the Church is governed," Lalane said, noting John Paul's important decisions recently made and a heavy schedule that includes a ceremony on Oct.19 in which Mother Teresa is to be beatified. The pontiff suffers from Parkinson's disease.
■ United States
Jeb recruited by Bush team
Governor Jeb Bush of Florida will serve as chairman of his brother's re-election campaign in the state, whose votes could prove crucial in the presidential election next fall. The George W. Bush campaign announced the appointment on Wednesday, along with that of Brett Doster, a 32-year-old lobbyist and former aide to Jeb Bush, as the president's Florida campaign manager. The campaign also released the names of 59 leaders who will help raise money and get out the vote for President Bush here. They include Armando Codina, a Miami real estate developer and former business partner of Jeb Bush.
■ Germany
Glue spill clogs roads
A weary Dutch truck driver who nodded off at the wheel created a sticky situation for German emergency on Wednesday: his load of glue spilled right across the autobahn. Denmark's main route to the sun, the A7 freeway from the Danish border southwards, was blocked by the overnight crash. Police said the semi-trailer first veered into the soft shoulder, then swerved across the center strip and came to rest on the opposite carriageway. Between 1,000 and 2,000 liters of liquid gum for paper spilled from plastic barrels and had to be blasted off the asphalt with high-pressure steam guns.
■ United nations
Deal with Iran, US urged
Iran is likely to be able to make a nuclear weapon within two years and Washington should consider a deal giving Tehran security, diplomatic and economic benefits to persuade it to abandon its nuclear arms programs, according to a report prepared for the Pentagon. The report, by a weapons expert with close ties to the White House hard-liners, recommended UN measures to stop Iran importing technology that could be used in nuclear arms and said covert operations should be considered against Iranian nuclear facilities.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese