■ Japan
Afghan forces set to stay
Japan's lower house of parliament voted yesterday to extend an anti-terror law that lets the military continue providing non-combat support for the US-led war on terror in Afghanistan. The decision by the more powerful of parliament's two chambers makes it all but certain that Japan can keep forces deployed in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean for another two years. Since the law was first passed in October 2001, Japanese warships and hundreds of military personnel have transported fuel and supplies for US and other allies' vessels.
■ New Zealand
Pigs catch incurable disease
Agriculture officials investigating a pig farm where a third of young piglets have died said yesterday that it may be New Zealand's first outbreak of an untreatable pig disease. It would be two weeks before officials could confirm the presence of the suspected disease, known as post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome, which usually kills affected pigs aged six to 12 weeks. The disease is connected with other pig viruses such as porcine parvovirus, said Allen Bryce, national surveillance manager for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
■ The Philippines
Grenade attack kills three
A man hurled a grenade into a mosque in the southern Philippines during weekly prayers yesterday, killing three people and wounding many more, police said. The attack took place in the town of Midsayap in the southern region of Mindanao. "We are still conducting an investigation. We still do not know the motive or the identity of the perpetrator. I believe it was done by only one person because a witness said so," the town's police chief Eduardo Marquez said. A military spokesman confirmed there had been an explosion, while another witness said two grenades were thrown into the small but crowded mosque.
■ The Philippines
Arroyo expected to run again
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is almost certain to run in next May's presidential election, reversing course after pledging last year not to stand, a close aide said yesterday. "I really don't know on the timing [of an announcement], but I know she has more or less made up her mind and she will run for election," said Norberto Gonzales, the president's adviser on special concerns. Another source at the presidential palace said that Arroyo planned to make an announcement this afternoon at the Clark special economic zone, a former US base in her home province of Pampanga, north of Manila.
■ Myanmar
UN envoy plans to return
A UN envoy sent to Myanmar to promote free elections ended his mission without securing the release of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but plans to return later this year. Razali Ismail, who departed Myanmar on Thursday, said its military rulers did not indicate whether Suu Kyi will be included in their so-called "road map" to democracy, a diplomat who attended a private briefing by Razali said on condition of anonymity. Razali said he had extensive talks with Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt, but received no specific answers about the release of political prisoners or the role of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party in a possible democratic transition.
■ Canada
Liberal Party wins election
Ontario voters denied the Progressive Conservative Party a third straight term in power, electing the Liberal Party to head the government of Canada's most populous province. With returns still coming in from Thursday's vote, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp and Canadian Press declared Liberal candidates the winners in a solid majority of the 103 legislative seats at stake to make party leader Dalton McGuinty the new Ontario premier. The Liberals were leading in 71 races, while the Progressive Conservatives led in 25 races and the leftist New Democratic Party in seven.
■ United States
Control doesn't stop crime
A report published by the Centers for Disease Control on Thursday found no conclusive evidence that gun control laws help to prevent violent crime, suicides and accidental injuries in the US. Gun control is a perennial hot political issue in the US, which reported 28,663 gun-related deaths in 2000, the latest year for which complete data are available. But a national task force of health-care and community experts found "insufficient evidence" that bans on specific guns and other such laws changed the incidence of murder, rape, suicide and other types of violence.
■ World
Nigeria happy, Russia not
People in Latin America, Western Europe and North America are happier than their counterparts in Eastern Europe and Russia. An analysis of levels of happiness in more than 65 countries by the World Values Survey shows Nigeria has the highest percentage of happy people followed by Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador and Puerto Rico, while Russia, Armenia and Romania have the fewest. "New Zealand ranked 15th for overall satisfaction, the US 16th, Australia 20th and Britain 24th -- though Australia beats the other three for day-to-day happiness," New Scientist magazine, which published the results, said on Wednesday.
■ United States
Public-sex contest banned
A radio contest challenging listeners to have sex in public places for a free trip to Boston's Sam Adams Brewery has won the broadcasters a US$357,500 fine, federal regulators said on Thursday. The Federal Communications Commission proposed the fine after ruling that 13 stations owned by a Viacom Inc unit violated federal indecency standards when they aired, on Aug. 15 last year, the "Opie & Anthony Show," which ran the contest. The show was canceled almost immediately after the contest aired, which included broadcasts of five couples purportedly having sex and descriptions of other sexually explicit activities in famous New York locales like St. Patrick's Cathedral and Rockefeller Center.
■ United States
No death penalty, says judge
A federal judge ruled on Thursday that prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty and cannot present any evidence that Zacarias Moussaoui knew of or was involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks because the US government refused to allow him to question al-Qaeda captives. The sanctions by US District Judge Leonie Brinkema effectively prevent the prosecutors from making the heart of their case against Moussaoui, the only person charged in the US for the hijacked plane attacks.
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
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
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
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