■ Japan
Nursery school rejects child
A Japanese private nursery school has rejected a child because one of its parents is infected with HIV, news reports said yesterday. Aikawa Nursery School in Kofu, some 100km west of Tokyo, rejected the child in March last year, Kyodo News said. The child, whose name and gender are being withheld, is HIV-negative. The school made the decision because "the disease is unusual and there still is social prejudice," according to the Tokyo Shimbun. "My child has nothing to do with my disease," the parent said.
■ Malaysia
Man sneaks onto plane
A holiday-seeking man sneaked undetected into a Malaysian Airline plane for a free trip to Bali only to be detained by Indonesian officials upon his arrival, according to a report yesterday. The 24-year old man from Malaysia's eastern Sabah state had breezed past dozens of security guards, closed-circuit cameras and airline crew at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport to board the Bali-bound plane, police told the Star daily. Upon arrival, Indonesian officers discovered that the suspect had no travel documents and immediately deported him back. The man, who was working as a cleaner at the Malaysian airport, had been fired just two days before his daring stunt.
■ China
Road deaths a concern
With a mere 1.9 percent of the world's cars, China now clocks up 15 percent of global deaths on the roads, state media reported yesterday quoting Ministry of Public Safety figures. In the first 10 months of the year, there were 566,000 accidents, and 85,600 deaths on the country's roads, the Xinhua news agency reported. Last year, 109,000 Chinese were killed on the 1.76 million kilometers of roads which criss-cross the country. The Ministry of Transport has pledged to launch a national motor safety program next year in a bid to improve China's perilous road safety record.
■ North Korea
Compensation demanded
North Korea yesterday demanded compensation from the US for suspending a deal to build two nuclear power plants, state media reported, quoting the official North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun. The Korean Peninsular Energy Development Organization (KEDO) announced a week earlier it would suspend construction of two light-water reactors after judging North Korea had failed to meet necessary conditions to continue the project. "The decision by the American and other members of the KEDO is a measure of open distrust against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and deals a brutal blow to the negotiated framework of relations between the DPRK and the United States," according to Rodong Sinmun.
■ South Korea
Chinese end hunger strike
Some 2,400 Chinese citizens of Korean descent ended their two-week hunger strike yesterday after President Roh Moo-hyun promised he'd do his best to help them obtain South Korean citizenship. The mass hunger strike came amid a government crackdown on illegal aliens who have overstayed visas in South Korea. However, Roh indicated getting citizenship for the Chinese nationals is not a done deal, saying the effort involves China's sovereignty. The government said there are still about 90,000 illegal aliens in South Korea including Chinese, Thais, Filipinos, Bangladeshis, Vietnamese and Mongolians.
■ United Kingdom
Terror suspect arrested
Anti-terrorist police in Britain have arrested a 33-year-old man in the central city of Birmingham on suspicion of involvement in terrorism, police headquarters said on Friday. They said six buildings in the city were being searched. Police said the arrest in Birmingham was not connected to two earlier arrests under anti-terrorist legislation in two other cities. Detectives searched three homes and three business premises in Birmingham Friday night, but had not so far recovered weapons or explosives, a spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police said. The Birmingham man was detained Thursday by officers from the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorism unit and he is being held at a police station in west-central England.
■ Germany
Adenauer is best German
Konrad Adenauer, who served as Germany's first chancellor after World War II was named on Friday the "greatest German" of all time by popular vote in a survey conducted by a public television station. Following the former West German leader for second place was Martin Luther, the monk who sparked the Reformation in 1517, ZDF television said Friday in announcing the results of its months-long survey. Karl Marx -- a favorite among former East Germans -- placed third.
■ United States
New twist in Jackson case
In a new twist to the Michael Jackson case, the boy he allegedly molested was reported on Friday to be in need of a kidney transplant. Jamie Masada, a comedy club owner who says he introduced Jackson two years ago to the boy who now alleges sexual abuse by the King of Pop, said at a Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless that the accuser's remaining kidney is failing. Masada said he saw the boy earlier this week, and that the boy was being treated at home, not a hospital, but was getting dialysis treatments. "The kid is not doing very good," Masada said.
■ Finland
Judge denies being drunk
A Finnish judge who heard four criminal cases while drunk insisted the breath test was flawed because she was too busy to brush her teeth that morning. During a hearing in March, Judge Leena Pettinen's blood-alcohol content was three times the legal driving limit, Finland's attorney general said. The judge said she hosted a party the night before, drinking "several glasses" of vodka punch, cognac, wine and beer. Pettinen did not deny being under the influence of alcohol at work, but said she had felt capable of doing her job. "The breathalyser test result was affected by the alcohol that was left in my mouth and which I did not have time to remove in the morning rush by brushing my teeth," Pettinen said, according to the attorney general's statement.
■ Germany
Cigarette thief arrested
German police have arrested a shoplifter who aroused suspicion by waddling through a supermarket with 177 cigarette packets in his trousers. "He'd filled his trousers in the truest sense of the word," a police spokesman for the western town of Olpe said. "They were so full of stolen goods he could hardly walk." The thief, in his 20s, was helped by three accomplices who formed a protective shield by holding newspapers in front of the man and his bulging trousers, police said. Staff alerted police, who arrested the four as they attempted to transfer the loot into their car.
■ United States
Beatle death album for sale
The record album that John Lennon signed for Mark David Chapman just hours before Chapman fatally shot the former Beatle is being auctioned online. Gary Zimet, president of the Web site Moments in Time, said the album, Double Fantasy, is being offered for sale for US$525,000. It is being sold by the man who originally found it outside the Dakota apartment building in New York. Lennon was assassinated in 1980 outside the building. Zimet said that the owner "wrestled for 18 years before coming to the decision to sell the album." He said the cover and dust jacket contain forensically enhanced fingerprints of Chapman.
■ Iraq
Gun-wielding child shot
A seven-year-old child brandishing a Kalashnikov was shot in the foot by US troops during a raid in the hotspot city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, the US military said yesterday. The soldiers had apparently seen two men with weapons running into a house. When the soldiers approached the house, "a seven-year-old child came out with an AK-47 rifle pointed at the soldiers. A soldier responded in self-defense and shot the child in the foot," a Central Command statement said. The statement said the child was evacuated to a nearby army medical facility for treatment.
■ New Zealand
Mugabe threat welcomed
New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff yesterday said that he would welcome Zimbabwe quitting the British Commonwealth, as Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has previously threatened. Reacting to Mugabe's accusation that the "white" section (Britain, New Zealand, Australia and Canada) of the 54-nation grouping was leading an attack on his country, Goff told Radio New Zealand that the Zimbabwean president had breached the basic laws of human rights set out by the UN -- not just by "white" or Western countries. He said that until Zimbabwe's human rights record improved it should stay suspended from the Commonwealth and New Zealand would welcome it leaving of its own accord.
■ United States
Boyfriend almost castrated
A woman was convicted of kidnapping for planning an attack in which four of her friends assaulted and attempted to castrate her ex-boyfriend. Melissa French, 27, was convicted on Wednesday and faces at least 18 years in prison -- more than any of the attackers, all of whom accepted plea deals with prosecutors. The men attacked Donald Hamilton at his Santa Fe home in June last year. An assault rifle was placed in Hamilton's mouth and later fired between his legs, and the word "narc" was carved into his forehead with a pocketknife. He suffered separated shoulders, stab wounds and broken bones.
■ Brazil
Two die in prison revolt
Prisoners beat to death two fellow inmates and took three guards hostage during a 13-hour prison uprising in southern Brazil that ended Friday when authorities agreed to consider transferring the rebels to prisons in their home states. The guards were released unharmed, a spokesman at the state Justice Ministry said. The rebellion broke out when two inmates performing renovation work at the high security prison in Piraquara in Parana state used pickaxes to overwhelm guards. Two inmates were killed when the rebelling prisoners slammed them against walls and beat them with pickaxes.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
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