■ Japan
Train sets speed record
A magnetically levitated train set a new world speed record in Japan on Tuesday, reaching 578kph during a manned test run. "Maglev" trains hover 10mm above electromagnetic rails which propel the locomotive without the need for an engine. The maglev is part of a government-financed project to develop faster, quieter trains. Japan's bullet trains, introduced in the 1960s, are among the world's fastest. Maglev developers say the trains create little noise or vibration, and the tracks require less maintenance than conventional rails.
■ China
Abstinence at Miss World
It's all work and no play for the 106 beauty queens preparing for Miss World in China this week, with sex and alcohol strictly off-limits. "They can meet with boyfriends and parents in the lobby in view of their chaperones, but there are no other activities," Paul Ridley, spokesman for the Miss World organization, said yesterday. "We're looking after their moral standards, so to speak," Ridley added. "These are part of the Miss World rules and the image that it wants to present. They are seen as ambassadors for the organization and to their countries."
■ United States
Detainee to get lawyer
The Defense Department said on Tuesday that an American citizen of Saudi descent who is being held as an enemy combatant in a South Carolina naval brig will be allowed access to a lawyer. The man, Yaser Esam Hamdi, who was apparently captured on the battlefield in the Afghan war, has been at the center of a legal debate over the Bush administration's enemy combatant policy that allows the military to hold people indefinitely, without bringing charges against them, and without allowing them access to lawyers or their family members. Hamdi has been held in military brigs, first in Virginia and now in Charleston, since April last year.
■ Singapore
Limp Bizkit cancels concerts
Rock band Limp Bizkit has canceled the Southeast Asian leg of their world tour, citing terrorism fears in the region, local media reported yesterday. "The band wishes to extend their deepest apologies to their fans in Southeast Asia and promise to return once security for their fans can be assured," concert promoter Michael Hosking was quoted by the Straits Times newspaper as saying. The newspaper said the American rap-rock band cited US State Department warnings of "increased security risks" for the no-show. Hosking told the newspaper that appearances in the Indonesian resort island of Bali, Thailand and the Philippines have also been scrapped.
■ Indonesia
Revelers to be shot
Acehnese rebels who dare celebrate their movement's birthday will be shot unless they surrender, an Indonesian military spokesman said yesterday as troops killed six insurgents in fresh clashes. The Free Aceh Movement said it plans flag-raising ceremonies in the province today to mark the 27th anniversary of their first declaration of independence from Indonesia in 1976. The province, on the northern tip of Sumatra Island, has been under martial law since the latest efforts to resolve the conflict collapsed in May and Jakarta launched an offensive to crush the rebellion. Any public displays to mark the Dec. 5 anniversary would be an embarrassment to authorities, who claim to have the rebels on the run as a result of the offensive.
■ Turkey
Al-Qaeda ordered bombings
Turkish news media reported on Tuesday that two suspects in the suicide bombings that rocked Istanbul last month took direct orders from a senior al-Qaeda leader, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, after meeting him earlier this year. Reliable information about the investigation into the bombings has been spotty because of a government blackout on the case. Turkish press reports on the subject are based on leaked information, some of which has already proved inaccurate. The whereabouts of Zawahiri, an Egyptian-born surgeon who merged his own militant force with that of Osama bin Laden in 1998, have been uncertain since late 2001.
■ Georgia
Former leader has to leave
Georgia's top presidential candidate on Tuesday urged Eduard Shevardnadze to temporarily quit the country before the upcoming elections amid fears that the former leader could become a rallying point for those who seek to undo last month's peaceful revolution. Mikhail Saakashvili, who made the appeal during a campaign stop at a subway station, is the favorite to win the Jan. 4 race. Shevardnadze resigned on Nov. 23 facing a tide of opposition protests which followed the now-discredited Nov. 2 parliamentary elections. The victorious opposition called new presidential elections, and have united behind candidate Saakashvili.
■ Rwanda
18 guilty of joining genocide
A Rwandan court convicted 18 people on Tuesday for their role in the killing of 20,000 men, women and children sheltering in a church compound during the 1994 genocide, a justice official said. The court in Kibungo province sentenced the 18 men to prison terms ranging from seven to 25 years for the killings, Ruzezwa said by telephone. Prosecutors said the accused joined extremist Hutu militias who attacked the Nyarubuye Roman Catholic church compound on April 15, 1994. "They attacked people sheltering there and killed indiscriminately using spears, machetes, clubs, hand grenades and automatic weapons," Ruzezwa said.
■ United States
Arnie flexes budget muscles
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger kicked off a campaign-style tour for his fiscal plan, taking aim at "reckless spending in Sacramento" and urging voters to pressure lawmakers into placing a massive borrowing plan on the March ballot. "You've already shown your power by flexing your muscles last Oct. 7 when you voted me into office," he said on Tuesday at a downtown mall. "Flex your muscles again. Let your voices be heard." The governor wants to trim US$3.8 billion in spending from this and next year's budgets.
■ Iraq
Army groom faces discharge
An American soldier is facing dishonorable discharge for taking a break from patrol in Baghdad to marry his Iraqi girlfriend, says his lawyer. Sergeant Sean Blackwell has not been allowed to see his bride, Ehdaa, since the wedding on Aug. 17, but the couple have recently been allowed to talk by phone, his lawyer, Richard Alvoid, said. The US army has accused the soldier, 27, from the Florida National Guard, of revealing the timing and location of his patrol to his bride and the Iraqi judge who married them, in organizing the wedding.
MONEY MATTERS: Xi was to highlight projects such as a new high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest, as Serbia is entirely open to Chinese trade and investment Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic yesterday said that “Taiwan is China” as he made a speech welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Belgrade, state broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) said. “We have a clear and simple position regarding Chinese territorial integrity,” he told a crowd outside the government offices while Xi applauded him. “Yes, Taiwan is China.” Xi landed in Belgrade on Tuesday night on the second leg of his European tour, and was greeted by Vucic and most government ministers. Xi had just completed a two-day trip to France, where he held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as the
With the midday sun blazing, an experimental orange and white F-16 fighter jet launched with a familiar roar that is a hallmark of US airpower, but the aerial combat that followed was unlike any other: This F-16 was controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), not a human pilot, and riding in the front seat was US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall. AI marks one of the biggest advances in military aviation since the introduction of stealth in the early 1990s, and the US Air Force has aggressively leaned in. Even though the technology is not fully developed, the service is planning
INTERNATIONAL PROBE: Australian and US authorities were helping coordinate the investigation of the case, which follows the 2015 murder of Australian surfers in Mexico Three bodies were found in Mexico’s Baja California state, the FBI said on Friday, days after two Australians and an American went missing during a surfing trip in an area hit by cartel violence. Authorities used a pulley system to hoist what appeared to be lifeless bodies covered in mud from a shaft on a cliff high above the Pacific. “We confirm there were three individuals found deceased in Santo Tomas, Baja California,” a statement from the FBI’s office in San Diego, California, said without providing the identities of the victims. Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter
CUSTOMS DUTIES: France’s cognac industry was closely watching the talks, fearing that an anti-dumping investigation opened by China is retaliation for trade tensions French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at one of his beloved childhood haunts in the Pyrenees, seeking to press a message to Beijing not to support Russia’s war against Ukraine and to accept fairer trade. The first day of Xi’s state visit to France, his first to Europe since 2019, saw respectful, but sometimes robust exchanges between the two men during a succession of talks on Monday. Macron, joined initially by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urged Xi not to allow the export of any technology that could be used by Russia in its invasion