■ Hong Kong
Woman jailed for maid abuse
A woman was sentenced to nine months in prison for injuring her maid by pressing a hot iron against her back, an official and a newspaper said yesterday. Cheong Un-ieng, 62, was convicted and sentenced in the Eastern Magistrates' Court for inflicting grievous bodily harm, judicial spokeswoman Jaime Or said, declining further comment. The South China Morning Post said Cheong pressed the iron against the lower back of her 19-year-old Indonesian helper, surnamed Zuliatin, after accusing her of ironing the wrong clothes. The maid suffered second-degree burns, the report said. Her home town wasn't immediately known.
■ Japan
Wrestlers to fight crime
Sumo wrestlers in Tokyo's crime-ridden Edogawa ward are fighting a new opponent -- thieves. After they finish their training the heavyweights take to the streets and patrol the area surrounding their sumo stable, the Japanese Times reported yesterday. It might be the first time in the more than 1000-year history of sumo that the wrestlers go on patrol, the newspaper reported. To avoid frightening residents, the wrestlers, who average 140kg, don bright green sashes that say they are on patrol. In return for their good deeds the sumo wrestlers are only hoping that their patrols will help boost the flagging popularity of the national sport. Edogawa ward has one of the highest crime rates in Tokyo.
■ Singapore
Cable car to test endurance
Contestants who can withstand the claustrophobia and vertigo of life in a moving cable car are required in Singapore, with those lasting the longest claiming a S$50,000 (US$29,400) prize. The week-long contest, dubbed "Surviving the Sky," will pit 36 two-person teams from South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore against each other, organizer Singapore Cable Car said in a statement yesterday. Two teams -- each made up of one man and one woman -- will be housed in one cable car, and all are allowed three breaks of 10 minutes a day from its confines.
■ Vietnam
New disease kills chickens
A mysterious disease has killed more than 40,000 chickens in southern Vietnam, and local officials have been ordered to kill all sick animals and quarantine affected areas, an official said yesterday. The deaths occurred in two districts in Long An province, about 50km southwest of Ho Chi Minh City, with the disease threatening to spread to other provinces, said the official from the Veterinary Department in Hanoi, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
■ Australia
Irwin may be honored
"Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin could be named Australian of the Year despite being criticized at home and abroad for hand-feeding a giant reptile while holding his baby son. Irwin, TV host of the Crocodile Hunter wildlife program, has been nominated by his home state Queensland for the top national award. State Premier Peter Beattie said yesterday he would not retract his nomination of Irwin even though welfare officers have yet to decide whether to take action against him. "He has been one of the best ambassadors for Queensland in the modern era. He is known internationally," Beattie said. The celebrated animal lover fed a 4m croc while cradling his one-month baby, Robert, during a media event at his reptile park in Queensland.
■ United States
Space station losing pressure
The International Space Station housing a two-man crew is losing cabin pressure in what could be an indication of a leak aboard the spacecraft, the US space agency acknowledged late Monday. In a brief statement, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said flight controllers informed the station crew that they were monitoring "a slightly larger than normal decay in air pressure on the complex." "The decay ... is having no impact on station operations and the crew is in no danger," NASA assured. The agency did not say when a drop in air pressure was first noticed. But NBC News cited a confidential internal NASA report as saying it came to the attention of mission control on Dec. 29.
■ United States
Singer Ray Davies shot
Singer-songwriter Ray Davies of the Kinks was shot in the leg while chasing two armed robbers who grabbed a purse from a woman he was walking with in New Orleans, police said Monday. Davies, 59, and the woman were walking in the French Quarter around 8:30pm on Sunday when a gunman jumped out of a car and demanded the purse. She handed it to him, and the thief ran back to the car. Davies was shot when he ran after him. The singer was treated and released at a hospital. Police said Davies got the license number of the car, which officers traced. They arrested Jerome Barra, 25, a few hours later.
■ Nigeria
Student revolt investigated
Nigerian security agencies on Monday looked into the origins of a student group's deadly armed campaign to create an Islamic state in Africa's most populous nation -- paying special attention to sources of the students' weapons and any local or foreign backing. The known death toll in last week's five-day uprising in northeast Nigeria rose to 10, including eight of the militants, Yobe state Governor Abba Ibrahim said. Authorities had previously said six students and two police officers died in at-times fiery gunbattles between militants and the army and police of Nigeria and neighboring Niger. The group gave its aim as creating a Taliban-style Islamic republic in Nigeria.
■ United Kingdom
Air marshals refused
Thomas Cook Airlines, the charter flight arm of Europe's biggest travel firm, said yesterday it would cancel any flights on which it was required to carry an armed air marshal on board. The German-owned carrier flies to Orlando in the US from two airports in Britain and also flies through US airspace on its way to the Caribbean. "Thomas Cook Airlines has not changed its policy that if presented with a sky marshal on any of our routes, the flight would be cancelled," the charter carrier said in a statement.
■ Morocco
Prisoner wed after 24 years
After 24 years of engage-ment, a Moroccan soldier named Abderrahim has married his bride. But he had an excuse -- he was in jail deep in the Sahara desert. "I was convinced she'd wait for me, I had blind confidence in her since the first day we met," Abderrahim told 2M state television, which did not disclose his last name. Separatist guerrillas captured Abderrahim in 1979 during a war for control of the Western Sahara territory and freed him along with 300 of 900 remaining prisoners in November. He rushed home to wed his intended, Bahia, who knew he had been captured but had had no news of him for six years.
■ United States
Soldiers offered bonus
The US Army, stressed by global deployments, is offering re-enlistment bonuses of up to US$10,000 to forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, Army officials said on Monday. Soldiers currently in those countries -- and others headed there in the coming three months
to replace them -- could receive lump payments
of between US$5,000 and US$10,000 for enlisting for at least three years of additional service, the officials said.
■ United States
Bush keeps Libya sanctions
The Bush administration said on Monday it was keeping US sanctions against Libya in place but promised to take "tangible steps" to improve relations if Tripoli follows through on its pledge to get rid of its weapons of mass destruction. "Despite the positive developments, the crisis with respect to Libya has not been fully resolved, and I have therefore determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared with respect to Libya and maintain in force the comprehensive sanctions against Libya," President George W. Bush said in a letter members of Congress issued during a visit to St. Louis, Missouri. But Bush also pledged: "As Libya takes tangible steps to address those concerns, the United States will in turn take reciprocal tangible steps to recognize Libya's progress."
■ United States
Ad compares Bush to Hitler
The liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org, a lightning rod for opposition to the Iraq war, apologized on Monday for posting two political messages on the Internet comparing President George W. Bush to Hitler. One ad mixed images of Hitler and Nazi militarism with Bush taking the oath of office and equated German war crimes of 1945 with Bush's foreign policy. The other quoted Hitler and Bush as saying they acted in God's name to vanquish their enemies. After being roundly denounced by Republicans and Jewish leaders, MoveOn.org issued a mea culpa saying the two ads were in poor taste.
■ United States
US has fattest teens
Teenagers in the US have higher rates of obesity than those in other industrialized countries, including France and Germany, a study of nearly 30,000 youngsters ages 13 and 15 found. Among 15-year-olds, 15 percent of girls and nearly 14 percent of boys were obese, and 31 percent of girls and 28 percent of boys were more modestly overweight. The findings were based on school questionnaires given to youngsters from 15 countries. It was published in this month's issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
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
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
‘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