■ Afghanistan
Constitution becomes law
President Hamid Karzai has signed the post-Taliban Constitution into law, hailing its promise of equal rights in hopes of uniting his splintered nation and ending a reign of violence. Karzai called out a triumphant "Congratulations!" to Afghan leaders who helped draw up the 162-article Constitution and signed a decree making the document the nation's supreme law in a ceremony on Monday. It outlines a tolerant and democratic Islamic republic under a strong presidency, a two-chamber parliament and an independent judiciary. It also recognizes minority language rights and declares men and women equal before the law.
■ Afghanistan
Canadian forces attacked
Three Canadian soldiers were injured in the Afghan capital yesterday in what Afghan police officials said was a suicide attack. General Haroon Asifi, a commander in the Afghan Interior Ministry, said one Canadian was killed, but spokesmen from the NATO-led international security force said they couldn't confirm any deaths. Nine civilians were also hurt. Ali Jan Askaryar, head of police in the western district of Kabul where the blast occurred, said the Canadians were part of a three-vehicle patrol.
■ Australia
Australia Day takes its toll
Dozens of people were hospitalized in the western city of Perth late on Monday as hot temperatures and alcohol took their toll on a celebration of Australia's national day, ambulance staff said. Peter Burton, a spokesman for the ambulance service, said at least 75 people were hospitalized and hundreds more treated by ambulance staff -- mainly as a result of fighting, drinking and high temperatures that reached 34oC. Fights broke out around a fireworks show staged by the city to mark Australia Day which attracted hundreds of thousands of spectators. Police said there were at least two serious brawls in the city and a stabbing.
■ Australia
PM blasts author Greer
Australian Prime Minister John Howard branded feminist author Germaine Greer "elitist" and "condescending" yesterday after she criticized Australians as "too relaxed to give a damn" in a newspaper article. Greer, the acclaimed author of The Female Eunuch, said Australia was drifting into a suburban mediocrity personified by the residents of Ramsay Street -- the fictional location of long-running soap opera Neighbours. "If your ambition is to live on Ramsay Street, where nobody has even been heard to discuss a book or a movie, let alone an international event, then Australia may be the place for you," she wrote in The Australian daily last Thursday.
■ China
Factory disguised as jail
The sign said it was a prison and those inside weren't allowed out. But Chinese police say the building was really something else -- a disguised factory that made counterfeit cigarettes. Investigators who raided the factory in the western city of Meishan found 117 tonnes of tobacco and 565 cartons of cigarettes with 20 brand names, the official Xinhua News Agency said yesterday. "Workers were treated like prisoners, as they were not allowed to go out and had to stay in the `factory' round the clock," the report said.
■ United States
Judge weakens Patriot Act
For the first time, a federal judge has struck down part of the sweeping anti-terrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act, joining other courts that have challenged the Bush administration's campaign against terrorism. In Los Angeles, Judge Audrey B. Collins of US District Court, said in a decision made public on Monday that a provision in the law banning certain types of support for terrorist groups was so vague that it risked contravening the First Amendment. At issue was a provision in the act that expanded previous anti-terrorism law to prohibit anyone from providing "expert advice or assistance" to known terrorist groups. The law could threaten "unequivocally pure speech and advocacy protected by the First Amendment," the judge wrote.
■ United States
Clark takes NH hamlet
General Wesley Clark captured eight of the 15 votes cast for Democrats in the first balloting of the New Hampshire primary yesterday in the northern hamlet of Dixville Notch, giving his candidacy a symbolic boost before the rest of the state goes to the polls. All 26 registered voters in Dixville Notch cast ballots -- 11 for US President George W. Bush. Dixville Notch takes advantage of a state election law that allows communities to close the polls after all registered voters have cast their ballots. Every four years, Dixville Notch momentarily becomes the center of the presidential campaign because it marks the nation's first direct vote for a candidate.
■ United States
Neanderthals not human
A study comparing the skulls of Neanderthals to early and modern humans has concluded that the ancient group is unlikely to have been the ancestor of people today. The study measured 15 standard landmarks on the face and skull of Neanderthals, early modern humans, current humans as well as other primate species. It found that the differences measured between humans and Neanderthals were significantly greater than those found between subspecies of any single group, suggesting Neanderthals were not a subspecies of humans.
■ United States
Scientists grow GM sperm
For the first time, US and Japanese scientists have genetically modified sperm, grown it in a laboratory dish and used it to produce a transgenic creature. The technique could, in the long term, pay off in human fertility research and suggest new ways to overcome genetic disorders. So far, however, it only works for zebrafish, a laboratory favorite because their embryos are transparent. The US-Japanese team's landmark achievement was to enable immature sperm cells -- spermatogonia -- from male zebrafish to survive long enough in laboratory culture to take aboard foreign genes.
■ Egypt
Building collapse kills five
A 12-story building collapsed in a Cairo suburb on Monday night after a fire broke out in a ground floor appliance store, killing at least five people, including three firefighters and a police officer. About 10 people remained trapped in the rubble, and a member of the rescue team said that rescuers heard from a survivor beneath the debris yesterday morning. The survivor said two others were alive with him, the rescue worker said.
‘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
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