■ Hong Kong
20% of wives beaten: study
Nearly one in five Hong Kong wives have been beaten by their husbands, according to a survey published yesterday. Of 1,000 married women interviewed, 18.7 percent said they had been beaten by their husbands, according to the study carried in the South China Morning Post. Forty percent of victims said they sought help from social workers and police but, of those, only a third said their cases had been satisfactorily resolved. A separate study published last week found nearly three in 10 Hong Kong policemen believe husbands are entitled to hit their wives.
■ Vietnam
Praise for trip to islands
The country hailed its first tourist trip to disputed islands in the South China Sea as a success yesterday despite protests from other governments that also claim the archipelago. A boat carrying around 60 Vietnamese tourists and 40 "invited" officials returned to Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday, ending a seven-day trip to the disputed Spratly Islands. Six governments claim the islands about 650km off Vietnam's southeastern coast, which straddle vital shipping lanes and fishing grounds and are believed to contain vast oil and gas reserves.
■ Indonesia
Bashir supporters protest
About 100 supporters of militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir demonstrated yesterday outside his prison, accusing police of attempting to keep him in jail on the orders of Western governments. Many of the protesters were dressed in white robes. They carried banners showing photos of US President George W. Bush emblazoned with the words: "Drag and hang!" Police were scheduled yesterday to question Bashir over a string of terrorist attacks in Indonesia, including the Oct. 12, 2002, bombings in Bali that killed 202 people. Bashir's lawyers, however, said the interrogation had been postponed. Police were not immediately available for comment.
■ Japan
North Korean ferry visits
A North Korean ferry arrived at a Japanese port yesterday, its first visit since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's ruling bloc submitted legislation to parliament allowing Tokyo to bar North Korean boats from Japan. The Mangyongbong-92, the only passenger ship regularly shuttling between the two countries, docked in the northern port of Niigata for a one-day visit from Wonsan, North Korea, Coast Guard spokesman Shunsei Omori said. Coast guard, customs and immigration officials immediately searched the vessel, checking its cargo and papers, while dozens of demonstrators staged wharfside protests against the ferry, Omori said. Its previous port call was three months ago.
■ Bangladesh
`Subversive' visitors arrested
Police rounded up people entering the capital yesterday, four days before a deadline set by the opposition for Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to quit. Zia has already rejected the call to resign and police said the mass arrests were based on intelligence that "subversive activities" were planned. Witnesses said a number of people were detained at rail, bus and ferry terminals as they tried to enter Dhaka. Police have confirmed 7,000 people were taken into custody since last week but had no immediate figure for yesterday. "It is a violation of human rights," said a spokesman for the main opposition Awami League party, which is spearheading the campaign to oust the government.
■ Iraq
Bulgarian leader attacked
Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov's convoy came under attack by gunmen late on Sunday during a surprise visit to the Balkan state's forces stationed in Iraq, the defense ministry said. His convoy was shot at as it travelled between the camps of Bulgarian and Polish troops in Kerbala, where Shiite militants have stepped up attacks against US-led forces in recent weeks, spokeswoman Rumiana Strugarova said. No one was hurt in the attack, and Parvanov returned to Bulgaria in the early hours of yesterday morning, she said.
■ United Kingdom
Dog ate 28 golf balls
Vets cut open a German Shepherd dog to find she had scoffed no fewer than 28 golf balls. Eighteen-month old Libby had been coughing blood after weeks of fetching golf balls at the northern England course where owner Mike Wardrop works as a bar manager. Wardrop said on Friday he hadn't realized the dog had a secret appetite for the dimpled balls she found at Didsbury Golf Club in Manchester. "When I take her for a walk every day she is prone to finding golf balls," Wardrop said. "She can fit five in her mouth."
■ Vatican
Pope beatifies six more
Pope John Paul II demonstrated new-found vigor on Sunday as he announced six beatifications in four different languages and then braved wind and rain to kiss several children as he toured St. Peter's Square in his open-topped "Popemobile." The relatively bouncy performance came after the pope, who is almost 84 and suffers from Parkinson's disease and severe arthritis, abandoned a public address at an Easter weekend ceremony. The six beatifications further enhanced this pontiff's reputation for running a "saint-factory," and brought the number of people he has put on the path to sainthood in the last 25 years to 1,330 -- more than all the popes of the last 500 years combined.
■ United Kingdom
Human waste makes power
Scientists have developed a device that generates electricity from human waste. The microbial fuel cell devised by American researchers at Pennsylvania State University uses bacteria to break down waste, liberating electrons in the process. Normally the electrons would power respiratory reactions in the bacterial cells and be combined with oxygen molecules. But the fuel cell wrestles the electrons away from the bacteria and uses them to power a circuit. The device consists of a sealed 15cm-long can containing a special arrangement of electrodes. Organic waste is pumped in and broken down by clusters of bacteria. By depriving the bacteria of oxygen, electrons are freed to set up a voltage between the electrodes.
■ Sudan
Government, rebels in deal
The Sudanese government and a delegation representing rebels from the Darfur region signed an agreement on a political agenda late Sunday, Sudanese television said. The agreement was reached in neighboring Chad after days of intensive discussions between the two parties. It calls for the equal participation of both sides now at war in the Darfur region. The accord was signed under the auspices of Chadian President Idris Debi, and a representative from the African Union and the UN. The Darfur region in western Sudan has been the site of heavy clashes between nomadic groups of Arab descent and Black African residents.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number