■ Bangladesh
Strike cripples capital
A two-day general strike called by the opposition party in protest of the weekend bomb attack on an anti-government rally that killed 19 people has Tuesday brought the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka to a standstill. The countrywide shutdown was enforced by the opposition Awami League as tension and anger mounted over Saturday's bomb and grenade attack on a crowded rally in front of the party headquarters in central Dhaka. Police sources and senior Awami League officials said the bloody attack was targeted on opposition chief and former prime minister Sheikh Hasina who addressed the rally.
■ Japan
Permanent UN spot sought
Japan's prime minister said Tuesday he will argue for making his country a permanent member of the UN Security Council during an upcoming trip to the United Nations. Japan, the world's second-largest economy, has long called for an expansion of the permanent council seats, now held by five countries: the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's office said details of his trip have not been finalized, but he is widely expected to be at the UN during the Sept. 21-22 General Assembly. "UN Security Council reform has become a major agenda item," Koizumi told reporters Tuesday.
■ China
Women's sex lives probed
China's communist leaders are easing their official prudishness about sexuality, and carrying out the first nationwide survey on women's sex lives. The 2004 China Female Sex Survey will ask respondents how often they have sex, whether they've had extramarital affairs and other questions, the official Xinhua News Agency said yesterday. The survey will be carried out among women who visit a popular Chinese Web site, Sina.com, the report said, adding that participants must be over age 21. "The aim of the survey is to find out the status of Chinese women's sex life, analyze their sexual behaviors and psychology and provide sexual knowledge and advice for them," Xinhua said, citing Ma Xiaonian, a researcher at the institute.
■ Hong Kong
Man chases mother's coffin
A grieving Hong Kong man tried to open a casket for a final look at his dead mother but was stopped by police in a bitter family feud over the funeral arrange-ments, newspapers reported Tuesday. As the hearse was about to depart for the cemetery, jewelry designer Edward Chiu beat it with his hands in frustration as officers restrained him, according to newspaper accounts. Chiu then hired a taxi to chase the hearse but was unable to stop it, the Sing Tao Daily reported.
■ Cambodia
Buddhists annoy judge
A Cambodian judge has lodged a complaint with authorities against Buddhist monks for waking him up at 4am by banging on their gong, a newspaper reported Tuesday. Supreme Court Justice Kong Phirun has asked the Religion Ministry to intervene and stop the monks at the Langka pagoda near his home in the capital, Phnom Penh, from disturbing his slumber, the Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper said. The monks, who began observing Buddhist Lent earlier this month, have been beating a gong at 4am every morning as a call to prayers, he reportedly lamented to the ministry.
■ United States
Planes broadcast to Cuba
The US confirmed Monday that it had begun broadcasting Radio and TV Marti into Cuba from military airplanes. "On Saturday, the United States successfully [broadcast] Radio and TV Marti to the Cuban people for several hours from an airborne broadcasting platform operated by the Air National Guard," State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said. Cubans got their first taste late Saturday of the US$18 million effort to help bring democracy to Cuba. US President George W. Bush adopted the measure in May, which had been recommended by the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba.
■ United States
Judge orders Bible shelved
A federal judge ruled again Monday that a Bible must be removed from a monument outside the Harris County civil courts building in Texas. US District Judge Sim Lake denied an emergency request by the county to allow the display to remain until appeals are exhausted. Lake first ruled Aug. 10 that the display violates the constitutional separation of church and state. A real estate broker and attorney, Kay Staley, sued the county last year, arguing the Bible display improperly advanced Christianity. The county said the display originated as a private expression of free speech -- with private donations being used to buy the Bible -- and that the county should not be held responsible for its contents.
■ Colombia
New role for Escobar's zoo
A zoo built by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and a symbol of the excesses of trafficking, will become an attraction for environmental tourists, the Colombian government said. Escobar, who once supplied most of the cocaine to the US, furnished the Hacienda Napoles in Puerto Triunfo with animals from Africa. Ownership of the farm, was disputed since his death in 1993. Escobar used to entertain visitors at Hacienda Napoles, smoking marijuana and stroking the animals. A court found in February that the Colombian government could confiscate the hacienda because it had likely been paid for with drug money.
■ Yemen
Rebel leader killed
The brother of a Muslim preacher leading a two-month rebellion against the authorities has been killed in an army raid targeting pockets of resistance in Yemen's northern region, military sources said. "Abdel Malek al-Huthi was killed by the Yemeni army during fierce clashes on Monday evening between the armed forces and rebels in an assault on the Shaab Salman region," near the border with Saudi Arabia, the sources said. The brother had commanded the snipers among the rebels, according to the sources, who also said that another of the preacher's brothers, Abdel Karim, was arrested during the raid.
■ United States
`Spider-Man' charged
A man dubbed the "Spider-Man Burglar" because of his ability to scale walls, leap from windows and swing on fire escapes was convicted Monday of breaking into offices and apartments in Manhattan. Rufus Graham, 41, was also convicted of breaking into two schools. Police officer Ray Gogarty testified that he saw Graham leap backward out a seventh-floor office window and land on the roof of a theater that was across a 3m alley and three stories below. Graham pretended to be hurt until he spotted a fire escape, which he quickly slid down and vanished, the officer testified. Graham, a former personal trainer, did not testify at trial.
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