■ Indonesia
Four held on terror charges
Police have four people in custody who are believed linked to last week's deadly bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta, the country's police chief said yesterday. The four, detained under anti-terror laws, include three arrested before the Sept. 9 blast that killed nine and injured more than 180, but who are believed to have had knowledge of it. "Related to the bombing, four persons are suspects in custody. Of course there are several other persons arrested but still being investigated," said police General Da'i Bachtiar. "Three were arrested (before the blast) because they have a close relationship with Azahari," he said.
■ Australia
Tax office to back prostitutes
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) is negotiating to become a sponsor of the sex industry's annual awards night in a bid to persuade strippers and prostitutes to declare their earnings and pay tax. Australia's ABC Radio reported yesterday that the ATO was not at all abashed at linking itself to the sex industry if that meant increasing compliance among the 16,000 registered sex workers. The possibility is that the ATO will sponsor one of the awards for best stripper, best brothel, or best table top dancer at the industry's night-of-nights at Melbourne's Hyatt Hotel in November.
■ Hong Kong
Faulty train evaucated
Six hundred people were evacuated from a train in Hong Kong's underground network Saturday when faulty brakes caused a burning smell in the carriages. The government later criticized the operator for repeated breakdowns and delays on the network. After the passengers were evacuated the train was diverted to a depot. Secretary for Transport Sarah Liao said: "This kind of incident is not to be tolerated ... It's a very serious incident although we have been very fortunate that nobody was hurt." She said the government had repeatedly remanded the Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC) which operates Hong Kong's underground network.
■ Vietnam
Prostitution ring busted
A common law husband and wife have been sent to prison for a total of 12 years, after being convicted of organizing a prostitute ring and providing virgins to clients, a court official said yesterday. Huynh Van Hai and Nguyen Thi Bich Be were arrested in December 2003, after two prostitutes working for them were caught with clients in a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, said Ngoc Hai, from the city's peoples court. "Hai and Be promised the girls Taiwanese husbands, and while waiting for husbands, the girls worked as prostitutes," Hai said.
■ Cambodia
Bogus monk collects money
A fake monk was on the run yesterday after police were alerted to a scam by which he defrauded people of thousands of dollars. Vong Em, 23, was claiming he was head monk of a pagoda and was collecting money to build a new temple, police said. Pagoda authorities said they were alerted to the scam when people started arriving at the pagoda to see the new construction they had paid for. The real chief of Angsavay pagoda in the southern province of Kampot then called the police, they said. "The fake monk Vong Em, 23, escaped but now we are investigating the matter and want to arrest him for questioning about cheating people out of money," Dang Toung district police chief Touch Dorn said by telephone yesterday.
■ Panama
Rains kill 9; 13 missing
Nine people were killed and 13 were declared missing Friday after strong rains triggered flooding and mudslides in Panama, civil defense authorities said. Seven of the dead were children, three of whom died in a mudslide in San Miguelito, about 25km northeast of the capital, said Roberto Velasquez, head of the National System for Civil Protection. President Martin Torrijos visited flooded areas. "It's a tragic, sad situation," said Torrijos. Velasquez said rescuers were hunting for 13 people missing after the Cabra River overflowed its banks.
■ germany
Racists charged in stomping
Two Germans accused of stomping on the head of a Guinean man during a racially motivated attack at a Berlin train station appeared in court on Friday to face charges of attempted murder. More than 100 people have been killed in racist violence in Germany since unification in 1990. The men, construction workers named only as Martin O, 21, and Heinrich P, 23, are accused of pushing the man to the ground, then stomping on his head, chanting racist slogans and threatening to kill him. A group representing victims of neo-Nazi attacks separately voiced concern on Friday about today's elections in Brandenburg and Saxony. "A heightened sense of self-confidence among the extreme right increases the chances of further racist attacks," said Victim Support.
■ Burundi
Tutsi parties attack draft
Tutsi political parties said yesterday that they will ask the central African country's constitutional court to throw out a draft constitution adopted by both houses of parliament. The draft constitution, which lawmakers enacted on Friday, incorporates articles that were proposed in a power-sharing accord signed in Pretoria at the beginning of last month by most of Burundi's politicians, with the exception of 10 Tutsi parties. "We are going to fight this text and the way it was enacted," said the head of the main Tutsi party, Union for National Progress, Jean-Baptiste Manwangari. Tutsis make up just 14 percent of Burundi's population, against 85 percent for the Hutus.
■ Uganda
Herbal medicine recognized
The government plans to include traditional and herbal healers in the health sector by developing a national legal and regulatory framework within existing legislation, officials said. Almost two-thirds of the country's 24 million people use traditional practitioners. A government-established organization is involved in a clinical study involving traditional healers to evaluate the effectiveness of local herbal treatment for selected HIV/AIDS-related diseases. Studies by this group have showed patients on herbal treatment were far better off than those on available modern medicines.
■ Israel
Madonna's guards arrested
Police arrested two body guards of US pop star Madonna for allegedly hitting two photographers, army radio reported yesterday. Madonna was in Tel Aviv to attend a conference on the Jewish Kabbalah movement. The pop star was due to deliver a speech on children's spirituality at a meeting last night. The public relations agency coordinating her visit set tough guidelines for journalists covering her current visit: they were requested to dress in white and bring neither writing utensils nor cameras to show respect for the Jewish festival.
■ United States
Contractor falls to death
A contractor at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York fell to his death through glass paneling while doing maintenance work in the museum's skylight area. The accident happened on Friday during museum hours, but officials said nobody else was hurt. Marcin Kielar, 26, was waterproofing the skylight when he fell through the glass and landed in the museum's Egyptian Temple of Dendur installation, museum spokesman Harold Holzer said. It was unclear how Kielar fell through, but he was supposed to have been working from scaffolding suspended near the roof. Kielar was a contractor who worked for R. Smith Restoration. The company's phone rang unanswered after business hours Friday. The Temple of Dendur will be closed until Tuesday, Holzer said.
■ Norway
Mussels grow in Arctic
Mussels have been found growing on the seabed just 1,300km from the North Pole in a likely sign of global warming, scientists said on Friday. The blue mussels, which normally favor warmer waters like off France or the eastern US, were discovered last month off Norway's Svalbard archipelago in waters that are covered with ice most of the year. "The climate is changing fast," said Geir Johnsen, a professor at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology who was among experts who found the bivalves. Molluscs were a "very good indicator that the climate is warming," he said. "It seems like the mussels we found are two to three years old," he said. Such shellfish have not been recorded off the islands since Viking times 1,000 years ago during another warm period.
■ United States
No-condom companies fined
California state officials fined two companies more than US$30,000 each for allowing actors to perform without using condoms -- the first time the state has taken such action. The fines against Evasive Angles and TTB Productions follow an investigation into a complaint filed by an adult film industry worker, as well as an HIV outbreak that forced a temporary shutdown of adult film production in Southern California. Three women contracted the virus that causes AIDS from a male performer while working for either Evasive Angles or TTB Productions. Susan Gard, who also is a spokeswoman for the agency, said the companies violated California law when actors performed sex scenes without using condoms. She said state law requires employers to protect workers who are exposed to blood or bodily fluids on the job.
■ United States
Travolta wants to share life
John Travolta is taking a stab at posterity. His autobiography, not yet titled, will be published in fall 2006, Hyperion announced this week. In it, the actor will share stories from his life and career. "I've hit a milestone this year in my life, turning 50, and if I waited any longer I'd have to write two books," Travolta, an Oscar nominee for Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction, said in a statement. "I've had such a full life that I really want to share it." Hyperion Editor in Chief Will Schwalbe called Travolta "one of the greatest and most beloved actors of our time. He is also a tremendously thoughtful person with remarkable stories to share -- about himself and his career; about his friendships with people ranging from Marlon Brando to Princess Diana; about the creative process and his passions," Schwalbe said.
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