■ Vietnam
Bomber gets 21 years
A court in Ho Chi Minh City sentenced a Chinese man to 21 years in jail for attempting to kill his Vietnamese fiancee using a homemade bomb, state-controlled media reported Friday. Xu Han Liang, 43, was convicted of ``murder, property extortion and destruction and illegal use of explosives'' at Thursday's one-day trial, the Thanh Nien newspaper said. Those accused of attempted murder are charged with murder in Vietnam. According to the report, Xu blew up 200 grams of explosives on his fiancee's doorstep in June 2002 following a dispute about money. No one was hurt in the incident, but part of the house was destroyed, it said.
■ South Korea
Security tightened after tape
South Korea boosted security around air and sea ports and its diplomatic missions overseas yesterday, after an audiotape attributed to al-Qaeda urged Muslim youths to attack the US and its allies, including South Korea. South Korea, which has 2,800 troops in Iraq, meanwhile convened its National Security Council to assess the threats. "We've ordered all our diplomatic missions overseas to strengthen security," Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon was quoted as saying by national news agency Yonhap following yesterday's meeting.
■ Singapore
Low marks for bosses
Employees in Singapore think less of their bosses than workers in other ASEAN countries do, with those in the Philippines tops in rating their employers favorably, a study showed on Friday. While 62 per cent of employees in Singapore think highly of their employers, this is below the 67 per cent norm for global high-performance companies tracked by Chicago-based International Survey Research (ISR) and the lowest level in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Elsewhere in the region, positive leadership ratings stood at 68 per cent in Indonesia, managing a third-place tie with India, followed by Malaysia with 67 per cent and 63 per cent in Thailand, according to the list published in The Business Times.
■ Japan
Storm's death toll rises to 22
The death toll from a tropical storm that cut a path of destruction across Japan rose to 22 on Friday after search teams found three more victims, including a 70-year-old farmer, police said. Tropical storm Meari caused floods, triggered deadly landslides and forced about 10,000 people to flee their homes. Five people were missing and at least 80 others had been injured. By late Thursday, the tempest -- downgraded from typhoon status -- had moved east out to the Pacific Ocean, the Meteorological Agency said. Three more people were found dead on Friday, adding to the 19 deaths confirmed the day before.
■ Yemen
Judge headed to prison
A Yemeni state security court yesterday sentenced a judge to 10 years in jail after convicting him of supporting a rebellion in the north of the country. Muhammad Ali Luqman, who heads a primary court in the western Haraz district, was found guilty of nine charges ranging from supporting an armed rebellion to foment-ing sectarian strife and instigating against the legitimate authority. Authorities said Luqman supported the slain rebel cleric Hussein Badruddin al-Houthi who led his armed followers to battle govern-ment forces in the northern province of Saada for nearly three months.
■ Netherlands
EU refugee proposal fails
France, Sweden and Belgium shot down a German proposal to set up European Union refugee processing centers in North Africa. EU ministers on Friday debated a proposal by German Interior Minister Otto Schily to address concerns over how the 25-nation bloc can stop the flow of illegal migrants crossing to Europe. Hundreds of people have died trying to make the sea crossing from Africa. Schily urged the EU to take action to deal with what EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Antonio Vitorino called a ``humanitarian crisis.'' About 800 refugees landed on a small island south of Sicily on Thursday and Friday.
■ United States
Photographer Avedon dies
Photographer Richard Avedon, renowned for his portraits of 20th century icons died on Friday at the age of 81, the New Yorker magazine announced. Avedon died in San Antonio, Texas, having suffered a stroke last month while on a photo shoot. Born in New York in 1923, Avedon dropped out of high school and joined the Merchant Marine, where he was put in the photographic section. He later became a department store photographer but within two years had won over fashion magazines. Avedon told an interviewer, "My portraits are much more about me than they are about the people I photograph. I used to think that it was a collaboration ... [But] the photographer has complete control; the issue is a moral one, and it is complicated."
■ Denmark
Mappers seek N Pole link
Seeking to lay claim to the North Pole, researchers are hoping to find evidence that the Danish territory of Greenland may be connected to a huge ridge beneath the floating Arctic ice, the country's science and technology minister said. The northern tip of Greenland is just 800km south of the North Pole. Denmark has joined Canada and Russia in charting the Arctic Ocean's seabed in an effort to claim ownership of the vast expanse -- and whatever riches in oil and gas may lie beneath it. If measurements can prove that Greenland is attached to the ridge, then ``maybe there is a chance that the North Pole could become Danish,'' Cabinet minister Helge Sander said on Friday.
■ Brazil
Nepotism rule bars gay mate
A court on Friday barred the lesbian partner of the outgoing mayor of an Amazon town from trying to succeed her. Eulina Rabelo was forced to quit the mayoral race in Viseu when judges ruled that her relationship with incumbent mayor Astrid Maria Cunha e Silva would violate a constitutional article that prevents executive posts in local government being transferred between family members. The ruling recognized the two as being married, even though Brazil's constitution technically does not allow gay marriage.
■ United States
NY restricts tongue-splitting
Governor George Pataki signed a law prohibiting tongue-splitting, except when it is done by licensed physicians or dentists. The law takes effect next month. "Less than 3,000 people have split tongues," estimated Erik Sprague, 32, a performance artist who appears in sideshows as the Lizardman. "Some people like the look of it, some people find an erotic appeal to it," he said. "If the split goes deep enough, you have full independent control over each side," he said. "The medical community -- they'll put basketball-sized breasts in a woman's chest, but they won't split a tongue."
■ United States
Shuttle flights delayed
The US space agency NASA has put off resumption of space shuttle flights from March until at least May, the agency said Friday. In a statement, the agency said the postponement was forced by the effects of four major hurricanes this year on its flight centers. Hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Jeanne closed down NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for about nine days and damaged several facilities, and Hurricane Ivan caused shorter closures at several other facilities, said William Readdy, NASA's associate administrator for space operations. "I am proud of our shuttle team for taking good care of our orbiters during this terrible storm season. I am pleased they are taking the time to make a careful assessment of the hurricanes' impact. Their thoroughness will help us make the right decision," he said.
■ United States
Hurricane unearths bomb
An unexploded rocket from World War II, unearthed by Hurricane Jeanne in a residential driveway, was safely detonated by Army munitions experts. The warhead from the 3m-long) "Tiny Tim" rocket was found Tuesday and disposed of Thursday, said Sgt. 1st Class Jake Holland. "This area used to be a preparation and rehearsal ground for the D-Day invasion, so this ammunition was probably used in (U.S. Army) training," he said. The partially exposed bomb was dug up and carried in a sand-filled truck to a disposal site, where it was detonated in an 8-foot-deep (2-meter-deep) hole. "With all the dirt we put around it, you could barely even hear when it exploded," Holland said.
■ United States
31 foreigners arrested
US immigration authorities in Florida have arrested 31 foreigners, including a Briton, accused of crimes ranging from drug trafficking to sex offenses, the US Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said Friday. The suspects, mostly Latin Americans, were rounded up in a three-day operation in southeastern Florida. The alleged crimes include grand theft, sexual battery, drug trafficking and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, the ICE Florida field office said in a statement. Of the 31 suspects, 24 are legal permanent residents of the United States and face possible deportation, the statement said. "Having a legal status in this country doesn't give any person the right to victimize our communities," said Michael Rozos, the ICE's Florida field office director.
■ Spain
Columbus riddle probed
Researchers studying DNA from 500-year-old bone slivers said preliminary data suggests Christopher Columbus might be buried in Spain, rather than in a rival tomb in the Dominican Republic. The team insisted it had reached no conclusion and more research was needed, especially tests on the remains in that Caribbean country. But on Friday it said some DNA samples taken from bones that Spain says are the explorer's matched DNA from a body widely believed to be that of his brother Diego. Both were unearthed in Seville over the past two years as part of a pioneering experiment to settle a 100-year-old argument over whether Columbus is buried in Spain or the Dominican Republic. Both boast ornate graves that purport to hold his remains. But DNA degrades over time, and much of the genetic material the Spanish team analyzed is in awful shape.
‘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
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
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in