■ Malaysia
Bush victory `a disaster'
Malaysia's outspoken former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said it would be "a disaster" if US President George W. Bush was re-elected. Urging US Muslims to back Democrat challenger Senator John Kerry, Mahathir said Kerry was unlikely to repeat Bush's mistake of alienating Muslims if he won. "I feel that if you vote Bush in, then it means you are approving all the things he has done," Mahathir said. "That would be a disaster." At the last US election and while he was still in power, Mahathir told Americans to support Bush against Al Gore, the man he accused of supporting former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.
■ Japan
Fischer hoping for Kerry win
Bobby Fischer, the US chess legend turned critic of his country, was closely watching yesterday's presidential election from detention in Japan, believing his fight against deportation will get a boost if George W. Bush loses, his lawyer said. The maverick chess giant could be imprisoned for up to 10 years in the US for playing in Yugoslavia in 1992 against Boris Spassky in violation of US sanctions against Belgrade imposed over the Balkan wars. "If Bush wins, things may not change, but things may get better" if John Kerry becomes president, lawyer Masako Suzuki said, calling the Fischer case "very much politically affected."
■ United States
Singers lend weight to Kerry
Motown legend Stevie Wonder on Monday became the latest pop superstar to line up behind Senator John Kerry, on the eve of his showdown at the polls with US President George W. Bush. Wonder played a set before Kerry's rally in Detroit, Michigan, including a rendition of America the Beautiful on his harmonica. Kerry was later due to link up with another superstar backer, Bruce Springsteen in Cleveland, Ohio, and earlier in the day, rocker Bon Jovi opened a gig for him in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
■ JAPAN
Acupuncturist bets on Kerry
A British acupuncturist in Tokyo has promised to treat everyone who walks into his clinic for free today if US President George W. Bush loses the election -- even the would-be ex-president himself. Edward Obaidey, who treats about 20 people a day, said he stood to lose about
?120,000 (US$1,130) if Senator John Kerry wins. Obaidey said he decided to make his offer after hearing widespread anger about Bush from his patients, even ones who tend to be apolitical. Obaidey, who has worked in Tokyo for nearly 20 years, said he would consider making a similar offer when Britain holds its next general election. "If [Prime Minister Tony] Blair is out, maybe I'll do another campaign for that."
■ Australia
Howard stumps for Bush
The government has defended its open support for President George W. Bush in the US election, saying it was inevitable center-right governments would back one another. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer denied Prime Minister John Howard's comment that he was hoping for a Bush win had damaged the allies' close relationship. Downer said the Howard and Bush governments "have been very closely entwined" for four years, a period that included Australia's support and participation in the US-led war in Iraq.
In the sweltering streets of Jakarta, buskers carry towering, hollow puppets and pass around a bucket for donations. Now, they fear becoming outlaws. City authorities said they would crack down on use of the sacred ondel-ondel puppets, which can stand as tall as a truck, and they are drafting legislation to remove what they view as a street nuisance. Performances featuring the puppets — originally used by Jakarta’s Betawi people to ward off evil spirits — would be allowed only at set events. The ban could leave many ondel-ondel buskers in Jakarta jobless. “I am confused and anxious. I fear getting raided or even
Kemal Ozdemir looked up at the bare peaks of Mount Cilo in Turkey’s Kurdish majority southeast. “There were glaciers 10 years ago,” he recalled under a cloudless sky. A mountain guide for 15 years, Ozdemir then turned toward the torrent carrying dozens of blocks of ice below a slope covered with grass and rocks — a sign of glacier loss being exacerbated by global warming. “You can see that there are quite a few pieces of glacier in the water right now ... the reason why the waterfalls flow lushly actually shows us how fast the ice is melting,” he said.
RISING RACISM: A Japanese group called on China to assure safety in the country, while the Chinese embassy in Tokyo urged action against a ‘surge in xenophobia’ A Japanese woman living in China was attacked and injured by a man in a subway station in Suzhou, China, Japanese media said, hours after two Chinese men were seriously injured in violence in Tokyo. The attacks on Thursday raised concern about xenophobic sentiment in China and Japan that have been blamed for assaults in both countries. It was the third attack involving Japanese living in China since last year. In the two previous cases in China, Chinese authorities have insisted they were isolated incidents. Japanese broadcaster NHK did not identify the woman injured in Suzhou by name, but, citing the Japanese
RESTRUCTURE: Myanmar’s military has ended emergency rule and announced plans for elections in December, but critics said the move aims to entrench junta control Myanmar’s military government announced on Thursday that it was ending the state of emergency declared after it seized power in 2021 and would restructure administrative bodies to prepare for the new election at the end of the year. However, the polls planned for an unspecified date in December face serious obstacles, including a civil war raging over most of the country and pledges by opponents of the military rule to derail the election because they believe it can be neither free nor fair. Under the restructuring, Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is giving up two posts, but would stay at the
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