■ Hong Kong
Tung rejects referendum
Hong Kong's Beijing-appointed leader has refused to allow a referendum on universal suffrage in the former British colony, pro-democracy legislators said yesterday. Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (董建華) is also believed to have cautioned them that they might be breaking the law if they attempted to arrange an unofficial referendum on the subject. Legislators spoke after meeting Tung on Monday, saying they were "disappointed" at his lack of commitment towards broadening democracy in Hong Kong.
■United States
US to clarify China remarks
The State Department will ask the Chinese government about a former senior Chinese official who was quoted as accusing US President George W. Bush of trying to "rule over the whole world." The quotes in the China Daily, an English language state newspaper, were attributed to Qian Qichen (錢其琛), a former vice premier and former foreign minister. A Chinese embassy spokesman cast doubt on the authenticity of the lengthy commentary, saying Qian was not interviewed by the China Daily nor did he write an article for the newspaper. Qian was quoted as saying the invasion of Iraq "destroyed the hard-won global anti-terror coalition."
■ Malaysia
Speeding train kills two
A woman and her daughter were killed by a speeding train when the two went too close to the tracks to get better reception on a cellular phone, a news report said yesterday. The pair were killed in a remote village in the eastern state of Kelantan on Sunday, the day the mother, Zurianawati Abas, celebrated her 23rd birthday, the Malay-language daily Utusan Malaysia reported. Zurianawati had walked to the tracks with her two-year-old daughter from her home where she couldn't get a signal on her phone.
■ India
Coca-Cola used as pesticide
Farmers have come up with what they think is the real thing to keep crops free of bugs. Instead of paying hefty fees to international chemical companies for patented pesticides, they are reportedly spraying their cotton and chilli fields with Coca-Cola. In the past month there have been reports of hundreds of farmers turning to Coke in Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh states. But as word gets out that soft drinks may be bad for bugs and a lot cheaper than anything that Monsanto, Shell and Dow can offer, thousands of others are expected to switch. Gotu Laxmaiah, a farmer from Ramakrish-napuram in Andra Pradesh, said he was delighted with his new cola spray, which he applied this year to several hectares of cotton.
■ China
Hospital sued over infection
A woman infected with hepatitis through a blood transfusion in northern China won a law suit against the hospital responsible, a news report said yesterday. The woman initially lost her case against the hospital in Yitong County, Jilin Province, because a court ruled there was not enough evidence that the hospital was accepting untested donor blood. So the woman dressed as a beggar and lived with a group of down-and-outs involved in illegal blood selling to gather evidence, the Hong Kong edition of the China Daily reported. She was awarded 83,600 yuan (US$10,000) in compensation.
■ Germany
Queen asked for apology
Germany's biggest selling tabloid, Bild, on Monday called on Queen Elizabeth to apologize for Britain's wartime destruction of German cities, ahead of her state visit to Germany today. In a provocative double-page spread, the newspaper urged the queen to utter a "few suitable words of regret" during her three-day trip for the thousands of German civilians killed during British air raids. The tabloid's campaign comes at a tricky moment in Anglo-German relations -- and when the idea that Germans were also victims of the World War II is for the first time being more broadly debated. On Monday British officials said there was no prospect of the queen apologizing during her visit to Berlin.
■ Sudan
Rebels to get oil profits
The governing party has said it would was planning to start sharing its oil wealth with the southern rebels from January, even if a comprehensive peace agreement has not been reached by then. Ibrahim Ahmed Omar, leader of the governing National Congress Party, was quoted by the BBC as saying that time had come to give money and power to all states of Sudan. Sudan produces approximately 320,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Its two main oil fields are located in the southern part of the country, while the refineries and pipelines are in the north.
■ United Kingdom
Gunfire kills female soldier
A military policewoman has become the first British female soldier to die in Iraq since last year's US-led invasion but her death was believed to have been caused by a non-hostile incident, officials said yesterday. Sergeant Denise Rose, 34, died from a gunshot wound at an army base at the Shatt al-Arab Hotel in the Basra area in southern Iraq on Sunday, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. Rose went to Iraq on Sept. 27 as part of a small team of specialist investigators.
■ United States
Prizewinning author sues US
Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, praised by President George W. Bush and honored at universities for her work on behalf of democracy and human rights, is suing the US government for standing in the way of the publishing of her memoirs. In her lawsuit, Ebadi argued that Treasury Department regulations restricting the publication in the US of works by authors in countries subject to US trade sanctions is unconstitutional. Ebadi and The Strothman Agency, a literary agent that wants to work with her, filed the suit in New York last week. A hearing date has not been set.
■ Australia
Terror suspect going mad
Australian terror suspect David Hicks, who has been held in Guantanamo Bay since 2001, says he is on the brink of madness because of his isolation and treatment. "I feel as though I'm teetering on the edge of losing my sanity after such a long ordeal, the last year of it being in isolation," Hicks wrote in a recent letter to his father, released to reporters yesterday. Hicks, a 29-year-old convert to Islam arrested in late 2001 during the US-led war in Afghanistan, was among the first group of four al-Qaeda suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay US naval base in Cuba to face a US military tribunal. Hicks pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, aiding the enemy and conspiracy to commit war crimes and was set for trial on Jan. 10.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia