■ China
Nineteen people die in crash
A bus full of tourists and a truck collided in eastern China, killing 19 people, the government said yesterday. The truck driver and everyone on the bus -- 15 tourists from the central province of Henan, two drivers and a guide -- died in the crash near Rizhao city in Shandong Province, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The only survivor was a passenger in the truck, it said. The collision occurred at 6:30am Thursday on an expressway between Rizhao and Dongming county, Xinhua said.
■ Japan
Fighting terror essential: PM
The armed forces must contribute to global peace to secure safety at home, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said yesterday amid signs his government will extend an unpopular military deployment in Iraq. "From now on, to secure our own country's safety and prosperity, it is necessary to positively contribute to the peace and stability of the international community," said Koizumi, a fervent supporter of the US-led "war on terror." The beheading last month of a Japanese hostage in Iraq, after Koizumi rejected demands to withdraw Japanese troops, has fuelled a debate about whether the soldiers should extend their mission past Dec. 14.
■ Singapore
Chinese brides offered
Chinese brides from Indonesia are the latest to be offered to lonely Singaporean men by matchmakers who claim their ability to speak Chinese makes make better wives than Vietnamese, The Sunday Times reported. The brides-to-be from Kalimantan speak various Chinese dialects, can whip up Chinese meals and adjust to Singapore more easily, according to Simon Sim, manager of the Maybe Marriage Agency. Sim and a business partner started the agency after finding out about the communication problems their friends had who opted for Vietnamese spouses.
■ Malaysia
Tax evaders to be penalized
Authorities plan to crack down on tens of thousands of companies and individuals who have failed to settle their taxes, news reports said yesterday. Tax dodgers will face large fines and have their names published in newspapers to shame them, said Zainol Abidin Abdul Rashid, director general of the Inland Revenue Board. "I would like to send out a message to tax defaulters that 2005 will be a year of enforcement," Zainol Abidin was quoted as saying by the New Sunday Times newspaper. At least 33,000 companies nationwide are believed to owe back taxes, Zainol Abidin said. He did not provide figures for personal tax payers.
■China
Zoo animals denied chicken
There will be no chicken this winter for lions and tigers and bears in the Guangzhou Zoo. Zoo officials in the southern Chinese city said the animals will only be fed beef, mutton and rabbit as a precaution against an outbreak of avian influenza, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The new diet, which will last for three months, will hopefully lower the chance of the animals getting sick, especial-ly with so many birds from the north migrating to the warmer southern regions, Xinhua said, citing Chen Honghan, deputy manager of the zoo. "The inflow of so many birds from other areas adds to the possibility of an epidemic," Chen was quoted as saying. Bird flu ravaged poultry farms across Asia this year, killing or forcing the culls of tens of millions of chickens and other birds.
■ Israel
Beslan survivors on visit
Some 20 children, survivors of the terrorist attack on a school in the southern Russian town of Beslan in early September, arrived in Israel Sunday for a three-week visit, Israel Radio reported. During their stay in Israel, the children will be examined by doctors and will also meet with psychologists, in addition to touring the country. The children will be hosted by the southern coastal city of Ashkelon, whose mayor, Roni Mahtzari, initiated the visit. Immediately after the Beslan siege, Israel offered Russia help for injured and traumatized survivors.
■ Netherlands
Murder suspect caught
Police detained an additional suspect in the slaying of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh and arrested two other men accused of calling for the beheading of a politician in a video circulating on the Internet, prosecutors said Saturday. The 23-year-old arrested in connection with Van Gogh's death is the eighth suspect in what Dutch prosecutors say was a gang of young Muslim radicals who conspired to murder the filmmaker over a movie critical of Islam. In the other arrests, two men -- ages 20 and 23 -- were detained in connection with a video promising "paradise" for the beheading of lawmaker Geert Wilders, prosecutors said in a statement.
■ United Kingdom
Gay rights groups blast band
One of Britain's leading music awards ceremonies has dropped two Jamaican reggae artists from the nominations for Best Reggae Act following fierce protests from gay rights organisations. Vybz Kartel and Beenie Man -- whose music includes lyrics that advocate the killing of gay people -- had been listed on the Urban Music Awards Web site under Best Reggae Act. The decision to drop the two artists from Tuesday's awards came after protests by Outrage, a gay rights organization, and objections by UNICEF, the event's beneficiary. "We are delighted that UNICEF has taken such a strong stand," said Peter Tatchell, head of Outrage, who denied organizers' claims that they had taken out the acts because they were not British, and not in response to the Outrage campaign.
■ Sudan
Government lambastes UN
Sudan on Saturday slammed a report by a UN envoy on its Darfur region as "erroneous," saying the world body was encouraging rebels fighting government forces to violate a ceasefire agreement. The report submitted to the UN Security Council Thursday "contained negative and erroneous signals that make the rebels more arrogant and more inclined to continue violating the ceasefire," said Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail. The report by the UN's envoy to Sudan Jan Pronk warned that the mainly desert Darfur region could be headed toward disaster with warlords on the loose and the government no longer in full control of its forces. Ismail accused the UN of being responsible for the deteriorating situation in Darfur, saying its resolutions had exonerated the rebels and blamed the government for what is happening in the troubled region.
■ West Bank
Six die in violence
Six Palestinians, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed and three Israelis were wounded Saturday in West Bank and Gaza Strip violence, the army and Palestinian sources said. Israeli soldiers shot and killed Ala Samara, 14, during a clash in the West Bank town of Jenin.
■ United States
Missiles feared missing
Bush administration officials fear as many as 4,000 shoulder-fired missiles could be missing from Iraq, the Washington Post reported in yesterday's editions. The missiles, which can be used to down aircraft, had been under the control of Saddam Hussein's government, toppled by US-led forces early last year. The Washington Post quoted a senior defense official as saying it was difficult to estimate how many of the portable missiles were missing and how many of those would have been in working order.
■ United States
Iraq policy official to leave
The Bush administration's lead official on Iraq policy has told the White House he plans to leave in the coming weeks, US officials said on Saturday, ahead of Iraq's planned elections. Robert Blackwill had been mentioned in speculation about US President George W. Bush's second-term foreign policy team, with some observers pegging him as a possible successor to national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. Blackwill told Rice several weeks ago he would leave soon after the US election, said a White House official who declined to be identified.
■ United States
Pilots disturb rare cranes
Wildlife researchers leading a flock of young whooping cranes south for the winter are warning people to stay out of their way after an apparently curious ultralight pilot disturbed the endangered birds. A team of pilots is leading 14 whooping cranes from Wisconsin to central Florida, using an ultralight plane and even wearing crane-like costumes to minimize the birds' contact with humans. Last month in Illinois, another ultralight flew about 30m behind the researchers' plane, without radio contact, scaring the birds, said Joe Duff, chief executive officer of Operation Migration, who was flying the research plane at the time. Researchers pick up cranes that drop out during the day by truck, and use portable pens to keep the birds together overnight.
■ United States
Suicide at trade center site
A young man who told his family he was distraught over the result of the presidential election was found dead on Saturday, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, inside the gated pit where the World Trade Center once stood, the authorities said. The man was identified as Andrew Veal, 25, of Athens, Georgia. It was not clear how Veal had entered the site, which is guarded by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police. Veal, who did not appear to have any ties to the victims of the attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center, was pronounced dead from a single gunshot wound, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority.
■ Haiti
Police station fired on
An armed group fired on a police station in Haiti's third largest city, prompting officers to flee while an unknown number of prisoners escaped and more than 100 people started a flurry of looting, officials said. No one was reported killed in the clash early Saturday. Hours later UN troops were guarding the police station after looters broke in and carried away furniture and other items. Some police also had returned to the station by Saturday night. The attack happened several hours after the arrest of a suspected gang member for attacking and looting humanitarian aid trucks, said Captain Mamie Ward, spokeswoman for the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti.
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
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