■ Japan
Cats start fire with urine
Two kittens picked the wrong place to relieve themselves when they urinated on a fax machine, sparking a fire that extensively damaged their owner's house. Investigators concluded that the fire was caused by a spark generated when the urine soaked the machine's electrical printing mechanism. The fire damaged the kitchen and living room before it was put out by the house's owner, who was treated for mild smoke inhalation. The kittens quickly ran to safety. "If you have a cat, or a dog, be careful where they urinate," a Kobe fireman said. "Especially keep them away from electrical appliances and wires."
■ Japan
Kyoto Prize winners named
Two American researchers and an Austrian conductor were awarded the 2005 Kyoto Prize yesterday for their contributions to the scientific, cultural and spiritual development of mankind. The Inamori Foundation said electronics engineer George Heilmeier, ecologist Simon Levin and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, a former conductor of the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras, are this year's winners. The Kyoto Prize, which includes a ¥50 million yen (US$465,000) cash gift, is awarded annually in advanced technology, basic sciences and arts and philosophy, to individuals or groups deemed by the foundation to have "contributed significantly to mankind's betterment."
■ Japan
Student sets off `bomb'
A high school student threw a jar filled with gunpowder and other substances into a packed classroom in Japan yesterday, causing an explosion that injured 53 people. One male student suffered cuts to his legs in the blast, but the other injuries were minor. In all, 53 people were treated in hospital. An 18-year-old student was arrested on charged of inflicting bodily injury immediately after the blast at Hikari public high school. The device reportedly burst into flames just in front of the teacher's desk and exploded with a loud bang after it landed. The suspect's motives were as yet unclear.
■ Hong Kong
Shark fin eaters warned
Customers who want shark fin soup served at their banquets at Hong Kong Disneyland will be told about the harm done by the industry that supplies the fins. Pamphlets will be given to people booking banquet tables at the park, but "not too graphic," and guests can decide "to read it or not," said a Disney spokesperson. Activists have been pressuring Disneyland to take shark fin soup off its menus, saying millions of sharks are killed each year for the traditional dish, with fishermen often hacking off the fins and dumping the sharks back into the water. Disney has refused to remove the staple Hong Kong banquet dish from its menus.
■ United States
Teen terror suspect `guilty'
A teen accused of plotting a massacre at his suburban Detroit high school pleaded guilty on Thursday to several firearms charges -- a day before his Internet terror trial is set to begin. Andrew Osantowski, 17, faces charges of making a threat of terrorism, using a computer to make threats of terrorism and possession of a firearm in a felony. The case is among the first in the nation in which anti-terrorism laws are being applied to school violence, according to officials. Police arrested Osantowski in September after finding Internet chat-room messages in which he allegedly threatened students at Chippewa Valley High School.
■ United States
Illegal workers nabbed
Authorities raided 17 Chinese restaurants around Michigan that they suspect of evading taxes and importing undocumented workers as a "modern version of indentured servants" and of tax evasion. Search warrants were also served at 21 homes of suspected undocumented Chinese workers. Dozens were involved in the scheme, State Police Lieutenant Curt Schram said. "It cost them x number of dollars to come to this country and they're trying to work off that debt," Schram said.
■ Mexico
Illegal trade hurting birds
An estimated half a million parrots and other birds are smuggled across the US border every year, threatening some species with extinction and generating millions of dollars in illegal income, a news report said on Thursday. The daily El Universal, quoting Mexican environment officials, put the total financial take from the trade at about US$300 million a year for the Mexican smugglers, who collect birds from around Latin America and funnel them across the border. Animal experts said about 19 parrot species have already disappeared. An estimated 7 million of the colorful, quirky birds die from exhaustion and neglect during the transport. Environmental officials say their hands are bound because the smugglers use the same routes of Latin American drug and weapons mafia.
■ United Kingdom
Phil the Greek turns 84
Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, celebrated his 84th birthday yesterday, and was to be honored with royal gun salutes and British flags flown from government buildings. The prince, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, was spending the day privately with the queen at Buckingham Palace. He remains an active member of the royal family, carrying out a busy schedule of royal engagements, and he continues to take part in carriage-driving contests.
■ Ethiopia
Strike enters day two
Shopkeepers kept their stores shuttered and taxi drivers stayed off the streets for a second day yesterday in a strike to protest a government crackdown on the political opposition following disputed elections. A government spokesman rejected international condemnation of a police crackdown on a demonstration on Wednesday that left 26 people dead and dozens wounded. Information Minister Bereket Simone said opposition political parties should be held responsible for the violence and that their leaders may face criminal charges. Amnesty International condemned the use of force by police in Addis Ababa, saying the protest was mainly peaceful.
■ United States
Survivors demand probe
Survivors of a US spy ship attacked by Israeli fighters and torpedo boats 40 years ago are pressing the Pentagon for an investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes for a strike that caused 205 casualties, including 34 killed. The attack on the USS Liberty occurred in international waters during the Six-Day War in 1967 between Israel, Egypt and other Arab nations. The survivors claim the attack itself was a violation of the Geneva Conventions regulating conduct of war, and that further crimes occurred when Israeli sailors fired at rescuers and firefighters on the ship's deck and into rubber life rafts thrown into the water to pick up survivors.
■ United Kingdom
Power stations exonerated
Nuclear power stations on Thursday were cleared of any responsibility for childhood cancer in Britain by a high-level team of independent scientists. The verdict from the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment was unequivocal. It looked at an area within a 40km radius of all the main nuclear power stations and found there were no more cancer cases than would have been expected. The committee looked at 21 sites, which included 13 power stations and 15 other nuclear installations.
■ Isreal
Gaza pullout losing support
A new poll yesterday showed that support for the Gaza Strip pullout is ebbing, as the former head of Israel's domestic security service warned that a Jewish suicide bomber could target Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to stop the withdrawal. With the pullout due to begin in less than 10 weeks, only 53 percent of those questioned in the Yediot Aharonot newspaper's survey said they supported Sharon's disengagement plan, while 38 percent said they were opposed. When the last poll was held in February, 69 percent said they supported the withdrawal while 27 percent objected.
■ Iraq
Sheikh calls for release
One of the Muslim world's most influential figures in Europe yesterday called for the unconditional release of a French journalist who was kidnapped in Baghdad five months ago, as well as a prompt withdrawal of US and other foreign military forces in Iraq. Sheikh Hussein Halawa, secretary-general of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, said he was ready to go to Iraq if necessary to secure the release of Florence Aubenas. Aubenas, a senior correspondent for the French newspaper Liberation, and her interpreter Hussein Hanun al-Saadi, went missing after leaving the journalist's hotel in Baghdad on Jan. 5.
■ Zimbabwe
Russia decorates top brass
Russia has given medals to Zimbabwe's defense minister and other senior military officials to mark the "strong military ties" between the two countries, the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported yesterday. Russian ambassador to Zimbabwe Oleg Scherbak awarded the commemorative medals at a ceremony held on Wednesday to mark the 60th anniversary of Russia's defeat of the German army during World War II, the paper said. The paper reported Defense Minister Sydney Sekeremayi as saying that Zimbabwe "would continue to source military equipment from Russia and to learn new military tactics in order to defend its territorial integrity."
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