■ India
Man freed after 54 years
An Indian court has freed a man who languished in jail or a mental home in the eastern state of Assam for 54 years without ever facing trial. Machang Lalung, 77, a tribal, was arrested in 1951 in his native village of Silsang for "voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means." But there were no records backing up the accusation. Lalung was shifted to a mental asylum. Though certified "fully recovered" by asylum authorities in 1967, prison officials only returned him to jail this year. In May the National Human Rights Commission took up Lalung's case and sought his release. After Lalung's release last week, police escorted him back to his village. "We handed him over to the village headman," said a police official. "He has almost forgotten about his past and doesn't remember anything about his village now."
■ Hong Kong
Reporter may be released
The wife of a Hong Kong reporter under house arrest in China on spying charges is hopeful he will soon be released. Ching Cheong (程翔), the head China correspondent for Singapore's Straits Times newspaper, was arrested in April. Chinese authorities said he had admitted to spying for "overseas organs" in return for money. Ching's wife Mary Lau said she is cautiously optimistic he will be freed next Saturday. Lau said the turning point came when Hong Kong's Chief Executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權) said he had raised the case with a senior Chinese official during his trip to Beijing to be sworn in on June 24. Also, 500,000 journalists from more than 100 countries signed a petition calling on China to treat Ching, 55, fairly. Lau believes her husband's arrest was connected with his attempts to acquire the manuscript of a publication about the late Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang (趙紫陽).
■ China
Mugabe arrives for a visit
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe will meet top Chinese leaders during a six-day visit, the People's Daily said yesterday, amid efforts to secure alternative credit lines as western nations snub the southern African nation. Mugabe, whose government critics blame for a crippling economic crisis, would meet Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), and Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶), the paper said. It did not say what would be discussed. The Zimbabwe president would also visit Changchun, the capital of northeastern Jilin province, it said. Mugabe, who arrived in Beijing on Saturday, is accompanied by his central bank head and senior government ministers, according to Zimbabwe state media.
■ Hong Kong
Bruce Lee statue to be made
Kung-fu movie legend Bruce Lee's 65th birthday will be marked in November with a 2m bronze statue. Wong Yiu-keung, chairman of the Hong Kong fan club, said it will be the first statue of Bruce Lee in a public place in the world. "He not only contributed to our movie industry, but also raised outsiders' awareness of Hong Kong in general," Wong said. The fan club has chosen three designs of Lee in his classic poses -- all featuring a bare-torsoed Lee, two including Lee's signature weapon the nunchaku -- and fans are invited to vote for their favorite design on the Internet. The winning design, to be sculpted by Chinese sculptor Cao Chong-en, will be erected at the city's Avenue of Stars, a new harborfront tourist attraction that honors Hong Kong film stars including Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-fat.
■ United Kingdom
Blair glows with make-up
The secret of Prime Minister Tony Blair famous all-year healthy glow has been revealed -- his spends almost twice as much on make-up as the average British woman. Figures released by Downing Street in answer to a parliamentary question showed that Blair spent more than ?1,800 (US$3,100) on make-up and make-up artists over the past six years. In contrast, the average British woman spends ?195 a year on both make-up and skincare. In the run-up to the May general election, many pundits noted that Blair had acquired a suspiciously orange glow. The prime minister insisted he had merely picked up a tan while sitting in his garden during the less-than-tropical month of April.
■ United States
Whale deaths incorrect
More than eight in 10 right-whale deaths may be going undiscovered, according to marine scientists who called for emergency action to help prevent humans from accidentally killing the rare animal. In an article published in the journal Science, researchers estimated that deaths of North Atlantic right whales may be underreported by as much as 83 percent annually. At least eight whales have died in the last 16 months, and only 350 of the animals are believed to exist. The estimate of unreported whale deaths is based on a population model that considers the known death rates of male, female and juvenile right whales.
■ Zambia
Opposition leader arrested
Zambian opposition leader Michael Sata was arrested and questioned by police on Saturday for inciting miners to riot at Nchanga Open Pit copper mine -- the southern African country's largest copper mine. His lawyer said Sata was released after being detained and questioned for five hours and was told he faced a formal arrest and being charged with possible sedition charges. Sata said that he had denied the charges put to him by police, who arrested the Patriotic Front (PF) president earlier on Saturday on the orders of President Levy Mwanawasa.
■ Spain
Diabetic's helpers released
Six Moroccans were arrested near Madrid before being released two hours later after police realized that their detainees were not terrorists but merely seeking insulin for a diabetic, police sources said. At around 10pm on Saturday a white van crashed into a security barrier at the Getafe air base south of Madrid. Fearing a terrorist attack, police arrested the man and sealed off the area around the van. During subsequent police questioning the car passengers explained that they were looking for a hospital to get hold of some insulin for one of them who was described as a sick diabetic.
■ Russia
Bomb explodes under train
A bomb exploded beneath a train in Russia's violence-plagued Dagestan region yesterday, killing one person and injuring four others, police said. A powerful explosive device went off under the first car of the train as it headed from the regional capital, Makhachkala, to the town of Khasavyurt, derailing the car and leaving a crater on the track bed, said Akhmed Magomayev, chief of staff of the transport police in Dagestan. A woman who was among five people injured by the blast died on the way to a hospital, Magomayev said.
■ Mexico
Police break up kidnap ring
Authorities have arrested five suspects in connection with a kidnapping ring that filmed its victims being held in a cage and beaten, the federal attorney general's office confirmed on Saturday. Federal agents on Friday morning freed a business man held for ransom since May 19, while arresting five men, ages 18 to 31, and seizing an arsenal including assault rifles and a submachine gun at two houses on the outskirts of Mexico City. Police also confiscated an iron cage in the strike against a kidnapping ring known for filming their victims being beaten and kept in cages to pressure relatives for money, prosecutors said. Federal authorities began investigating the group after the kidnapping of a Mexico City housewife in March 2003.
■ United States
Iraq hurting terror war: poll
A growing number of Americans fear the war in Iraq is undermining the fight against terrorism and raising the risk of terrorist attacks in the US, a poll found. Almost half, 47 percent, say the war in Iraq has hurt the fight against terrorism -- the highest number to say that since the war began in March 2003, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. And about the same number, 45 percent, said soon after the first round of subway bombings in London that the war in Iraq was raising the risk of terrorism in America. That's up from 36 percent last fall. But increased doubts about the effects of the Iraq War have significantly changed an overall support for the efforts to establish democracy in Iraq. About half the public, 52 percent, favors staying in Iraq until the country is stabilized and about the same number, 49 percent, support the decision to go to war.
■ United States
Man catches wedding ring
An 82-year-old man who went clamming in the Long Island Sound says he made the ultimate catch: the wedding ring he lost two years ago. Stewart Petrie says he found an incrusted ring mixed in with his clams Tuesday while he was clamming at the same spot where his ring slipped off his finger in July 2003. After his wife, Mary, scrubbed it with jewelry cleaner, they were able to read the inscription: "MPS to SJP 9-10-67." Her husband's eyes began to tear, she said.
■ United States
Shuttle `Discovery' to launch
The US space agency NASA began its countdown Saturday for tomorrow's rescheduled launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration started the countdown 70 hours before the targeted lift-off from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The countdown includes 28 hours of built-in hold time, NASA said, with the preferred launch time at 10:39am tomorrow.
■ United States
Pooch ID chips mandatory
Canine owners near San Francisco will be in the dog house if they don't obey a trend-setting requirement to implant pooches with identification microchips, police said Friday. Officials in the city of Oakland, across the bay from San Francisco, are making it a crime not have high-tech dog tags imbedded under the skin of what the socially-sensitive here refer to as dog "companions." "This is a case where Oakland was ahead of the ball instead of behind it," said police Sergeant David Cronin, head of the animal services department, who helped draft the ordinance, which is in the process of being approved by the city.
‘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
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
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