■ Japan
Parental leave revamped
The government plans to subsidize small and mid-sized companies to provide parental leave in an effort to slow the decline in the national birthrate. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is considering subsidies to companies with less than 100 people and that have never offered parental leave before. The ministry will give about ?1 million (US$9,090) to a company that allows an employee to return to work from parental leave. The ministry will offer another ?500,000 for a second employee. Companies could use the money to hire part-time workers, pay overtime to other workers or otherwise compensate for the loss of the worker on leave.
■ Indonesia
Al-Qaeda detention denied
Officials denied yesterday a report that an al-Qaeda operative responsible for training camps for European militants had been detained in the country. The Asian Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Indonesian authorities had detained Parlindungan Siregar, an al-Qaeda operative Spain wants for his alleged role in the training. Ansyaad Mbai, head of the anti-terror coordinating board at the office of Indonesia's chief security minister, said there was information recently that Siregar was in the country but police had not made any arrest. Asked where in Indonesia, Siregar might be, he said: "That is what we don't know."
■ Philippines
Four wounded in clash
Four people were wounded in a mistaken encounter between pro-government militiamen and soldiers in the southern Philippines. The mistaken clash erupted when troops who were to replace soldiers in an army detachment in Buenvavista town in Agusan del Norte Province were fired upon by pro-government militiamen. Among the wounded were an army officer, an enlisted soldier, a pro-government militiaman and a villager. All the wounded were were in stable condition, and a probe is being conducted.
■ Singapore
Charges of maid abuse made
A housewife has been accused of 80 counts of abusing her Indonesian maid in what could be a record number of such offenses. It took a court official about 30 minutes to read the charges against Sazarina Madzin, 28, which included punching, slapping, pinching and kicking her employee. The 80 charges were believed to be the highest number of alleged offenses against a maid ever filed against one person in the city-state. Sazarina also allegedly poked Wiwik Setyowati in the eye and hit her with a tomato sauce bottle, a plastic chopping board and a shoe. She is alleged to have threatened to kill the woman in June. Sazarina, who was freed on bail, faces up to one-and-a-half years in jail and a fine of up to S$1,000 (US$600).
■ Mexico
Pro-environment erotica
Sex sells everything from diet products to car tires, but Mexican authorities have found a new use for posters of scantily dressed young women: protecting endangered sea turtles. An advertisement campaign featuring an Argentine model casting a sexy gaze is to be launched next month in the southern state of Guerrero to dispel myths that sea turtle eggs are an aphrodisiac, environmentalists said on Thursday. "My man doesn't need turtle eggs. Because he knows they don't make him more potent," reads the poster, aimed at stopping poachers from stealing eggs. But the posters have outraged a government body defending women's rights, which says using such images of women is degrading, even if it is for a good cause.
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