■ China
China's `a time bomb'
A worldwide group of exiled Uighur Muslims yesterday criticized Beijing over what it called oppression and exploitation in the Xinjiang region, and warned the region was being turned into a "time bomb." The statement by the World Uighur Congress (WUC) came on the eve of today's 50th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party's rule over Xinjiang, just days after China's top law enforcement official ordered a strengthened campaign to wipe out "terrorism, separatism and religious extremism" in the region.
■ New Zealand
Maori lawmaker sentenced
A former Maori lawmaker was sentenced to almost three years in prison yesterday after she was found guilty of defrauding a children's charity to pay for a stomach-stapling operation. Donna Awatere Huata was expelled from parliament last year after she was charged with taking more than US$62,000 in taxpayer money for personal use.
■ Hong Kong
Spider-Man charged
A British man has been charged with causing a public nuisance by dressing up like Spider-Man and climbing atop a giant TV screen to protest Beijing's bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. The protester, Matt Pearce, planned to plead innocent "on the grounds that what he did was good for all Chinese people," according to International Action, a small activist group Pearce belongs to. On June 3, Pearce scaled a massive LED screen dressed like a worker with a yellow hardhat, unfurled a banner that said, "Tiananmen Square 4.6.1989 Justice Must Prevail," and stripped off his work clothes to show the Spider-Man costume he was wearing underneath.
■ China
US `pirate' deported
The country where pirated DVDs of the latest Hollywood blockbuster sell for a dollar apiece on street corners, has deported a US citizen convicted of selling them on the Internet, state media said yesterday. Randolph Hobson Guthrie, 38, based in Shanghai, was handed over to officers of the US Department of Homeland Security on Thursday after serving part of his prison sentence. He was convicted and sentenced in April to two-and-a-half years in jail and a 500,000 yuan (US$62,000) fine. Shanghai police had found about 210,000 pirated DVDs at storehouses Guthrie owned, the China Daily said.
■ Myanmar
Junta rejects report
The ruling military junta has dismissed a report backed by Nobel peace laureates Vaclav Havel and Desmond Tutu arguing for the UN Security Council to take action over its human-rights record. "The report portrays Myanmar in the most negative light. There is no basis whatsoever to its claims," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement yesterday. "It is based on misinformation from foreign-funded expatriates." Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The junta, which seized power in 1988, has locked up political opponents and been accused of a wide variety of human rights abuses.
■ Afghanistan
Mass grave found
Authorities are investigating a mass grave believed to contain the bodies of more than 500 soldiers of the Afghan communist regime toppled in 1992, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday. Spokesman Yousuf Stanekzai said an assessment team had been sent to the site in eastern Paktika province -- discovered last month after shoes and uniforms rose to the surface. Stanekzai said the grave contains Afghan soldiers of the communist government of former president Najibullah. Najibullah's regime ruled after the Soviet occupation ended in 1989 until 1992.
■ Australia
Rare fossils returned
Authorities in Perth handed 10,000 illegally exported fossils back to the Chinese government yesterday, including dinosaur eggs, ancient turtles and a saber-toothed cat, a minister said. Australian officials seized the fossils after a request from Beijing in 2003, Environment and Heritage Minister Ian Campbell said in a statement. A joint police and customs operation netted an "extraordinary" range of pieces, including early elephant and rhinoceros bones and rare fossils of fish and reptiles. Some date back 230 million years and have a value of up to A$5 million (US$3.8 million).
■ Denmark
`Santa' gets compensation
The Danish Air Force said Thursday it paid US$5,032 in compensation to a part-time Santa Claus whose reindeer died of heart failure when two fighter jets roared over his farm. The animal, named Rudolf, was grazing peacefully at the central Denmark farm of Olavi Nikkanoff when the screaming F-16 jets passed overhead at low altitude in February. The reindeer collapsed and died, leaving Nikkanoff with the prospect of only one animal pulling his sleigh next Christmas. He complained to the air force, which agreed to compensate him for the cost of the reindeer and veterinary expenses. "We got a letter from Santa complaining about his reindeer's death and looked into it seriously," air force spokesman Captain Morten Jensen said.
■ United States
Gay-rights bill terminated
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in a widely expected move vetoed a bill on Thursday that would have allowed gay couples to marry. The Republican governor had said earlier this month that he would veto the bill passed by California's Democrat-led legislature. The bill was the first of its kind approved by a state legislature. Schwarzenegger said he would leave the issue of same-sex marriage to the courts and voters, who approved a ballot measure five years ago defining marriage as between a man and woman.
■ Belgium
Warrant issued for dictator
A Belgian judge has indicted Hissene Habre, the former dictator of Chad, charging him with large-scale human rights violations, and has issued an international warrant, the Justice Ministry announced Thursday. The arrest order has been served to Senegal, where Habre is living under surveillance by local authorities. Belgium has also filed a formal request for Habre's extradition. The ministry said the steps were taken 10 days ago. If Habre, 63, is handed over, it is expected that he would be tried by a Belgian court on charges of torture and other crimes against humanity.
■ United States
Beluga caviar to be banned
The US Fish and Wildlife Service was to begin banning imports of beluga caviar and other beluga products from the Caspian Sea yesterday, after caviar-exporting countries in the region failed to provide details of their plans to conserve the fish, which is listed internationally as a species threatened with extinction. The US consumes 60 percent of the world exports of beluga caviar, a US$200-an-ounce delicacy that is considered the king of caviars.
■ United Kingdom
Hepatitis C a threat: report
Britain has worst record in Europe for dealing with the hepatitis C virus, according to a new report released yesterday. While cases of the chronic liver disease are falling in France, Britain is facing a hepatitis C time bomb because not enough people with the illness are diagnosed and treated. "If we continue to do nothing about hepatitis C then between 100,000 and 300,000 people will have to endure preventable liver disease," said William Rosenberg, of the University of Southampton in southern England. The lead author of the report commissioned by the Hepatitis C Trust in Britain said if the disease was detected and treated early, the cure rate was between 40-80 percent.
■ Brazil
Official cautions Britain
Foreign Minister Celso Amorin has warned that the British police policy of shooting dead suicide bombers risked scaring innocent people as much as terrorist attackers. Amorin told the Guardian daily that the shooting dead of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes by London police who wrongly believed he was a terrorist about to attack a train was a "summary execution." He said "Now peaceful citizens are not only afraid of the bombings but also of the police." De Menezes was shot at Stockwell tube station on July 22 and his death strained relations between London and Brasilia. His family are visiting London and said evidence they were shown on Thursday about the shooting made them certain police had lied to them.
■ Canada
Court okays tobacco cases
A ruling by the Supreme Court opened the door on Thursday for British Columbia to sue tobacco companies in an effort to recover the cost of smoking-related health care. The unanimous decision upholds legislation passed eight years ago by lawmakers in British Columbia that allowed the province to seek restitution for health care costs related to smoking for the last 50 years and for future costs. "We are very appreciative of this opportunity to hold the tobacco industry to account for its destructive products," George Abbott, British Columbia's health minister said in Victoria. He said the province would move quickly to restart a lawsuit against Canada's three main tobacco producers, several foreign manufacturers and an industry group.
■ South Africa
Life term for death by lions
A court yesterday sentenced a white man to life in prison and his black accomplice to 12 years behind bars for feeding a black farm worker to lions. Mark Scott-Crossley, 37, a contractor, and farm laborer Simon Mathebula, 43, were convicted in April of murdering Nelson Chisale, whose bloodied remains were found in a lion reserve near the Kruger National Park. Judge George Maluleke of the Phalaborwa circuit court sentenced Scott-Crossley to life imprisonment but gave Mathebula 15 years, of which three years were suspended.
■ United States
Wild gorillas use tools
For the first time, biologists have documented gorillas in the wild using simple tools, such as poking a stick in a swampy pool of water to check its depth. Until now, scientists had seen gorillas use tools only in captivity. Among the great apes, tool use in the wild was thought to be a survival skill reserved for chimpanzees and orangutans. The research in the Republic of Congo's rainforests was led by Thomas Breuer of the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo in New York, which released details of his study. "Tool usage in wild apes provides us with valuable insights into the evolution of our own species and the abilities of other species," Breuer said in a statement. Other scientists said the observations were important, but not surprising.
■ United States
Bragging lands escort in jail
A US$2,000 an hour prostitute known as New York's "No.1 Escort" pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges of money laundering and prostitution that stemmed from her bragging in the media about her work. Canadian Natalia McLennan, 25, sobbed uncontrollably in court after she was unable to post US$50,000 bail and was taken away in handcuffs to jail. She faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
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
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
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not