■ Australia
Soyinka objects to visa rule
Nobel Prize-winning writer Wole Soyinka has withdrawn from a literary event in Australia because he objects to a visa requirement that visitors aged over 70 provide a doctor's report on their health. The 71-year-old Soyinka, a Nigerian, was due to deliver the 2005 PEN lecture in Melbourne and Sydney this week, which has now been canceled. Soyinka cancelled his talk in an e-mail to Sydney PEN's executive director Sharon Connolly, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. "I would rather watch my fingers rot than complete such a discrim-inatory document," the white-haired literary lion was quoted as saying.
■ Indonesia
Terrorists change tactics
Terrorists in the world's most Muslim-populous nation have changed their tactics from recruiting Muslim radicals to other groups, local media reported yesterday. The state-run Antara news agency quoted Central Java police chief, Inspector General Chaerul Rasyid, as saying that the change was brought about by the roles of Muslim clerics in Central Java and other provinces for their support of the police's efforts in fighting terrorism.
■ Indonesia
Leaving soldiers searched
Military police searched the bags of some 2,500 soldiers yesterday ahead of their withdrawal from Aceh Province under the terms of a peace deal to end one of Asia's longest-running wars. The troops are scheduled to leave from the port city of Lhokseumawe today. Military police were searching the soldiers' bags for contraband, including marijuana, which is widely cultivated in the province, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ari Soetiko said.
■ Singapore
Youth selling sex online
Increasing numbers of young girls are offering sex for sale on Internet chatrooms, shrugging the transaction off without any remorse or fear of AIDS, according to the Sunday Times. Counselors and social workers cite cases of girls as young as 13 having no qualms over paid sex to obtain pocket money. They blame the nonchalant attitude on neglectful parents, the lack of stigma on losing one's virginity and the pervasive message of one-night stands on television and advertisements.
■ Malaysia
Hughes asks for help
US envoy Karen Hughes appealed yesterday for Malaysia to use its influence in the Islamic world to help bridge a gulf of misunderstanding about US policies abroad. "I do think that Malaysia can be a very important part of our outreach, the civilized world's outreach, in confronting terror," Hughes said in Kuala Lumpur, her last stop on an Asian tour. She described mainly Muslim Malaysia as an example to the rest of the world -- "like Iraq for example" -- of how different cultures and religions can live together in tolerance. US President George W. Bush hired Hughes at the end of July to polish the US' image overseas as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy.
■ Australia
Mother appeals for mercy
The mother of an Australian man awaiting execution for drug smuggling in Singapore made an impassioned plea for mercy yesterday, saying her heart would stop if her son is put to death. Nguyen Tuong Van, 25, a former salesman from Melbourne, is expected to go to the gallows soon, after the Singapore government rejected his final plea for clemency and appeals from Canberra to spare his life. Nguyen was caught in transit at Changi Airport in December 2002, flying from Cambodia to Melbourne with 396g of heroin strapped to his back and in hand luggage.
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