■ Hong Kong
Activists push press freedom
Hong Kong activists marched on a Chinese government office in the city demanding the release of a detained journalist accused of spying for Taiwan. Chanting "Long live press freedom," a dozen protesters including radical Lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung (梁國雄) called for the release of Ching Cheong (程翔), a Hong Kong-based reporter working as the Straits Times' chief China correspondent. "Ching Cheong has been detained for eight months now without trial and he has been denied the right to see his wife, family and his lawyer. This cannot be tolerated," Leung said. "We demand the central government respect human rights and immediately release Ching Cheong." Ching, 55, has been detained since April but he was not formally arrested until Aug. 5.
■ Japan
Whaling fleet inactive again
A Japanese whaling fleet suspended its work for the second day in stormy conditions yesterday as environmental group Greenpeace defended its tactics in disrupting the controversial hunt. The whalers and two Greenpeace ships have been playing cat and mouse in the icy Southern Ocean for almost a week. The environmental group said it had received a statement from Japanese whaling authorities accusing it of breaching maritime safety laws.
■ Australia
Streaker interrupts church
Churchgoers attending a Christmas Mass in central Australia took swift action when a teenager ran naked through their church, newspaper reports said yesterday. About 150 people were attending the midnight service in the Northern Territory town of Alice Springs when an 18-year-old man ran naked down the aisle before jumping and dancing provocatively on the altar. "He must have planned it," Father Brian Healy told the Northern Territory News. "As he ran into the church he was yelling something and then he ran around a bit and jumped on the altar." Police praised the efforts of churchgoers who detained the streaker until police arrived. The man was charged with indecent exposure and disturbing a religious worship.
■ Sri Lanka
Three killed ahead of funeral
Fresh violence claimed three more lives in Sri Lanka yesterday as Tamil Tiger rebels prepared for the funeral of a key Tamil legislator gunned down during Christmas mass, police said. A police constable was killed when suspected rebels launched a pre-dawn rocket-propelled grenade attack on the Puttur police station in the eastern district of Batticaloa, where the lawmaker was murdered on Sunday, police said. Two civilians were also killed by unidentified attackers in the neighboring Trincomalee district yesterday, police said.
■ Japan
Top diplomat inspects bases
Japan's foreign minister yesterday inspected US military bases near Tokyo and met local officials from the bases' host cities, urging them to support the US base realignment plans, officials said. Foreign Minister Taro Aso asked Katsuji Hoshino, mayor of Zama City, one of several cities to be affected by the shifting around of the 50,000 US troops stationed in Japan, to understand the importance of Japan's security alliance with the US, city officials said. Aso told Hoshino that Japan's reliance on US bases is needed for the nation's peace and security and asked for the city's understanding and support for Camp Zama's realignment, city spokesman said on condition of anonymity.
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