■ Hong Kong
Road crackdown begins
Police yesterday began imposing tough new penalties on motorists who jump red traffic lights to crack down on rogue drivers blamed for causing one accident per day last year. From midnight yesterday, the fixed penalty for jumping red traffic lights was raised from HK$450 (US$58) to HK$600 (US$77). Motorists caught jumping red lights will also have the number of demerit points on their license increased from three to five under a tally system that can lead to drivers being temporarily banned. The new penalties came into effect after motorists who jump red lights were blamed for an average one accident a day last year, leading to the injury or death of one to two people every day.
■ Japan
New envoy to be named
Japan is set to name a new ambassador to China in a bid to improve bilateral ties, which have soured over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's controversial visits to a war shrine, news reports said yesterday. Yuji Miyamoto, a career diplomat and expert on China who has been posted to Beijing before, would succeed Koreshige Anami, who will have served five years as ambassador this month, Kyodo News said, citing government sources. The decision could be announced as early as this month, the Yomiuri Shimbun said. But the foreign ministry was to make a final decision on the timing of the appointment after closely watching developments in bilateral ties, Kyodo said.
■ China
Five bodies found in mine
Rescue workers have recovered five more bodies from a flooded coal mine in northern China's Shanxi province, bringing the death toll from last week's incident to 13, state media said yesterday. Four workers remained missing after Wednesday's flood at the Fanjiasi mine in Dianwan town in Zuoyun County, Xinhua news agency said. An initial investigation suggested that the accident may have been caused by an error on the part of mine maintenance workers, Xinhua reported last week. China has been hit by a string of deadly mine accidents in recent months as the industry ramps up production to help fuel rapid economic development
■ Japan
Emperor praises war dead
Emperor Akihito paid tribute to Japan's war dead in his New Year's message yesterday, saying today's prosperity is based on the sacrifices of the past. "Last year marked the 60th anniversary of the end of the war. Three million and one hundred thousand Japanese people died in the last war and many foreigners were also victims," he said in the written statement. "We will never forget the people who lost their lives in the war and bear in mind that the Japan of today is built on the sacrifice made by those many people," he said.
■ Japan
Education bill planned
The Japanese government plans to submit a bill to parliament that would make kindergarten compulsory and offer early child education free of charge, a news report said yesterday. The plan would extend the number of required years of education from nine to 10 or 11, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said, citing sources in the government and the ruling party. The draft calls for kindergarten to be made compulsory from the 2009 academic year, the newspaper said.
■ Singapore
Four arrested over murder
Police have arrested four Malaysians for the Christmas Day murder of a Myanmar national. The suspects were arrested on Friday night, police said. Officers seized a knife and blood-stained clothing during the raids. Police said two of them were working in Singapore as cleaners while the other two were on social visit passes. The victim, Thein Naing, 41, was found with head injuries early on Christmas Day.
■ Malaysia
Aussie leaps into New Year
Gary Cunningham rang in the New Year by jumping off a Malaysian telecoms tower -- 133 times. Out to set a record for the most BASE jumps performed in 24 hours, the 34-year-old engineer started at midnight as Dec. 31 began and finished up as fireworks exploded in the sky to mark the new year. Cunningham had 12 people packing parachutes for his leaps off the 421m Menara tower in the Malaysian capital. The previous high number of so-called BASE jumps -- named for Building, Antenna, Span, Earth -- was believed to be 57 in a 24-hour period.
■ Japan
New Year TV is a hit
Crowds descended on temples to pay their New Year's respects while others climbed Mount Fuji for a glimpse of the year's first sunrise. But many Japanese this year were glued to their TV sets for what is increasingly becoming the nation's new favorite holiday pastime: professional wrestling. Two combat tournaments -- K-1 and Pride, both combining elements of kickboxing, karate and taekwondo -- were on offer this New Year's Eve. Earlier on Saturday, at Tsukiji market in central Tokyo, shoppers snapped up fish roe, shrimp, egg cakes and beans for the traditional New Year's meal. "Lucky bag" sales, another New Year's tradition, will be on offer at most department stores starting on Monday. Shoppers purchase the bags without knowing what is inside them.
■ South Korea
Cabinet ministers resign
President Roh Moo-hyun has accepted the resignations of two Cabinet ministers who are widely expected to run for the presidency next year, spokesman Kim Man-soo said yesterday. Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, and Health and Welfare Minister Kim Geun-tae tendered their resignations last week to prepare their presidential bids.
The two ministers have said publicly that they would first run for the leadership of the ruling Uri Party in February, and then for the presidency in late 2007. Roh, who took office in early 2003, will leave office when his one five-year term expires in early 2008.
■ Singapore
Asia's Romeos revealed
Older Singaporean men are having as much sex as younger ones, and experts attribute their performance to a more open attitude and the emergence of sexual enhancement pills, a survey said yesterday. It found 50 percent of men between 30 and 59 have sex once or twice a week on average. Of these, 20 percent said they did it more often. Another survey released last June, showed Singaporeans in general have sex an average of 73 times a year, among the world's lowest frequency. A further finding was that older men cared a lot about the wellbeing of their partner. "While Singaporeans may not be the Don Juans of Asia, we could well be the Romeos," said Peter Lim, president of the Society for Men's Health.
■ Iraq
Seven killed in explosions
At least seven people were wounded in three car bomb and one roadside bomb attacks yesterday in Baghdad, according to defense ministry and hospital officials. Two policemen were wounded by the roadside bomb in the south of the city. Two civilians were wounded by one of the car bombs, believed to have been driven by a suicide bomber, the defense ministry official said. Hospital officials said five civilians were admitted for treatment after that blast. Two parked car bombs also blew up, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. These attacks came a day after at least 15 people were killed in a series of attacks in and around the capital, security forces said.
■ Haiti
Kidnap victims released
Two staff members of the Organization of American States (OAS) kidnapped in the Haitian capital as well as a spouse of one of them were set free on Saturday, a source at the OAS mission said. "The Peruvian and Guatemalan members of the OAS team in charge of preparing for elections have been freed," the source said. "The Haitian wife of one of them has also been released. They are safe and secure now." The three were kidnapped on Thursday afternoon while driving on a road near the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Michael Lucius, according to police officials. In recent months, Haiti has experienced an epidemic of kidnappings, in which hostages are eventually released after hefty ransoms are paid.
■ Bolivia
Morales looks to Europe
President-elect Evo Morales wrapped up a visit to Cuba on Saturday slamming the US drug policy for his Andean nation and Washington's military presence in the region, while saying he wants a new "dialogue" with Europe. Morales, 46, also reiterated his desire to nationalize Bolivia's large natural gas industry. He said his planned trip to Europe, due to start in Spain, would seek to "spark a fundamental dialogue directed at seeking solutions to the grave social and economic problems in my country."
■ Algeria
President returns home
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika flew home to Algeria on Saturday after spending nearly five weeks in France being treated for a bleeding stomach ulcer. Bouteflika, 68, stepped down from the plane unassisted and greeted the crowds at Houari Boumediene airport with a smile. Giant portraits of the North African leader lined the road from the airport to the capital. "Thank God, Algeria is relieved," read slogans written in French and Arabic on the posters lining the route of his convoy. Bouteflika resumed his official duties later in the day with the signing of the new budget in the presence of the government.
■ United States
Refugees found dead
Three members of a family who survived Hurricane Katrina and were facing eviction from a Texas apartment complex where they had found shelter have been found shot to death in an apparent murder-suicide, according to a newspaper report. The Dallas Morning News reported late on Friday that the bodies of a man, his wife and their son were discovered in an upstairs apartment by Grapevine, Texas police. A shotgun was found near the bodies and neighbors said they had heard three gunshots at around noon on Thursday. The victims' names were being withheld while police attempted to contact their relatives.
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