■ China
Last `gang' member dies
Yao Wenyuan (姚文元), the final surviving member of the Gang of Four blamed for political violence during China's 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, has died, the government said yesterday. Yao was 74. Yao died of diabetes on Dec. 23, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The Gang of Four, led by Jiang Qing (江青), the wife of then-Chinese leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東), was blamed for persecuting thousands of people during the Cultural Revolution. The Gang was arrested in 1976 after Mao's death. Yao spent 20 years in prison and was released in 1996, Xinhua said.
■ China
Fossil smugglers sentenced
A Chinese-Canadian academic and five other people have been sentenced to prison for trafficking nearly 3,000 dinosaur and other fossils from China, the government said yesterday. The case is the biggest known crime of its kind, the official Xinhua news agency said. Zhu Chunlin (朱春林), a 46-year-old Canadian, was given a seven-year sentence on Thursday by the Jinhua Municipal Intermediate People's Court in Zhejiang Province, the report said.
■ India
Truck plunge kills nine
A truck loaded with construction material swerved off a mountain road and plunged into a river gorge in northern India, killing all nine people on board, including seven from Nepal, an official said yesterday. The accident occurred late on Thursday night near the mountain town of Almora, located in the Himalayan foothills in India's Uttar Pradesh state, M.B.S. Chawla, a government official, said. Chawla said some of the workers were perched atop construction material while others were at the rear of the vehicle.
■ Japan
Man kidnaps newborn
A man walked into a hospital room in northern Japan early yesterday morning and kidnapped a 10-day-old infant from his mother's side, police said. The man -- wearing red-framed glasses, a black leather jacket, white pants and a white mask -- entered the third-floor room at Hikarigaoka Spellman Hospital in Sendai city and distracted the woman by claiming there was a fire, state police spokesman Toshinori Kitaki said. The man then snatched the baby and fled through an emergency exit, Kitaki said. The mother, Yumi Yamada, 23, was unhurt in the pre-dawn break-in, he said.
■ Malaysia
Cinnamon good for diabetics
Researchers have found new proof that cinnamon can relieve diabetes by lowering sugar levels, a report said yesterday. A three-year study carried out by the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia showed that the spice has positive effects on Type II diabetes, the kind which typically develops during adulthood, the Star newspaper said. Research chief Mohammad Roji said herbalists all over the world used cinnamon to treat diarrhea and arthritis because of its ability to improve circulation, heal wounds and prevent ulcers and allergies. "In the last decade, laboratory studies have also revealed that cinnamon extract mimicked insulin action in the cells," he said, according to the daily.
■ Japan
More snow forecast
The nation braced for more snow yesterday after some of the heaviest snowfall on record that has left at least 28 people dead and paralyzed transport. Almost 4m of snow have piled up in the worst-hit areas of Niigata near the Japan Sea coast, though the snowiest season of the year is yet to come. Television pictures showed drifts burying the ground floors of houses and almost covering street lamps. Many train passengers were left stranded as services, including the high-speed bullet trains connecting Akita Preferecture with Tokyo, came to a halt. Japan's Meteorological Agency said heavier-than-usual snowfall would likely continue through the month.
■ Pakistan
Bus struck by landslide
A bus carrying 39 passengers was struck by a landslide apparently loosened by this week's rains in northwestern Pakistan, injuring 19 passengers and killing one person, police said yesterday. The accident happened on Thursday on a mountainous road in Kohistan, a town about 350km northeast of Peshawar, said Zarin Khan, an area police official. He said nine people were still trapped in the wreckage of the bus. Khan said rescue work was underway.
■ Cyprus
Partition costs lovers dearly
A Greek Cypriot woman ended up in court and a Turkish man was deported after their affair crossed the boundaries of politics in ethnically-divided Cyprus. The couple were arrested when the woman tried to bring her boyfriend into the Greek Cypriot side of Cyprus on Dec. 31 so they could see in the New Year together. The Turkish man, a student, was considered an illegal immigrant and arrested. The woman was accused of harboring an illegal immigrant and freed on a 1,000 Cyprus pound (US$2,106) bond. "He was deported. Back to Turkey through Athens," a police source told reporters on Thursday.
■ United Kingdom
Kennedy admits problem
The embattled leader of Britain's opposition Liberal Democrat Party called on Thursday for an immediate leadership contest and acknowledged he had been treated for a drinking problem. Charles Kennedy, 46, an affable Scotsman who has led the party since 1999, said he had not taken alcohol for two months and was still capable of leading Britain's third largest party. But amid growing calls for him to resign, he said the issue should be decided by party members in a ballot and called for any colleagues who wished to stand against him to enter the race. "People close to me know that this has been a struggle and that for extended periods I've consumed no alcohol at all," Kennedy said in a televised address.
■ Ukraine
Bird flu outbreak suspected
A new outbreak of suspected bird flu has been discovered in a village near Simferopol on the Crimean peninsula, Ukrainian television reported on Thursday. A large number of fowl have died in Soniatchne village and preliminary analysis confirmed the presence of the virus, local officials told the Kanal 5 television station. It is not yet known if the latest outbreak is the deadly H5N1 strain which has killed almost 70 people, mainly in east Asia. The presence of the H5N1 strain was first confirmed in Ukraine's Crimea region last month.
■ France
ETA suspect freed
French police have released a suspected member of the Basque separatist group ETA in the southwestern town of Bayonne according to a statement by Askatasuna, an association for the defence of Basque political prisoners. Xabier Perez Susperregi, 45, was arrested on Thursday after taking his son to school Askatasuna said. Spain had issued a European warrant for his arrest for his suspected links with ETA. The reasons for his release were not clear. Perez Susperregi was previously arrested in France in 1991 as part of an operation to break up an ETA unit, but was cleared at a trial in 1993.
■ Egypt
Deportations halted
Egyptian authorities have postponed their planned deportation of at least 600 Sudanese migrants. They remain in detention after being forced from a park where they had camped for months, demanding to be relocated to other countries by the UN. About 27 people died last week when police stormed the encampment. Then on Tuesday, Egyptian officials said that hundreds of the migrants would be deported because they were either illegal immigrants or had "violated security conditions." Egyptian officials did not say why the decision was reversed, but it appeared that diplomatic considerations had overruled security procedures.
■ United States
Man mistaken for terrorist
An airline passenger with the words "suicide bomber" written in his journal was arrested when his plane arrived in San Jose, California, on Wednesday, but the words appeared to refer to music and he was later released, officials said. "A male was observed by his fellow passengers as having a journal and handwritten in the journal were the words `suicide bomber,'" FBI spokeswoman LaRae Quy said. "That, combined with the fact that he was clutching a backpack, and then finally he was acting a little suspiciously" prompted law enforcement to act.
■ United States
Bus line debuts disaster tour
An international bus line launched tours of devastated sections of New Orleans on Wednesday, amid controversy over whether so-called disaster tourism would help, hurt or humiliate the hurricane-ravaged city. Two sold-out Gray Line tour busses slowly prowled along the city's broken levees, through its rubble-strewn streets and past the heavily damaged Superdome where desperate residents took shelter when Hurricane Katrina hit on Aug. 29 and most of the city flooded in the aftermath. Plans for the "Hurricane Katrina -- America's Worst Catastrophe" tour, at US$35 per person, prompted debate over whether it is appropriate or exploitative to turn devastation into a tourist attraction.
■ United States
Schwarzenegger apologizes
An uncharacteristically humble Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger apologized to the voters of California on Thursday night and proposed a series of policies that represent a dramatic return to the political center after an ill-fated lurch to the right last year. In his annual State of the State message, Schwarzenegger said he had gone against the people's will by sponsoring a costly special election in November that was widely seen as an effort to punish public employees and Democratic lawmakers. The public decisively rejected all four of the governor's initiatives. "It's true I was in too much of a hurry and I've learned my lesson," Schwarzenegger said.
■ United States
Valet girls prove popular
Take a few leggy California blondes, throw in a passion for luxury cars, plenty of parties and a distaste for parking your own car. What have you got? A multimillion-dollar, female valet parking business. Beverly Hills, California-based Girls Valet Parking opened for business less than six months ago. "Given the option of hiring acne-riddled teenage boys in red vests, or beautiful and sexy models and actresses trained in safety and hospitality, we're betting our success that [most] will prefer the latter," company founder Brad Saltzman said on Wednesday.
■ Venezuela
Radioactive material stolen
Thieves have stolen equipment containing radioactive material used in the oil industry, in the latest in a string of similar incidents, officials said on Wednesday. Angel Diaz, head of the energy ministry's nuclear affairs department, warned the Cesium-137 material could cause contamination if exposed. The equipment, used in oil prospecting, was stolen last week in eastern Anzoategui State. "If you take this material out, it could cause contamination," Diaz told reporters. Authorities arrested three police officers in December after they were linked to the robbery of a truck carrying a device containing Iridium-192, used to check oil pipelines.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in