■ Canbodia
Government critics released
Four prominent critics of the Cambodian government who had been arrested on defamation charges filed by Prime Minister Hun Sen were released on bail yesterday from a Phnom Penh prison. Their release followed a request from the prime minister, whose government has recently been condemned by human rights groups and other parties for jailing the men for exercising their freedom of expression. Hun Sen has sued them and several others for criticizing him about a border demarcation pact he signed with Vietnam in October.
■ India
Seven killed as talks start
Suspected Muslim militants shot dead two members of a pro-India communist party in revolt-hit Kashmir, while Indian troops killed five rebels in two separate gunbattles, police and the army said yesterday. The violence came as the top foreign ministry officials from India and Pakistan met in New Delhi for a third round of talks on their vexed dispute over Kashmir. The neighbors each hold Kashmir in part but claim it in full. Police said Gulzar Ahmed and Bashir Reshi, two functionaries of the Communist Party of India, were gunned down in separate incidents in the Kulgam area of the southern district of Anantnag late on Monday.
■ Japan
US jet crash sparks criticism
A US fighter jet crashed into the ocean yesterday near the southern Japanese island chain of Okinawa, not causing injuries but prompting fresh criticism of the US military by local authorities. The F-15 Eagle fell into the sea 88km northeast of Okinawa's Kadena Air Base but the pilot ejected safely and was recovered by a search and rescue team, US military spokesman Master Sergeant Terence Peck said. The mayor of the base town called on the US military to be more careful. "We have made requests to the US military in the past but nonetheless our worries became true," Mayor Tokujitsu Miyagi said, as quoted by Jiji Press news agency.
■ Thailand
Emergency powers extended
Thailand's government said yesterday it will extend a state of emergency in its Muslim insurgency-hit south, and will exhume 300 bodies there to investigate alleged summary killings and whether any of the victims were foreigners. The state of emergency will be extended in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces for three months as violence continues, government spokesman Suraphong Suebwonglee said. Emergency rule lets the government impose curfews, prohibit public gatherings, censor and ban publications, detain suspects without charge, confiscate property and tap telephones.
■ Malaysia
Thai Muslims repatriated
Malaysia has deported all the 131 Thai Muslims who fled their homeland last year to escape rising violence in Thailand's troubled south, state news agency Bernama said on yesterday. The group, which had been in Malaysian custody since last August, was the largest to have fled to Malaysia from southern Thailand, where more than 1,000 people have been killed in two years of separatist unrest. "No more issues. All have been sent back. Both sides are very happy," the news agency quoted Malaysia's law minister, Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, as telling reporters. The repatriation came as a surprise to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which had interviewed the Thais while in detention.
■ United Kingdom
Parrot blamed for split
A parrot is being blamed for the the break-up of a relationship after squawking the name of the woman's secret lover, newspapers reported yesterday. Ziggy, an eight-year-old African grey, prompted a confession from Suzy Collins, when she was snuggled up on the sofa with her boyfriend. "We were watching TV when Ziggy blurted out, `I love you, Gary.' I started laughing but when I looked at Suzy, I could tell something was up. Her face was red and she started to cry," said Chris Taylor, from Leeds, northern England. "She told me that she'd been seeing someone called Gary and that she wanted to finish with me." Taylor has now given away Ziggy. "I couldn't get him to stop saying that bloody name ... what else could I do?" he said.
■ Liberia
China donates cash
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (李肇星) on Monday gave Liberia's new government more than US$2 million, hours after President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was sworn in. Vice President Joseph Nyuma Boakai received the donation shortly after he took office, a Chinese embassy official in Monrovia said. Part of the money was due to pay for agricultural equipment and to finish renovating the country's largest sports center that was looted during the war, the official said. Liberia ended its recognition of Taiwan in 2003 in order to re-establish relations with China. The Asian giant has since given Liberia more than US$200 million in a bid to match US influence in Africa.
■ Czech Republic
Roof juts into border spat
thorities said on Monday that they wanted the owner of an Austrian hotel built on the border between the two countries to remove around 20cm of its roof overhanging the Czech Republic. Czech surveyors established last year that the four-star hotel had been built at Guglwald too close to the border since, according to international rules, a 1m gap on either side of the border should be left free. Diplomats from both countries have since been working on a solution to the problem. The Czech Republic would settle for the roof being shortened, interior ministry spokeswoman Radka Kovarova said.
■ United Kingdom
Pesticide lowers fertility
A common garden pesticide may be harming male fertility by suppressing levels of the sex hormone testosterone, a study has found. Researchers measured by-products of a pesticide, chlorpyrifos, in males undergoing fertility treatment and found that those with the lowest testosterone levels had the most pesticide by-product in their systems. Chlorpyrifos is permitted under EU regulations for use in agriculture and garden insecticides, but has been subject to stringent control in the US since 2000 because of concerns over its effects on brain function.
■ West Bank
Settlers to be cleared
Police were due yesterday to start evacuating hundreds of extremist Jewish settlers who had entered Hebron in recent days and participated in riots against Palestinian property and Israeli soldiers, Israeli media reported. The head of the Israeli army's central command, Major-General Yair Neveh, declared the southern West Bank city a closed military zone on Monday night. Police flooded reinforcements into Hebron on Monday and arrested 15 settlers, after days of rioting in which dozens of radical settlers clashed with Israeli security forces.
■ United States
Man sucked into jet engine
A mechanic was sucked into a jet engine and killed on Monday while passengers were boarding the plane, officials in El Paso, Texas said. National Transportation Safety Board spokeswoman Lauren Peduzzi said she did not know if any passengers saw the accident, which involved a Boeing 737-500 operated by Continental Airlines. Peduzzi said there had been a problem with the engine, so its metal covering was open at the time. A total of 114 passengers and five crew members were boarding at the time, authorities said.
■ EL Salvador
Rare sea turtles found dead
A total of 119 rare sea turtles have washed up dead on Pacific beaches in the country this month, and scientists said on Monday they were struggling for an explanation. The turtles belong to the Olive Ridley, Hawksbill and Green turtle species. "The final cause is still unknown," said Claudia Vega, a veterinarian with the El Salvador Zoological Foundation. The Environment Ministry is analyzing tests carried out on a dying turtle last week and said it was too early to draw final conclusions. Environment Minister Hugo Barrera initially suggested the animals had been killed by careless fishing boats, but other officials have since suggested pollution or venomous algae could be responsible.
■ United States
Killer under `demonic force'
The pastor of a Wichita church where a serial killer was a longtime leader said he believes a "demonic force" drove Dennis Rader to kill. Reverend Michael Clark, pastor of Christ Lutheran Church where Rader -- also known as the BTK (bind, torture, kill) killer -- was an active church member, talked about his experiences with the convicted murderer on Sunday at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Overland Park. "Dennis was influenced, I believe, by some kind of demonic force and that played a role in the choices and decisions he made," Clark was quoted as saying by The Kansas City Star.
■ Canada
Harper wants more defense
The man likely to be elected the new prime minister in a week's time, Conservative leader Stephen Harper, said on Monday he wants to boost defense spending enough for the world to take notice. "I've made no secret of our desire to rebuild the Canadian military to have the capacities of a sovereign nation," Harper told supporters on a campaign swing through Atlantic Canada. "To make foreign policy decisions that are not only independent but are actually noticed by other powers around the world." With just a week until next Monday's election, Harper's Conservatives are enjoying a lead of eight to 13 percentage points in the polls over the Liberals, who have been in power since 1993.
■ Colombia
President orders bribe probe
President Alvaro Uribe has ordered an investigation into allegations that drug-running paramilitary groups are bribing politicians ahead of the March legislative election. A presidential spokesman said on Monday Uribe asked the attorney general to probe the campaign finances of two senators who are Uribe allies. "Democratic legitimacy and institutional credibility must be fundamental to the transparency of the elections," said a statement posted on the presidential Web site. For months, analysts and politicians have warned that the paramilitary groups are using illegal campaign contributions and threats of violence to influence the outcome of the March vote.
‘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