■ Indonesia
Muslim cleric arrested
Anti-terrorism police have arrested a Muslim cleric for his alleged link with Malaysian most-wanted terrorist leader Noordin Mohammed Top, accused of masterminding a string of bombings in Indonesia, local media reports said yesterday. Sahl Alamri, 35, a kerosene distributor, was arrested on Thursday in the sectarian violence-ravaged district of Poso in Central Sulawesi province, the Jakarta Post reported.Alamri teaches at al-Amanah, a local Islamic boarding school established in May 2001, known among local residents for its exclusiveness.
■ Singapore
Cellphone theft on the rise
A cellphone is stolen from its owner every two hours in a widening criminal obsession with slick and expensive mobiles, police data said yesterday. From 3,411 cellphones stolen in 2004, the figure climbed to 3,748 in the first nine months of last year with the total expected to fall just below 5,000. Nicking cellphones is regarded as the "crime of our times," social workers told the Sunday Times. It has reached the point where thugs do not even bother asking for the wallets of those they are robbing. Fueling the surge in cellphone thefts is the insatiable market for cheap second-hand phones, making the sale of the stolen ones very lucrative, police said.
■ Japan
Empress OK with public
A majority of Japanese favor letting women inherit the imperial throne but slightly more than half are opposed to a quick revision of the males-only succession law, a survey showed yesterday, after news that a princess is pregnant with a possible male heir. The survey was published in the Mainichi newspaper after a surprise announcement last week that Princess Kiko, wife of Emperor Akihito's second son, is pregnant with her third child, raising hopes that a male heir might be born for the first time in four decades. News of Kiko's pregnancy prompted Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to back away from his pledge to submit a bill revising the imperial succession law.
■ Japan
Hotel offers hay fever help
With Japan's pollen allergy season about to set in, a Tokyo hotel is setting up a special floor to ease the suffering for sneezing guests. Allergy-suffering guests checking in at the Tokyu Inn in the business district of Shinbashi, will step into a phone booth-style box to have the pollen blown off their clothes by a high-powered air shower before going to their rooms, the Mainichi Shimbun said yesterday. Windows on the allergy-sufferers' floor will be kept closed to keep the pollen out and peppermint tea, said to alleviate the symptoms, will be provided in each room.
■ Malaysia
God revered with milk
Hundreds of thousands of Hindu devotees were paying homage to the deity Lord Murugan in Malaysia this weekend with offerings of milk, news reports said yesterday. The colorful annual festival, Thaipusam, has drawn a sea of people to the Sri Subramaniaswamy Temple, which is located in a limestone hill cave on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. On Saturday morning, organizers estimated some 900,000 people had arrived, some of them with bodies pierced with hooks to symbolize their piety and penance, the New Straits Times newspaper reported. Devotees made a procession up the 272 steps to the shrine to offer pots of milk to their deity.
■ China
Fires follow lifting of ban
Fires in China increased 15.5 percent during this year's Lunar New Year festival due to a lifting of a 12-year ban on fireworks, Xinhua news agency said yesterday. Thousands of police officers and firemen were meanwhile placed on standby in case of further blazes and injuries yesterday, the last day of the 15-day festival, Xinhua said. No figures on the number of fires were given, but Xinhua said the ministry blamed the increase on the lifting of the ban in more than 200 major cities on public and commercial pressure. The ban was first put in place in 1994 largely due to safety and noise pollution concerns. Ministry statistics released earlier showed fireworks led to 6,057 fires between Jan. 28 and Feb. 4, three times more than during the same period last year. In Beijing, authorities put 9,000 police and 150,000 fire officers on standby yesterday, Xinhua said. Sources with the city's Office for Firecracker Management said 600 police vehicles would be patrolling and fire departments would also be on high alert, Xinhua reported.
■ Hong Kong
Mt Everest scaled in HK
Two Britons were recovering yesterday after climbing the height of Mt Everest by walking 23 times up Hong Kong's highest building. Policeman Mark Sharp and teacher Graeme Deuchars trudged 23 times up to the top of the 88-storey, 420m International Finance Centre tower on Saturday to raise tens of thousands of US dollars for charity. The marathon effort took Sharp and Deuchars 17 hours and 36 minutes. The pair took the lift back down to the bottom of the high-rise after every ascent. Sharp and Deuchars, who raised money for a Hong Kong charity for the mentally handicapped and Oxfam, say they may now make the climb an annual fundraising event.
■ Greece
Drive-in bank robbery
Robbers on Thursday drove a car through the front door of an Athens bank, got their cash and drove out as stunned customers and staff looked on, police said. "The raiders used a stolen Fiat car to smash into a Piraeus Bank branch in the Peristeri region of Athens," a police official said. "Two men got out of the car, took out guns and robbed the bank." No one was hurt in the robbery or the crash, police said.
■ United Kingdom
Valentine's texting tips
Britons texting St Valentine's Day love messages tomorrow should be careful they don't send them to the wrong person. A poll of 3,000 mobile phone users found that one in four have misdirected a provocative text or photo. Recipients of the unwanted texts include bosses or colleagues (9 percent) parents (3 percent) and ex-partners (2 percent). The study revealed eight in ten 18-25 year olds have sent a flirty text message within the last year.
■ South Africa
Suburb reclaims name
South Africa's once vibrant multiracial suburb of Sophiatown officially reclaimed its cherished name on Saturday, 51 years after apartheid rulers turned it into a whites-only area. The now scattered former residents invited to the ceremony cheered and swayed to the sound of 1950s African jazz that marked out Sophiatown as a cultural melting pot. About 6,500 Sophiatown residents were forcibly evicted in February 1955 in one of the apartheid government's biggest population removals under its Group Areas Act that defined where people lived according to their race. The suburb was renamed Triomf -- or Triumph -- in the Afrikaans language of the mostly Dutch-descended white rulers.
■ Syria
Assad reshuffles Cabinet
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reshuffled his Cabinet on Saturday, naming veteran foreign minister Faruq al-Shara as his deputy to replace the former vice president who was branded a traitor after accusing the regime over the murder of Lebanon's ex-premier Rafik Hariri. Fourteen new ministers were brought into government in the second cabinet shakeup since the government of Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Otri took office in September 2003, according to the official SANA news agency. In the biggest change, Shara -- foreign minister since 1984 -- was named vice president following the June resignation of Abdul Halim Khaddam, who accused Assad of threatening Hariri months before his murder in February last year.
■ Germany
Foreign minister slams hate
German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Saturday criticized nations that "stoke hate and violence," in connection with the demonstrations against the drawings of the Prophet Mohammed, as hundreds of Muslims peacefully demonstrated across Germany. Speaking at an event surrounding this year's Berlin International Film Festival, Steinmeier said it is understandable that Muslims could feel insulted by the drawings and reject them, but that destroys any chance at discussion. "When such rejection entwines violence and hate, when it is used ... to threaten people or to kill them, then it disrupts the chance for any kind of dialogue," Steinmeier said. At the same time, he said it is the role of a state to provide the grounds for dialogue and discussion, "not to stoke hate and violence."
■ Mexico
President Fox criticized
Left-wing presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador lashed out at conservative rivals on their home turf on Saturday by saying President Vicente Fox betrayed the hopes of millions. Lopez Obrador, leading opinion polls by up to 10 points, told a rally in the central town of Guanajuato that Fox failed to deliver the strong economic growth he promised. That has forced record numbers of Mexicans to emigrate illegally to the US, he said. "I am not going to betray the people. I am not going to let people down, I am not the same as Vicente Fox," the leftist told a crowd of several thousand supporters.
■ Honduras
Hotel owner murdered
Gunmen shot and killed an Iranian hotel owner and his bodyguard in what appeared to be a planned hit, police said on Saturday. Mohammad Mehdy Gitonondian, 52, owned the Los Pinos hotel on the outskirts of La Esperanza, 90km northwest of the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa. Gitonondian and his 28-year-old bodyguard, Juan Bautistas, were shot at close range inside the hotel before dawn on Friday, regional police chief Jose Guido said. "This was not a robbery, it was cold-blooded murder carried out by hit men," Guido said. "Apparently the man had enemies." Guido said authorities believe at least two men carried out the shooting and then fled.
■ United States
Gym offers stiletto workout
The gym that brought New Yorkers "Cardio Striptease" has dreamed up "Stiletto Strength," a workout to get women in shape to wear the highest of heels. At a recent lunch-time session at Crunch gym near Times Square, dancer Amber Efe demonstrated how to strut like a cat-walk model, pivoting on six-inch heels that would challenge even the most ardent follower of shoe king Manolo Blahnik. "Imagine you're at the bar, raise one hand high like you're holding your drink," she told the class, music pounding as she acted the part of a club-goer working through a crowd.
■ United States
House causes headaches
A house erroneously valued at US$400 million is being blamed for budget shortfalls and possible layoffs in municipalities and school districts in northwest Indiana. An outside user of Porter County's computer system may have triggered the mess by accidentally changing the value of the house in Valparaiso, said Sharon Lippens, director of the county's information technologies and service department. The house had been valued at US$121,900 before the glitch. County Treasurer Jim Murphy said the home usually carried about US$1,500 in property taxes; this year, it was billed US$8 million. Lippens said her agency identified the mistake and told the county auditor's office how to correct it.
■ Germany
WWII relic recovered
Divers have recovered a bronze eagle from the wreckage of a World War II-era German battleship off the coast of Uruguay, the salvage team said. A formidable Nazi battleship, the Graff Spee sank nine British merchant vessels until it came under attack by the British fleet in the battle of the River Plate in December 1939. The ship's captain decided to scuttle the damaged battleship near the port of Montevideo to avoid being sunk by British naval forces. "The eagle is from the stern of the Graff Spee, a unique piece without equal in the world," Alfredo Etchegaray, owner of the firm leading the recovery effort, said on Friday.
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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