■ China
Celebration cuts power
A cannon that fired confetti at a grand opening celebration in Shanghai damaged power lines and cut electricity to scores of factories, offices and homes, the Shanghai Daily said on Wednesday. Shanghai Danone Biscuit Foodstuff Co was celebrating an opening in an industrial park west of the city when a 2m plastic strap that was accidentally ejected with the shredded paper wrapped around high voltage electrical cables, apparently causing a short circuit, the paper said. At least two people were trapped in elevators and neighboring factories have demanded compensation for damaged equipment and lost production, it said. A 50-member repair team needed five hours to get power running again, the paper said.
■ Singapore
Parliament dissolved
President S.R. Nathan dissolved parliament yesterday, clearing the way for general elections that will likely be dominated by the party that has ruled the country for more than four decades. No election date was immediately announced, but political observers have predicted that balloting would be held May 6. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) is not required to call elections before the middle of next year. The elections would be Lee's first since taking office last August. Lee's People's Action Party currently holds 82 of the 84 elected seats in parliament.
■ Thailand
Croc hunt underway
A 1,000-baht (US$25) reward will be given to anyone who catches one of the many crocodiles believed to be slithering through the canals of a central Thai district, an official said on Wednesday, as search teams continued a hunt for the stray reptiles. Experts from nearby fisheries departments poured into Lopburi province's Pattana Nikom district, 150km north of Bangkok. About a dozen of the reptiles are believed to remain at large after having escaped from area farms that breed them for their skin and meat. Eighteen crocodiles have already been caught since authorities started a search last Saturday, when one of the reptiles bit off a fisherman's finger while he was wading through a canal.
■ Hong Kong
British anthem banned
The British national anthem God Save The Queen has been banned at a cathedral service to mark Queen Elizabeth's 80th birthday, the South China Morning Post said yesterday. Church officials in the territory say playing the anthem during tomorrow's service would be a breach of "international protocol" now Hong Kong has reverted to Chinese rule. Organizers of the service told the newspaper they were "very disappointed" at the ban and would sing the hymn I Vow To Thee My Country instead, the daily reported. Paul Surtees, president of the Royal Overseas League that is organizing the service at St John's Cathedral in Hong Kong, said "Let's not forget that Queen Elizabeth II was queen of Hong Kong for 45 years."
■ Hong Kong
Soccer star to visit cop
Manchester United star Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is to visit a paralyzed policeman as his family battles to rouse him from a near-vegetative state, the South China Morning Post said yesterday. Solskjaer is to visit Jacky Chu, who was stabbed in the neck while on patrol last year, in hospital during a visit next month to launch a Manchester United Soccer School. Chu, 30, is an avid fan of the team and his family has been playing him videos of matches to try to revive him in hospital, the paper reported.
■ Poland
Bank remembers late pope
The central bank on Wednesday revealed a new bank note bearing the portrait of the late, Polish-born Pope John Paul II. The 50 zloty (US$16) note will go into circulation on October 16, the 28th anniversary of John Paul II's election as head of the Catholic Church, bank officials said. The note will bear religious symbols linked to John Paul II, quotes from his speeches, a copy of his signature and the dates of his long papacy, from 1978 to last year.
■ Switzerland
Bogeyman goes missing
A snowman-like effigy that was to be burnt next week in Zurich's annual ceremony killing off the evil spirit of winter has been stolen, authorities said on Wednesday. This year's Boeoegg -- a bogeyman standing over 3m tall and weighing about 100kg -- was stolen early on Wednesday from the workshop where it was being assembled, police said in a statement. "A substitute Boeoegg will be burnt next Monday," said Peter Buchmann, president of the Central Committee of the Guilds of Zurich. A radical group calling itself the "May 1st Revolutionary Movement -- Free Streets'' later claimed responsibility.
■ Cyprus
The cups runneth over
Women hope to form the world's longest chain of bras with the twin aims of heightening awareness of breast cancer and winning a place in the Guinness Book of Records. The Cypriot, British and Dutch organizers hope to string together as many as 100,000 bras on April 30, beating the current record of 79,000 bras held by Singapore, and forming a 90km chain. "It's an odd thing to do, but it's the perfect way to get the message across. Its important that people are aware of the risks, and the need for regular screening," said Louise van Rooij, a Dutch resident of Cyprus.
■ Kenya
Man faces suicide sentence
A man who jumped into a river because he was sick of his country's chaotic politics has been convicted of trying to commit suicide. Stephen Nyamu Ngari, 68, is on trial for attempting to drown himself in the Chania river on April 12, forcing villagers to rush to his rescue. Suicide is a crime in Kenya. "It is true I attempted to commit suicide," he told the court on Tuesday after pleading guilty. "I have always been disturbed by the political trend in the country since many political parties were introduced back in 1991," he said. Magistrate Elizabeth Osoro ordered Ngari sent for a mental evaluation before his sentencing, set for today.
■ South Africa
Anti-apartheid heroine dies
Author, women's rights and anti-apartheid champion Ellen Kuzwayo died on Wednesday after a long illness, family said. She was 91. Kuzwayo was the first black writer to win South Africa's premier CNA Literary Prize for her 1985 autobiography Call Me Woman, a book that made her a spokeswoman for the suffering and triumphs of black women under apartheid. She became an active opponent of apartheid after police gunned down students in 1976 protests against the introduction of Afrikaans as the language of instruction in black schools. Arrested for her political activities, she spent five months in detention in 1977. Kuzwayo was elected to Parliament in South Africa's first all-race elections in 1994, serving five years. She was also active in projects to educate women and improve living conditions in Soweto.
■ United States
Hu promotes Starbucks
Less than 24 hours into his visit to Seattle, Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) was already serving as a pitchman for the city's homegrown Starbucks Corp. Speaking to business executives, politicians and other dignitaries during a dinner on Tuesday at the home of Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, Hu expressed his desire to be a regular at the ubiquitous coffee-store chain. "Starbucks coffee shops have mushroomed in China's cities," Hu said through a translator. "If I were not serving in this office, I would certainly prefer to go into one of the coffee shops run by Starbucks," he said, drawing laughter from the crowd, which included Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz.
■ United States
Health work botched in Iraq
The US has botched efforts to improve public health Iraq and Afghanistan, missing a chance to gain support in those countries, an independent report released on Wednesday said. US reconstruction efforts in Iraq following the 2003 invasion failed to maintain and improve basic sanitation and provide safe drinking water in heavily populated areas, the RAND Corp report stated. This may have encouraged anti-American sentiment and sympathy for the insurgency, the nonprofit research organization said. "Nation-building efforts cannot be successful unless adequate attention is paid to the health of the population," said Seth Jones, a RAND political scientist and a lead author of the report.
■ United States
Quack jailed for assault
A 76-year-old man masquerading as a doctor who made the rounds of a neighborhood offering free breast exams has been jailed for assault, police said on Wednesday. Broward County police, north of Miami, said Philip Winikoff embraced his hobby with gusto, even carrying around a little black medical bag as he offered his unsolicited services. Finally when he approached a 36-year-old woman in an apartment building, "after touching the victim's breasts, Winikoff moved his hand to her genitals and further assaulted her," a police report said. She phoned police and he fled, only to try the same on another victim.
■ United States
Older men satisfied with sex
Around the world, middle-aged and elderly men tend to be more satisfied with their sex lives than women in the same age group, a survey released on Wednesday said. Substantial majorities of people who are married or who have a partner remain sexually active throughout the second half of their lives, according to a survey of 27,500 people aged 40 to 80 in 29 countries. "There was very little effect of age on sexual well-being," though other factors such as health problems or depression had a substantial impact, lead researcher Edward Laumann said in a telephone interview.
■ United States
Comedian least sexy
Comedian Gilbert Gottfried, the voice of the Aflac Inc duck in television commercials for the insurer, was crowned "unsexiest man in the world" by an alternative newspaper on Tuesday. "The parrot-voiced, pickle-faced comic is to sexy what Kryptonite is to Superman," the Boston Phoenix wrote. New York Yankees pitcher Randy Johnson came in second followed by film critic Roger Ebert, television psychologist Dr Phil McGraw and Fox television co-host Alan Colmes. Actor Brad Pitt made the list, as the 100th-least sexy man. Osama bin Laden was number eight.
MONEY MATTERS: Xi was to highlight projects such as a new high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest, as Serbia is entirely open to Chinese trade and investment Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic yesterday said that “Taiwan is China” as he made a speech welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Belgrade, state broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) said. “We have a clear and simple position regarding Chinese territorial integrity,” he told a crowd outside the government offices while Xi applauded him. “Yes, Taiwan is China.” Xi landed in Belgrade on Tuesday night on the second leg of his European tour, and was greeted by Vucic and most government ministers. Xi had just completed a two-day trip to France, where he held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as the
With the midday sun blazing, an experimental orange and white F-16 fighter jet launched with a familiar roar that is a hallmark of US airpower, but the aerial combat that followed was unlike any other: This F-16 was controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), not a human pilot, and riding in the front seat was US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall. AI marks one of the biggest advances in military aviation since the introduction of stealth in the early 1990s, and the US Air Force has aggressively leaned in. Even though the technology is not fully developed, the service is planning
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