■ United Nations
Nair cleared of misconduct
A Singaporean who headed the UN oversight office was cleared of anonymous accusations of misuse of funds and sexual misconduct by an internal investigation, a UN spokesman said on Wednesday. Dileep Nair last year resigned his post as a UN undersecretary-general for the Internal Oversight Services after allegations were lodged against him. He was accused of sexual misconduct and improperly paying a member of his staff.
■ Singapore
Internet rules may be eased
The government plans to ease its watch over the Web during the next general election after live video feeds and audio recordings by political parties were banned during this year's polls, a Cabinet minister was quoted yesterday as saying. While disclosing the likely change Communications and the Arts Minister Lee Boon Yang defended the government's restrictive approach for the April 6 poll. But on Wednesday he said that policies had to evolve.
■ Japan
Suicides rise among young
A total of 32,552 Japanese committed suicide last year, with younger age brackets showing the largest increase over the previous year, according National Police Agency statistics announced yesterday. The suicide rate increased by 0.7 percent overall from 2004 figures, with the highest number of suicide deaths recorded among those in their 60s or older at 10,894. But suicides in this age bracket declined 0.9 percent from 2004. But the suicide rate among the younger population soared, the agency said. A total of 4,606 people in their 30s committed suicide last year, up 6.3 percent from 2004, and those in their 20s accounted for 3,409, up 5 percent.
■ Japan
Shrine action urged
The nation's economic minister urged a Tokyo war shrine to remove war criminals from the list of war dead it honors to end criticism from victims of Japan's wartime atrocities, a national newspaper reported yesterday. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni shrine have strained ties with China and South Korea, which protest that his trips glorify Japan's wartime conquests. "It is Yasukuni shrine that can turn the situation back to natural, in which royals, politicians and the bereaved families can visit and pray without hesitation," Economy and Banking Minister Kaoru Yosano told the Mainichi newspaper.
■ India
No time for caste welfare
Medical student Karen Puri has abandoned his studies for the past two weeks to sit on a dirty carpet in the Indian capital's searing summer heat. Three years ago the upper caste student failed the tough admission test for medical school, passed over in favor of lower caste candidates who scored less marks. A year of grueling studies later, he finally won a place at a medical college in New Delhi. But Puri's frustration turned to anger last month when the government announced a plan to double seats for lower caste candidates in government-funded colleges and universities. "Instead of promoting merit, this government is promoting caste. That is what makes us mad," he said.
■ Japan
Bank robber needs lessons
A would-be Japanese bank robber asked staff how he should carry out the crime before meekly obeying a request to leave and then accidentally stabbing himself in the leg with a knife he was carrying. The 58-year-old man went into a branch of the Saitama Resona Bank in the town of Kumagaya, north of Tokyo, on Wednesday, intending to rob it, a police spokesman said. According to local media reports the man first asked a bank teller, "Any idea how you rob a bank?" The teller alerted another member of staff, who asked the man to leave. "He left quietly when asked to," the police spokesman said.
RSS