■ Hong Kong
Chan call a wake-up
Former deputy leader Anson Chan's (陳方安生) decision to promote this week's pro-democracy march will help reignite fading calls for democracy in the territory, newspapers said yesterday. Chan made a joint appeal with pro-democracy lawmakers on Sunday, calling on citizens to turn out in force for the annual march on Saturday. She also urged Chief Executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權) to show more courage in pushing for universal suffrage. Chan took center stage hand-in-hand with about a dozen lawmakers as she chanted slogans urging a strong attendance at the march. The South China Morning Post said it expected her move would reinvigorate calls for full democracy. "There will probably not be a big turnout for Saturday's march. But this does not mean that Hong Kong people's wishes have changed in the past six months," it said in an editorial. "Whatever political role Mrs Chan may or may not play in the future, she has provided Hong Kong with a timely reminder of a pressing and important issue."
■ Malaysia
`Tarzan' game turns deadly
A 14-year-old boy who liked to pretend to be Tarzan at home by swinging from a rope got entangled in it and choked to death, the New Straits Times reported yesterday. For years, Mohamad Syafizul Yasri had played the game by yelling and swinging on a rope attached to the ceiling at his home in Kijang village, 500km north of Kuala Lumpur, the newspaper said. On Saturday, the 2.5m rope snapped and got looped around his neck while he was swinging, the paper said, quoting his mother, Salmah Mohammad. He was still alive when Salmah found him, but he died before an ambulance arrived, the paper said.
■ Vietnam
Mass grave discovered
A mass grave with more than 100 sets of remains believed to be those of communist soldiers killed during the Vietnam War has been uncovered, and some had nails embedded in their skulls, an official said yesterday. Construction workers found the first five sets of remains two weeks ago while digging a drainage system for a sports complex in the Central Highland province of Gia Lai, about 500km north of Ho Chi Minh City, said the official from the provincial military command. He identified himself only as Son. An army excavation team later uncovered 103 more sets of remains from the grave, Son said. Authorities suspected that the communist soldiers may have been arrested during the Tet Offensive in 1968, Son said.
■ Indonesia
Nine die in ferry accident
Nine people are believed to have died when a ferry sank off Sumatra Island last week, while around 30 people remain missing, officials said yesterday. A navy boat was trying to retrieve eight bodies of people thought to have been on board the ferry, which was carrying at least 133 people when it went down en route from Sibolga in North Sumatra to Nias Island. Ninety-four, including the ship's captain, were rescued. "We have been notified that a fishing boat sighted eight bodies ... this morning and our ship is currently heading to the area to retrieve them," Jaka Santosa, who heads the naval base in Sibolga, said. An unidentified male body was found on Sunday, he said.
■ Philippines
Impeachment charges filed
Government opponents filed a new impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday, and warned of a popular uprising to oust her if her allies in Congress again dismiss it. Arroyo, who left for a seven-day trip to Europe over the weekend, survived an impeachment attempt on vote-rigging and corruption allegations in September. The Constitution allows only one impeachment proceeding against a president in a year. Anti-Arroyo groups waited for the one-year limit to end yesterday before filing a new case against a backdrop of small but persistent protests and coup rumors. New charges against Arroyo include allegedly condoning political killings and violating the Constitution to muzzle dissent. Arroyo has denied any wrongdoing.
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