■ Indonesia
Mob slays girlfriend-killer
A police officer in Indonesia's remote province of Papua was killed yesterday by an angry mob after he allegedly shot dead his girlfriend for refusing to have sex, a local report said. Herman Webiser, a police officer in Wamena, shot dead Selvi Kogoya, 20, early yesterday, the state-run Antara news agency reported. No other details were available. After word of the shooting spread, a mob of hundreds of people, some armed with sharp weapons, attacked the policeman. Two fellow officers who tried to help Webiser were wounded during the incident. Papua police chief Tommy Jacobus confirmed the killings, saying a similar incident occurred in the Papuan town of Sorong when a police officer accidentally discharged his firearm while drunk, wounding two people.
■ Singapore
Falun Gong group charged
Nine people linked to the Falun Gong spiritual group have been charged with illegal assembly for allegedly gathering without a permit last year, a newspaper reported yesterday. The eight men and a woman who were charged on Friday were involved in illegal assemblies on Oct. 22 and Oct. 23 last year in the busy Orchard Road shopping area, the Straits Times said. If convicted, they face a maximum fine of S$1,000 (US$630). Falun Gong is banned in China as an "evil cult." Authorities in Singapore, which imposes tight curbs on freedom of speech and assembly, allow the group to operate but have previously arrested members. Earlier this week, police arrested a Falun Gong member, a 40-year-old Singaporean woman, who was protesting outside the Chinese embassy, the newspaper reported.
■ Philippines
Volcano may erupt
Authorities stockpiled food and prepared evacuation centers in Albay province, about 340km southeast of Manila yesterday, after lava began trickling down the slopes of Mayon volcano in a "quiet eruption." Officials said they won't order any evacuations yet as they braced for a possible violent eruption that may take weeks. Yesterday, officials extended a 6km danger zone around the peak of the volcano to 7km on the southeastern slope where most of the molten rocks and other debris have been rolling down since Friday, said Renato Solidum, chief of the Philippine Institute of Vulcanology and Seismology.
■ Vietnam
US military ties grow
Military ties between the US and Vietnam are expanding steadily, and may soon include joint participation in search and rescue exercises, said the head of the US Pacific Command yesterday. Admiral William Fallon, who is on his first visit to Vietnam, said the two nations have been proceeding "at a measured pace comfortable to both sides" in re-establishing a military-to-military relationship. During Friday meetings with Deputy Prime Minster and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem and Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh, Fallon said he suggested broadening educational opportunities, including English-language training for military officers.
■ India
Spitting officer suspended
Spitting in public is common in the country, but doing so on the public landed a police constable in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh in hot water. Police said on Friday that K.R. Rao spat on students demonstrating against a rise in tuition fees for engineering colleges this week, provoking further protests by outraged parents and their children in Warangal Town. The outcry forced the police to take action against Rao, who has served in the force for seven years, suspending him on half-pay for three months. "The incident is a black spot on the image of the people-friendly police in this district," Warangal Superintendent of Police Stephen Ravindra said.
■ Pakistan
Tensions high after murder
Karachi was tense yesterday with thousands of police patrolling the streets after riots the night before sparked by the assassination of a senior Shiite Muslim leader. Major markets, fast food outlets and cinemas were all closed. Traffic was thin and most gas stations were shut down, as the authorities feared further violence ahead of funeral prayers for the murdered cleric. "We have deployed over 5,000 police while paramilitary rangers are also in full strength," city police chief Niaz Siddiqui said. Hasan Turabi and his 10-year-old nephew were killed on Friday when an attacker hugged the Shiite leader outside his home before detonating explosives hidden under a long black gown.
■ Afghanistan
Soldiers kill 14 rebels
Afghan soldiers killed 14 militants and arrested 17 others in clashes across the country, officials said yesterday. Militants attacked an Afghan army convoy patrolling late on Friday in southern Zabul Province's Shinkay district, sparking a gunbattle that killed four Taliban, local army commander Razzaq Khan said. Soldiers detained one Taliban; there were no army casualties. Eight "enemies of Afghanistan," a term used to describe the Taliban, "were also killed by Afghan soldiers on Thursday in southern Helmand Province's Sangin district, a defense ministry statement said.
■ Germany
Postman hoarded letters
A Berlin postal worker who was caught with several thousand undelivered letters in his house has admitted he was overwhelmed by the job but insisted he planned to deliver them soon. Police recently found 90 boxes of post stacked in the postman's basement. The man, identified as Thomas H., told Bild newspaper on Friday that he was only temporarily storing the post at his house and friends would help with delivery. "There was just too much and I couldn't deliver it all by myself," he told the newspaper. Police said some of the letters found had been postmarked as early as April.
■ Germany
Cannabis crop removed
A Berlin foster mother was ordered to remove a marijuana crop her teenage son had been growing in the garden where six small children under her care had been playing. The Protestant church in Berlin told Silke B. to get rid of the marijuana plants, according to a report on Friday in Bild newspaper. "Either the plants are removed or the children will be taken away," Marianne Bartzok, a church staff member, told the newspaper. Silke's son, Sven, was later seen carrying the plants away, the daily said. Silke B. said she did not know what Sven was growing, but added: "I had a feeling it was something bad."
■ United Kingdom
Officers avoid prosecution
No individual police officers involved in the shooting in London last year of the Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes will face prosecution over his death, the Guardian newspaper is reporting. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for England and Wales has ruled out murder or manslaughter charges after a review of the circumstances surrounding the killing of the innocent electrician who was mistaken for a suicide bomber in July last year. But the CPS is expected to announce tomorrow that London's Metropolitan police force as an organization will be charged with breaching health and safety at work laws over the shooting.
■ Germany
Thief robs judge at own trial
A 61-year-old on trial for theft got himself into more trouble when he stole from the judge during his court hearing, police said on Thursday. Police in the town of Coburg said that while facing her at the bench, the man pocketed a bunch of keys from the judge, who did not notice until he had left the room. When confronted by court officials in the toilet, the man, who had a string of convictions for theft, told them he had been shocked to discover the keys in his pocket. "He told them he realized how suspicious his story would sound and that he had therefore hidden the keys under a toilet brush," said police spokesman Bernhard Schmitt. "He'd been stealing all his life so it was probably just an intuitive act."
■ Zimbabwe
Mugabe threatens purge
President Robert Mugabe has threatened to purge the top ranks of his party in a bid to stamp out crooked members, reports said yesterday. Addressing a meeting of his party's Soviet-style central committee, Mugabe said there were growing numbers of people tarnishing the reputation of the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party by getting wealthy through corrupt means. "We shall be now bound to have a campaign of cleansing the central committee," Mugabe said in comments carried by the state-run Herald newspaper.
■ United States
Police seek `clown' robbers
Police are on the lookout for members of a machete-wielding gang in angry clown make-up after a rampage of robbery and violence that left nearly two dozen people injured in a park in the state of Washington. The group, called "juggalos" -- devotees of the Detroit-based rap-metal group Insane Clown Posse -- attacked and robbed visitors to Fort Steilacoom Park while shouting "Woo, woo, juggalo!" to each other, court documents said. Prosecutors in Pierce County south of Seattle charged three people with assault and robbery last week, but police in the City of Lakewood said they are searching for another eight to 10 suspects who took part.
■ United States
911 love-caller arrested
A woman hoping to use her local 911 emergency response service for a love connection was slapped with a fine and possible jail time, police said on Friday. The neighbors of Lorna Dudash, 45, of Aloha, Oregon, called the police to complain of noise coming from her apartment, and a local deputy responded, according to police quoted by the Portland television station KGW. After the deputy left, Dudash dialed 911 and asked for the "cutie pie" deputy to return. "He's the cutest cop I've seen in a long time," Dudash told the dispatcher. "I just want to know his name. Heck, it doesn't come very often that a good man comes to your doorstep." The good man indeed returned -- to arrest Dudash for misuse of the emergency system.
■ United States
Smoker-patient sparks fire
A patient wearing an oxygen mask tried to light a cigarette in his hospital room, sparking a fire that forced the evacuation of more than 100 patients, destroyed the room and melted medical equipment, officials said. A nurse rescued the man from his burning bed shortly after the Thursday night blaze started. He suffered serious burns and was taken to the burn unit at another Dallas hospital. No one else was hurt, hospital officials said. "He somehow got the strength to smoke a cigarette with a non-removable mask," Dallas Fire-Rescue Captain Paul Martinez said.
■ Brazil
Gang violence deaths up
Urgent attempts to quell violence in Sao Paulo that has claimed more than 150 lives since May were under way on Friday after three days of attacks in the city. Justice Minister Marcio Thomaz Bastos traveled to Sao Paulo to discuss emergency measures with the state government, which has so far rejected offers of federal intervention. Branded "Brazil's 12/7" by one newspaper, the attacks are believed to be the work of the First Command of the Capital crime gang. The city's security secretariat said there had been at least 118 attacks this week, causing at least nine deaths, including prison guards and policemen.
■ United States
Astronauts head home
The space shuttle Discovery's six astronauts prepared to say their goodbyes to the crew of the international space station and begin their trip back to Earth yesterday morning. Although the astronauts still had one final damage inspection of Discovery to conduct once the shuttle was undocked from the space station, the mission has been viewed as a genuine success by NASA managers. The shuttle launched without any apparent damage to its thermal protection system. Spacewalking astronauts repaired a crucial rail car on the space station and were able to show that a 15m boom attached to a 15m robotic arm could be used as a platform to make repairs to the shuttle.
‘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