Print

Mail

wiki links

World News Quick Take

■ Australia
Suspect pledged `jihad'
A man accused of belonging to a terrorist group that allegedly was conspiring to carry out a catastrophic attack pledged in the presence of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to commit holy war, a prosecutor said yesterday. Shane Kent, 29, attended the Al Farooq training camp in Afghanistan, where he underwent weapons and explosives training, prosecutor Mark Dean told the opening of a preliminary hearing for 13 men arrested in police raids last November and March. Dean said a witness who attended the same camp would testify that he saw Kent there, and that Kent committed himself to jihad during one of bin Laden's three visits.

■ Hong Kong
Scissors attacker sought
Police were yesterday hunting for a mystery attacker who apparently throws scissors from high-rise buildings at passers-by below. The investigation follows two separate attacks over the weekend, one of which left a 78-year-old woman hospitalized after a pair of scissors thrown from height embedded themselves in her skull. The woman was shopping in Mongkok on Saturday when the incident happened. Police said she was in a stable condition in hospital yesterday. On the same day, a 28-year-old man in Shamshuipo District was also struck on the forehead by a pair of falling scissors.

■ Japan
Fish to fight terror
A tiny fish is being used in the frontline of the war on terror. Light-orange ricefish, which are some 4cm long and are commonly kept as pets in the country, will be deployed to detect contamination of water supplies, alerting authorities if their movement is irregular. Shizuoka Prefecture devised the fish alert system after the government asked the country to come up with anti-terrorist measures following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the US. If the water is contaminated, the fish show irregular behavior, such as swimming with their noses near the surface because of breathing problems, or simply die.

■ Hong Kong
Body of headless child found
The police said yesterday they were conducting a forensic examination of a child's headless body found floating in the sea off a remote area near the border with China. The naked body, which was tied to a 4m to 5m length of line around the waist, was in an advanced state of decomposition. Police said they had not been able to assess the child's sex. They said they should be able to determine the cause of death later yesterday. A boatman in the rural Tuen Mun area reported the gruesome discovery yesterday after finding the body floating 30m off a pier near a power station. Several Chinese newspapers said the child's hands were also missing and the body was tied to a pillar at the pier.

■ Australia
Day with biker auctioned
The Comanchero Motorcycle Club is auctioning off a day in the life of a biker, including a visit to the infamous site of a shootout with a rival gang that left six people dead. The club has advertised the chance to spend eight hours with several Comancheros on their Harley Davidsons in Sydney on Internet auction site eBay, the Daily Telegraph reported yesterday. The ad also promotes the chance to visit the scene of one of the Milperra Massacre. The Comancheros lost four members at the Viking Tavern on Father's Day in 1984, while two members of the rival Bandidos gang were also killed.

■ Greece
Church criticizes Israel
The leader of the Orthodox Church accused Israel on Sunday of "sacrificing innocent civilians" in its bombardment of Lebanon. "Israel's actions within its right to self defense have long exceeded any rational limit," Archbishop Christodoulos said. "[They are] sacrificing innocent civilians by the hundreds, and creating refugees by the thousands," he added, telling the Israeli authorities, "Do not provoke our consciences. Do not feed the world condemnation against you. It is not in your interest. ... Fear God's wrath." The church has played a lead role in sheltering Greek evacuees from Lebanon who have no home or close relatives here.

■ Belarus
Chavez meets Lukashenko
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez touched down in Minsk on Sunday for talks with President Alexander Lukashenko, dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by the US. "Here we feel ourselves to be among our brothers and friends," Chavez said after his arrival at Minsk airport around 6:30pm. "We see here a model social state like the one we are beginning to create [in Venezuela]." He added: "We must defend the interests of the human being and not the demonic interests of the capitalists, wherever they are -- in North America, in Europe. We must end the exploitation of man by man."

■ United Kingdom
Two killed as art takes off
Two women died and 13 people were injured when they fell from a huge inflatable sculpture after it broke its moorings and flew into the air in a park in northeastern England, police said yesterday. Up to 30 people were inside the walk-in exhibit, which has been shown around the world, when a gust of wind blew it 9m above the park in Chester-le-Street on Sunday. "All of a sudden it just started rising like a balloon," witness Mark Spooner told BBC television. "[It was] flinging people all over. Then it just seemed to flip over in the air." The victims, aged 68 and 38, had been walking through the artwork with children when it took off.

■ Netherlands
Study warns of algae danger
Dangerously high concentrations of bacteria commonly known as blue green algae are being found in inland waters this summer, a study conducted at Wageningen University has found. In an interview with the daily Telegraaf, Miquel Luerling said the bacteria posed a serious health risk to children and animals. "If children are at play and want to swim and take a gulp of the water, this can lead to serious liver damage and even be fatal," he said. Luerling said the concentrations, which in some cases are well above the recommended limit of 20 micrograms of toxins per liter, had been rising in recent years.

■ Germany
Scientists seek `dark matter'
In one of astronomy's most unusual experiments, scientists have switched on a device which they hope will enable them to detect gravity waves -- and possibly learn the composition of "dark matter" in space. The instrument in Hanover will run continuously for 18 months in the hope of finally capturing the essence of a gravitational wave -- a ripple or a distortion in that relativistic entity known as "space-time" as first predicted by Albert Einstein when he formulated his general theory of relativity in 1916. So far, no one has actually detected any gravity waves.

■ Colombia
Army frees hostage
The army has rescued from a guerilla group the kidnapped son of a former legislator who himself has been held for nearly six years by a different rebel group. Juan Carlos Lizcano, 23, was kidnapped by the Popular Liberation Army in April while travelling along a road in the Risaralda department west of Bogota. The military freed him on Saturday night in central Colombia. His politician father Oscar Lizcano, 60, has been held since August 2000 by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

■ Mexico
Demonstrations slammed
The general-secretary of the ruling National Action Party accused leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Sunday of heading a "schizophrenic" movement that turns suddenly from peaceful dialogue to aggressive confrontation. Lopez Obrador has called nationwide demonstrations and filed a court challenge to vote counts that show he lost the July 2 election to ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon by 244,000 votes, or less than 0.6 percent. Cesar Nava of the National Action Party criticized promises by Lopez Obrador aides to expand protests against alleged election fraud. "It's a new threat that reflects the schizophrenia in the movement headed by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador," Nava said. "Their lack of respect for the law knows no limits."

■ United States
Obesity surgery risky
Four of every 10 patients who undergo weight-loss surgery develop complications within six months, the federal government said on Sunday. Obesity surgery is helping thousands of Americans lose weight and reduce the risk of diabetes and other life-threatening diseases, said Carolyn Clancy, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a unit of the Public Health Service. But she added, "This study shows how important it is for patients to consider the potential complications." Many of the complications were so serious that patients were readmitted to hospitals or visited emergency rooms within six months.

■ Brazil
Race quotas supported: poll
A majority favors university quotas for blacks and other minorities, an opinion survey showed on Sunday. Brazil has one of the world's largest populations of African descendants. Blacks and mulattoes make up 48 percent of its 185 million inhabitants, according to government statistics. Supporters cite government statistics that show blacks are among the poorest and least educated in a country with huge income inequality. Critics of quotas in Brazil say they could heighten racism by generating animosity among equally prepared white students displaced by blacks entering on quotas. The poll could sway Congress to approve a legislative proposal that would implement university quotas for students from public high schools, particularly blacks and native Indians.

■ Italy
Geldof flops, refuses to play
Irish rock musician and political activist Bob Geldof beat a retreat back to London at the weekend after canceling concerts in Milan and Rome because too few fans had bought tickets. Only 45 people turned up on Friday at Milan's Civic Arena for a performance by the 51-year-old singer and songwriter. The venue has a capacity of 12,000. Geldof refused to go on stage once he realized the dismally small number of people waiting to hear him perform.

This story has been viewed 1340 times.