■ Japan
Abe a sure bet for PM: poll
A newspaper poll published yesterday indicated that Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe can be sure he'll win the race for leadership of the ruling party, a day after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi endorsed him as his successor. In the latest poll published by the national Asahi Shimbun yesterday, 54 percent of Japanese voters picked Abe as most suited for the next prime minister, while Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki and Foreign Minister Taro Aso received only about 10 percent each. The remaining respondents were undecided. The three are vying for the top post in the governing Liberal Democratic Party on the Sept. 20 ballot. Koizumi's term expires later this month.
■ Nepal
Rights group slams everyone
Both the government and Maoist rebels are killing people and violating human rights despite their truce, a leading rights group in the Himalayan nation said yesterday. Subodh Pyakurel, chairman of rights group Informal Service Sector Center (INSEC), said that the Maoists had killed 11 people while nine had died in action by security forces. Both sides have been observing a truce since May after King Gyanendra gave up absolute rule following street protests and handed power to an alliance of seven political parties. INSEC also reported the Maoists had violated the truce 144 times compared to 22 cases involving government forces.
■ Thailand
Tourist restrictions tightened
The government will tighten entry regulations for tourists in a bid to crack down on illegal foreign workers, the Immigration Bureau said yesterday. The move, which takes effect on Oct. 1, would affect tourists from 41 countries including Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the US, said Suwat Tham-rongsrisakul, the head of the bureau. Currently, tourists from 41 countries can enter Thailand without visas and stay in the kingdom for up to 30 days. They can extend their stay by checking out of the country, mainly by crossing the borders of Cambodia and Laos, and returning with new entry stamps.
■ Australia
Labor Party wins vote
The center-left Labor Party won a landslide election victory in the second-biggest state of Queensland, locking in the party's grip on all state governments, results showed yesterday. Prime Minister John Howard's conservative Liberal-National coalition, which holds power at the federal level, failed for the fourth straight time to gain control of the tourism-rich "Sunshine State" on the northeast coast. All Australia's six states and two territories are governed by Labor, while Howard and his coalition have held power nationally for 10 years. Despite winning four elections at the national level, the conservatives have lost the past 22 state and territory elections.
■ Malaysia
Mahathir loses home vote
Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamed's humiliating defeat in a grassroots party ballot shows he is finished as a force in politics after waging a bitter anti-government campaign, analysts said yesterday. For the right to address the ruling United Malay National Organization's annual assembly in November he was forced to contest a party ballot in his home state of Kedah on Saturday. He came in ninth out of the 15 candidates vying for seven delegates' positions.
■ Namibia
Record attempt falls short
Namibians narrowly missed their first-ever attempt to break a world record on Saturday after safety fears forced organizers to abandon what could have been the world's biggest barbecue. Thousands of people had gathered at a sports stadium in Windhoek to feast on an 8km sausage in an effort to beat the record set in Australia 13 years before. But after the barbecue, the organizers said the crowd began pushing at the gates, forcing them to stop the count. Namibia needed to feed 44,159 people to break the Guinness World Record and when organizers called off the counting they were just 152 short.
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