■ Afghanistan
Toy gun accident fears
NATO troops have reported seeing lots of children with toy guns, apparently given as presents at a recent Muslim holiday, raising fears of an accident if troops mistook a toy for a real gun. "We've had a lot of reports since Id from troops on the ground of a lot of kids with toy guns," said a spokesman for the NATO force, Major Ian Clooney. Muslims celebrated the Id al-Adha festival at the weekend when children traditionally get presents.
■ China
Woman nets Yao Ming
A Chinese woman who registered the name of NBA star Yao Ming as an Internet domain address is willing to give it up -- for a price. Identified only as Jin by the China Youth Daily newspaper, the woman said the price would be "a hug and an autograph" from the 2.28m-tall Houston Rockets star. Yao is China's most popular and recognizable athlete. Others have tried to take advantage of his name, triggering complaints from agents and fans. But this woman said she was trying to protect Yao, not harm him. "I want to keep Yao's name from being misused, just like everyone else," she said.
■ Iran
Treaty to be honored
Iran's top nuclear negotiator said during a visit to Beijing that Tehran will continue to honor the principles of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Chinese state media reported yesterday. The pledge by Ali Larijani, head of Iran's national security council, was reported in the same week that the Iranian government said it was keeping open the option of quitting the treaty. On Tuesday, Iran said it could drop out of the treaty if Western countries step up pressure on the Islamic republic over its atomic program.
■ Australia
Cat receives credit card
A bank has apologized for issuing a credit card to a cat after its owner decided to test the bank's identity security system. The Bank of Queensland issued a credit card to Messiah the cat when his owner Katherine Campbell applied for a secondary card on her account under its name. "I just couldn't believe it. People need to be aware of this and banks need to have better security," Campbell told local media yesterday. The bank said the cat's card had been canceled. "We apologize as this should not have happened," it said in a statement.
■ Cambodia
Former king `perturbed'
Cambodia's former king Norodom Sihanouk said he was "perturbed morally and psychologically" by the violence and child sex crimes that continue to plague his country, in a New Year's message posted yesterday on his Web site. The message also condemned jealous husbands who kill their wives and women who cut off their spouse's penis or throw acid at their mistresses. "These crimes are acts of cruelty and anti-Buddhist and dishonor our country, our nation, our race," the 84-year-old former monarch wrote in the message, dated last Monday. Sihanouk, who is being treated for medical problems in Beijing but often uses messages on his Web site to weigh in on matters affecting Cambodia, also singled out pedophiles who "maltreat, torture, kill children."
■ Philippines
Bomb injures two in south
A homemade bomb blamed on Muslim militants exploded outside a restaurant in a southern Philippine city yesterday, wounding two people, police said. The bomb in Cotabato City was hidden in a carton box and made out of three 60mm mortar shells, two of which went off, police said. Chief superintendent German Doria, the regional police director, said al-Qaeda-linked militants -- the Abu Sayyaf and Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiyah -- were suspected of planting the bombs, although he didn't offer any evidence. Two people were wounded in the legs and treated in a hospital, officials said.
■ Japan
Aso to visit Eastern Europe
Foreign Minister Taro Aso will visit Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia next week to strengthen diplomatic ties with Eastern Europe, the foreign ministry said yesterday. Aso will meet with his counterpart in each of the four countries during a weeklong trip starting on Tuesday, during which Japan will congratulate Romania and Bulgaria on their recent accession to the EU, it said. His visit to Hungary is the first visit by a Japanese foreign minister in 12 years, it said.
■ United States
Plain soap proves effective
Washing hands with plain soap and water is as effective as using the expanding range of sanitizers or antibacterial soaps if done correctly and often, according to a new US report. Anthony Komaroff, editor of the Harvard Health Letter, said studies have shown that washing hands with soap and water for just 15 seconds removes 90 percent of bacteria -- but many people do not wash their hands often enough or dry them thoroughly.
■ Mexico
Legislator shot dead
Assailants ambushed and shot dead a state legislator who was driving to a radio and television station for an interview in the Pacific resort city of Acapulco, city officials said. Jorge Bajos Valverde, a member of the National Action Party of President Felipe Calderon, was blocked in his path by a white van without number plates in the center of the city, said Gloria Mendez, a spokesman for Acapulco's Public Safety Department, on Thursday. Assailants stepped out of the van and shot the legislator several times killing him instantly, Mendez said. The motive for the attack was not clear, she said.
■ United States
Woman sues Oprah's studio
A woman sued Oprah Winfrey's studio, alleging she was injured in a rush for seats during a taping of the talk show host's syndicated TV show. Tayna Milner said she was pushed down stairs between a waiting area and audience seating at Harpo Studios on April 11, according to the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court. Her lawsuit accuses the studio in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood of failing to properly control the crowd, which caused Milner to fall and suffer unspecified injuries, the Chicago Tribune reported on its Web site. Milner is seeking more than US$50,000 in damages, the court brief said.
■ Chile
Court drops charges
A court has dropped charges against Augusto Pinochet's widow and two of his children who had been indicted as accomplices of the late dictator over alleged tax evasion and the use of false passports. Lucia Hiriart and two of Pinochet's daughters, Lucia and Veronica, together with his long-time secretary, Monica Ananias, were cleared by the Santiago court of appeals. The decision not to prosecute follows a three-year investigation into the use of the now-defunct Riggs Bank in Washington and several offshore investment trusts by Pinochet, who died last month aged 91, his children and aides.
■ United States
Small towns revolt
Hundreds of rural communities that were purged from the official state map of Georgia have won their cartographical places back after a "peasants' revolt." Residents of hamlets and villages with names such as Hopeulikit, Po Biddy Crossroads, Roosterville and Bill Arp were outraged when the state's transport department announced it was "decluttering" its map for its next reprinting this summer. But in a victory for community activism, transport officials have been forced into an embarrassing U-turn that will see the names of 488 of Georgia's smallest communities restored. "We're glad they've seen the light," said Dennis Holt, who led a campaign to have the name of Hickory Level, a small town in northern Georgia of just 1,500 people, put back on the map.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia