■ South Korea
Sea name change proposed
South Korea has proposed calling the body of water between it and Japan the "Sea of Friendship" so as to end a naming dispute, a presidential official said yesterday. South Korea hotly contests the widely used name Sea of Japan for the body of water, saying the proper name should be the East Sea. It has launched government-backed campaigns in order to sway world opinion, and many atlases use both names.
■ China
Ill-gotten gains to be sold
The prosecutor's office in Anhui Province will auction the ill-gotten gains of six convicted corrupt officials, including a former vice governor who was executed for graft, Xinhua news agency said yesterday. The items include rings, earrings, necklaces, calligraphy and paintings, clothing, wine, watches, jade and bronze ware, golden Buddha figures and computers and printers, it said. No date was given for the auction, nor was the value of the goods made public.
■ China
Official criticizes Kadeer
Nuer Baikeli, a deputy Chinese Communist Party secretary in Xinjiang, has criticized Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer and the prominence she has found abroad since going into exile, the Beijing News reported yesterday. Kadeer's fight for her people's rights has led supporters to dub her the "mother of the Uighur people." Baikeli said using that title for Kadeer was "extremely preposterous" and "tarnishes the race," the report said. Baikeli also criticized her nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, saying she had tried to disrupt the peace and stability of Chinese society, actions that "absolutely go against the intentions" of the award.
■ Australia
Parachutist plunges to death
A 27-year-old tourist from Iceland died after his parachute failed to open during a jump at a music festival, police said yesterday. The man -- whose identity was not immediately released -- suffered fatal head injuries after jumping from a helicopter at the Superfreak electronic music festival in the eastern town of Bonalbo late on Sunday, New South Wales state police said in a statement. Police said they were interviewing several witnesses who saw the man crash to the ground when his parachute failed to open. Investigations were continuing.
■ Japan
More elderly crime
Crimes committed by people 65 or older topped 10 percent of the total in 2005, a newspaper report said yesterday, amid the rapid aging of Japanese society. Elders accounted for 10.9 percent of recorded crimes in 2005, with 42,108 arrested that year, the Yomiuri newspaper said, citing National Police Agency research. The figure does not include arrests for on-the-job traffic accidents resulting in injury or death, it said. The number of elderly criminals was proportionate to 165 for every 100,000 people, the Yomiuri said. By comparison, in 1989 the rate was 46 to every 100,000, it said.
■ Malaysia
Monsoon causes flooding
Flooding from monsoon rains hit northern and eastern states as thousands of victims in a southern state waited for waters to recede in homes inundated weeks ago, news reports said yesterday. Villages and towns in Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah States began reporting floods following heavy rains over the weekend, with at least 600 people evacuated to relief centers so far, the Bernama national news agency reported. Eastern Sabah State on Borneo was also hit, and at least three houses were swept away in raging river waters that rose to dangerous levels, the Star newspaper reported.
■ Japan
Smaller group come of age
The smallest group of youths in nearly two decades to mark their transition into adulthood celebrated the occasion yesterday, amid growing concerns about Japan's low birth rate and rising elderly population. Coming of Age Day -- a public holiday -- traditionally honors those youths who turned 20 during the preceding year, the age of adulthood at which they can legally vote and drink alcohol. About 1.39 million Japanese reached that milestone last year, about 30,000 more than the smallest group on record did in 1987, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said in a recent statement. Hundreds of thousands of the newly arrived adults took part in ceremonies marking the event at city halls, temples and other public venues across the nation, including Tokyo Disneyland.
■ Thailand
Workers get `nap room'
A Bangkok municipal office has launched a new program to increase productivity: Lights go out just past noon and civil servants are invited to take an afternoon nap. Seeking to infuse city workers with a bit more pep, the Pathumwan district office in central Bangkok has set up a lunchtime "nap room" with soft music, sweet-smelling flowers and strict rules barring mobile phones and talking, said Surakiet Limcharoen, the district's top official who started the program. "I've been taking naps at lunchtime for a long time, and decided to introduce the project to my staff in November," he said.
■ France
Helicopter crash kills three
A helicopter crashed on Sunday on the garden terrace of a restaurant in southeastern France, killing three people on the ground and severely injuring a fourth, rescue workers said. The Alouette 2 aircraft slammed into the garden of the Chez Bob restaurant along a highway between the towns of Salin-de-Giraud and Arles, rescue workers said. One woman whose leg was severed in the crash was taken to a nearby hospital. Police were investigating. Four occupants of the helicopter were not injured, the officials said.
■ Congo
15 die in mine collapse
Fifteen bodies have been pulled from a diamond mine that collapsed in central Congo last week and further rescue efforts have been abandoned, officials said on Sunday. Three people were rescued soon after the mine in the town of Tshikapa caved in on Friday, said Mayor Mwamba Mutombo. He said they did not know if others were in the mine when it fell in but said hope of rescue had been abandoned after two days. Mutombo said the group appeared to have been teenagers who had been gone digging in the community mine with the hope that recent rains would uncover diamonds.
■ United States
New bat species discovered
A biologist at Chicago's Field Museum said he has discovered a new species of sucker-footed bat that is thriving in deforested areas of western Madagascar. Field researcher Steven Goodman said he found the bats, named Myzopoda schliemanni, on the island in 2003. Since then, researchers have studied skull measurements and other characteristics to verify the animal is a new, undiscovered species. Goodman's findings are published in the current issue of the journal Mammalian Biology.
■ Israel
Largest unmanned aircraft
The world's largest unmanned aircraft is being developed which will be used for long-range operations and destroying ballistic missiles as they are being launched, a security official said yesterday. The Eitan has been developed by Israel Aircraft Industries and has a wing span of 35m -- similar to that of a Boeing 737 passenger plane -- the official said. According to the Yediot Aharonot daily, the drone was designed for long endurance and high altitude flights and is equipped with an array of advanced cameras and missiles which allow it to identify and intercept long-range missiles as they are being fired on the ground. It will make its maiden flight in the coming days, the paper said.
■ Italy
Soccer tackles depression
A psychiatrist is obtaining startling results with patients suffering from schizophrenia and depression by enlisting them in a competitive soccer team. Mauro Raffaeli trains his players, many of whom cannot work and are on psychiatric medication, twice a week on a pitch on the outskirts of Rome. Of the 80 who have passed through the ranks since the team formed in 1993, over half have cut down their drug intake, but more importantly, more than half have returned to work. "Drugs you can often never get rid of, but reintegrating into society is as important," he said. Since the team was formed, 50 other squads of mental patients have sprung up around Italy, but Raffaeli's charges remain the benchmark.
■ United States
Famous bookstore closes
The final word has been written for one of New York City's most famous independent bookstores: closed. Coliseum Books, which opened in Manhattan in 1974 but struggled in recent years, shut its doors on Saturday. "It has been our pleasure to serve so many great readers for so many years," the store said on its Web site. "We urge you to continue supporting independent bookstores and, equally importantly, keep reading." Coliseum Books was once referred to on the business review Web site Citysearch as "the Cheers of bookstores (minus the beer)."
■ United States
Web surfers nab immigrants
A test run of a Web site allowing users to monitor the Mexican border helped authorities catch 10 illegal immigrants of the more than 12,000 who officials said were apprehended in November, a newspaper reported on Sunday. The El Paso Times obtained state reports about the results of the November trial of Governor Rick Perry's Texas Border Watch online camera program. Through a public records request, the newspaper also received a sampling of the 14,800 e-mails viewers sent through the Web site. The Web site also helped authorities make one drug bust and interrupt a smuggling route, the newspaper said.
■ United States
Bush Snr has hip replaced
Former president George Bush has been released from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, after undergoing successful hip replacement surgery, the clinic said. The 82-year-old former president was discharged from the clinic on Saturday, following the operation on his right hip that was performed on Wednesday, the Mayo Clinic said on its Web site. He traveled to the Mayo Clinic on Tuesday after delivering a eulogy at the Washington funeral of president Gerald Ford. Surgeons at the clinic replaced his left hip in 2000. Former first lady Barbara Bush also had successful hip replacement surgery at the clinic, in 1997.
■ United States
Former suspect can sue
A former suspect in a federal terrorism case who says he was mistreated while in jail can sue the county, a federal judge has ruled. Moroccan immigrant Karim Koubriti, 28, was held for three years in a Wayne County, Michigan, jail and claims he was strip searched, held in isolation for 23 hours a day and not allowed to exercise. US District Judge Bernard Friedman last week rejected the county's request to dismiss Koubriti's lawsuit, the Detroit Free Press reported on Sunday. No trial date has been set. "The decision means he'll get his day in court and his say at trial," said Koubriti's lawyer, Ben Gonek.
■ United States
Pluto gains respect
Pluto is finally getting some respect -- from wordsmiths. "Plutoed" was chosen 2006 Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society at its annual meeting on Friday. To "pluto" is "to demote or devalue someone or something" much like what happened to the former planet last year when the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union decided Pluto did not meet its definition of a planet. "Our members believe the great emotional reaction of the public to the demotion of Pluto shows the importance of Pluto as a name," said society president Cleveland Evans. "We may no longer believe in the Roman god Pluto, but we still have a sense of personal connection with the former planet."
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
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
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was