■ China
Tax informants to be paid
Citizens stand to make up to US$12,900 for tipping off the authorities about tax evasion cases as part of a drive to punish non-payers, state media said yesterday. Informers who help recover 100 million yuan or more will get the reward, with lower sums given for smaller cases, the China Daily reported. The government has been addressing tax collection enforcement in recent years, and is running a campaign to force the rich to pay more and punish them if they try to evade their dues.
■ China
Hanging with the monkeys
A zoo is running a competition with a difference -- the contestants have to live in a monkey enclosure. Six people will live with the monkeys in the zoo in the northwestern province of Shaanxi "to experience the lack of freedom the animals have," the China Daily said on Thursday. The last person remaining will win 11,888 yuan (US$1,534) and title of honorary animal lover, the newspaper said. "Anybody from 18 to 60 years old, in good psychological condition with wild animal protection and survival knowledge may participate," the report said.
■ China
Baby pandas receive names
Eighteen baby pandas, blinking under the bright lights of live television, were presented with their names yesterday with all the glitz and glamor of a movie premiere. The 18 were paraded in little baby prams on state television after their names had been chosen by Internet surfers. The naming of panda cubs is customary when they are weaned and released into their "nursery garden," which was to happen later in the day. The 18 cubs were born to 11 mothers in captivity in Sichuan Province.
■ Vietnam
Boat accident kills three
Two Chinese men and one South Korean man died and 18 passengers were injured when a high-speed ferry collided with a coal barge off the coast in the north, a marine police official said yesterday. The ferry was carrying 25 passengers and five crew to the Chinese border town of Mong Cai when the vessels collided on Friday, Do Quang Thien of the Mong Cai coastal police said. Neither boat sank in the accident, but the impact also left a three-year-old Chinese boy and a Vietnamese woman in critical condition.
■ Singapore
Holey socks a faux-pas
Holes is socks are the ultimate fashion faux-pas in Asia, where taking off your shoes is a courtesy expected at many events. "Asians routinely take off their shoes before entering holy places, such as temples, and the home," said Lee Wong, managing director at Asian Welcome, a Singapore-based relocation adviser. "And because we know we're going to be removing our shoes, we're very careful about the state of our hosiery and our feet." World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz made news this week when he was photographed stepping into a mosque in Turkey wearing holey socks.
■ Malaysia
`Corrupt' official released
The first politician sent to jail under Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's anti-corruption campaign has been freed by a court following an appeal, the politician's lawyer said yesterday. A judge in the northern city of Ipoh on Friday quashed the conviction of Azman Mahalan, one of Abdullah's old friends, because of severe flaws in the case. The New Straits Times daily said the judge angered anti-corruption officials for sitting on the case too long. A lower court had in 2005 sentenced Azman, 64, to two years' jail and fined him 35,000 ringgit (US$10,000) for corruption, but stayed the sentence pending the appeal.
■ Pakistan
Red Cross attacked
An explosive device thrown into a compound damaged four vehicles belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the northwest yesterday, but there were no casualties. The ICRC has suspended field operations in Peshawar pending a security review. This is the second attack on a foreign aid agency this week. On Monday a grenade was thrown at a compound of Save the Children in Battagram, wounding two employees. Foreign aid groups, helping communities recovering from a devastating earthquake in late 2005, say they have been threatened by hardline Islamist groups opposed to their work with women.
■ Malaysia
`Crime' tip-offs criticized
A religious leader in Malaysia has urged Islamic authorities to stop rewarding public tip-offs on Muslim couples who behave "immorally," a report said yesterday. Mohamad Asri Zainul Abidin, the mufti of northern Perlis state, was quoted by the New Straits Times as saying the practice of paying informers was against Islamic teachings because it encouraged invasion of privacy. Doing away with incentives would dissuade Muslims from having malicious intentions toward each other and embarrassing each other, he said in the report. The report said Islamic religious police often act after getting tip-offs in cases of a couple not married to each other being alone in a private place.
■ South Africa
ANC leader laid to rest
Veteran anti-apartheid leader Adelaide Tambo was buried yesterday beside her husband in a cemetery named in honor of the two African National Congress (ANC) heroes. The widow of former ANC president Oliver Tambo died at her home in Johannesburg on Jan. 31 at age 77. She will be buried in the Tamboville Cemetery in Wattville, east of Johannesburg, where the couple lived before they went into exile in 1960. About 10,000 people, including dignitaries from across the country, were expected to attend the service where South African President Thabo Mbeki was to give the funeral oration.
■ France
Alleged PKK group arrested
Ten Kurds have been placed under investigation after being arrested on suspicion of money-laundering on behalf of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), officials said on Friday. The 10 were part of a group of 15 Kurds seized earlier this week in an investigation headed by the top anti-terrorist judge, Jean-Louis Bruguiere. The other five had earlier had investigations opened against them on suspicion of "criminal association in relation with a terrorist enterprise" as well as "funding terrorism" and "organized money-laundering."
■ France
Artist's sentence confirmed
A self-proclaimed performance artist who attacked a urinal symbolic of the anarchic Dada movement with a hammer had his three-month suspended sentence upheld by a French court on Friday. Known as Fountain and first exhibited by surrealist artist Marcel Duchamp in 1917, the ceramic urinal was slightly cracked by Pierre Pinoncelli's attack in January last year. "It was a nod to Dadaism, I wanted to pay homage to the spirit of Dada," said Pinoncelli, 78, who complained about the "non-recognition of his artistic act." Pinoncelli was put on probation for two years and ordered to pay 14,352 euros ($18,640).
■ United Kingdom
Teenager gets odd tattoo
A British teenager had a full English breakfast tattooed onto his head on Friday -- including bacon, eggs, sausages, beans and a full set of cutlery. Nineteen-year-old Dayne Gilbey, from Coventry, spent six hours under the needle of tattoo artist Blane Dickinson after answering an ad for a willing victim. "My friends and family keep asking me why I'm doing this," Gilbey explained after the brightly-colored tattoo, which resembles a smiling face, was etched onto his scalp. "For me it's just something different which has never been done before," he said, adding: "My Mom is really unhappy about it and threatened to throw me out."
■ Lebanon
Hezbollah claims weapons
Hezbollah acknowledged on Friday it owned a truckload of arms seized on Thursday by Lebanese customs authorities in an East Beirut suburb and demanded their return. The truck had been carrying weapons from the Bekaa Valley, in eastern Lebanon, to the south, Hezbollah said in a statement. Hezbollah officials insisted that the movement of the arms did not violate the group's accord with the government. But Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr said the Lebanese army intended to keep the weapons and pledged to use them against Israel if needed. Lebanese and Israeli soldiers exchanged fire across the border on Wednesday.
■ Brazil
Grandfather fights anaconda
A 66-year-old Brazilian man wrestled with a 5m anaconda for nearly half an hour to free his grandson from the snake's crushing grip, a newspaper reported on Friday. Matheus Pereira de Araujo, 8, would likely be dead inside the belly of the 35kg anaconda if his grandfather had not heard his screams for help, zoologists said. Anacondas, the biggest snakes in the world, are nonvenomous and kill prey by asphyxiation. Araujo was playing with friends near a creek on his grandfather's farm in Cosmorama, 500km west of Sao Paulo, on Wednesday when the snake attacked him.
■ Cuba
Fidel doing well: brother
President Fidel Castro's older brother Ramon said Fidel is recovering well from surgery six months ago, joining his other brother Raul in a growing number of upbeat assessments of the leader's health. "He is doing very well, protected by the socialist saints!" a beaming 82-year-old Ramon said on Friday after lunch with Florida cattleman John Wright, a good friend and frequent visitor to Cuba. "Fidel is recovering well," added Ramon, who looks remarkably like Fidel -- down to the now-wispy white beard. "All of us brothers are very resilient."
■ United States
Albuquerque is fittest city
Flanked by the Sandia Mountain and home to a cottonwood forest that runs through the heart of the city, sunny Albuquerque has been named America's fittest big city by Men's Fitness magazine. On the other side, America's Top 10 fattest cities are Las Vegas, Nevada, up from No. 2 last year; San Antonio, Texas; Miami, Florida; Mesa, Arizona; Los Angeles; Houston, Texas; Dallas, Texas; El Paso, Texas; Detroit, Michigan and San Jose, California. Albuquerque, which touts its recreation, including the 3,200m mountain and the forest that runs along the Rio Grande, was named the 13th-fittest city last year.
■ Iraq
Petraeus new US force chief
General David Petraeus, a 54-year-old scholar and paratrooper, took charge of US-led forces in Iraq yesterday with a brief to push forward with fresh ideas to save a struggling mission. Taking up his new post, the general called on Iraqis to turn their backs on sectarian hatred or "be doomed to continued violence and civil strife." Petraeus was named commander of the 140,000-strong force in a ceremony at his headquarters in Camp Victory, a massive US base on the outskirts of Baghdad. Petraeus, who has a doctorate in international relations, took over command from General George Casey, who has been promoted to army chief of staff.
■ United States
Wiesel assaulted in elevator
Elie Wiesel, the renowned Holocaust author and Nobel Peace Prize winner, was attacked and dragged out of a San Francisco hotel elevator last week, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on its Web site on Friday. Citing police officials, the newspaper said Wiesel was possibly assaulted by a Holocaust denier who claims to have stalked him for weeks. Wiesel, 78, was at the Argent Hotel on Feb. 1 for a conference when he was confronted at around 6:30pm in an elevator by a man insisting that he wanted to interview the author, the report said. Wiesel said he would do the interview in the lobby of the Third Street hotel, but the man insisted on going to Wiesel's room, the paper said.
‘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