■ INDONESIA
Komodo dragon kills boy
A rare Komodo dragon has mauled a boy to death on an island that is part of the Komodo national park in eastern Indonesia, police said yesterday. Mansur, 9, was defecating in a bush area on Komodo island on Saturday when he was attacked by a Komodo dragon, Manggarai Barat District police chief Buce Hello said. "The Komodo attacked him, bit him and tossed him around, and only released him after villagers came and threw stones at it," Hello said. The island, one of the largest in the Komodo national park, has no medical clinic and the boy, a local villager, died shortly after the attack, he said.
■ AUSTRIA
Diplomat freed on bail
Austria freed the son-in-law of Kazakhstan's president on 1 million euros (US$1.35 million) bail on Sunday but he must remain in the country to face extradition proceedings over kidnapping charges in his homeland, officials said. Austrian police arrested Rakhat Aliyev, the former Kazakh ambassador in Vienna, on Friday on an international warrant that also accuses him of running an organized crime network in the Central Asian country, a former Soviet republic. The powerful businessman has urged Austria not to extradite him to his homeland, saying in a media interview released over the weekend that he would fear for his life if sent back.
■ SINGAPORE
Bra contest leads to fine
A Singapore radio station will be fined S$15,000 (US$9,900) over a bra contest that was "exploitative and inappropriate," the city-state's media regulator said yesterday. MediaCorp Radio breached the broadcast code with a March competition in which women had to remove their bras as fast as possible without taking off their clothes, the Media Development Authority said. "The broadcasting of such a contest, requiring the removal of bras by young women, has a negative influence on young impressionable listeners," it said. It said the two DJs involved in the program had also "made sexually suggestive comments on how fast the bras were removed, as well as the color, design and cup size of the bras, and the size of the girls' breasts."
■ INDONESIA
Hardliners attack church
Muslim hardliners stormed a church during a service, smashing images of Jesus Christ and demanding that it be closed down, the pastor said yesterday. Dozens of churches have had to be closed in Indonesia in recent years, and Sunday's attack was the second on the small Protestant church in the West Java town of Soreang since 2005. Reverend Robby Elisa, who heads the church, said around 100 hardliners attacked while Sunday school was in session. He said his wife was beaten and that at least four stained glass depictions of Jesus were smashed.
■ MALAYSIA
Language's name changes
Malaysia's government has changed the national language's name back to "Bahasa Malaysia," or the "Malaysian Language," to promote a sense of belonging among multiethnic communities, the national news agency reported yesterday. Bahasa Malaysia had been the name for the national language since the country achieved independence in 1957, but the government renamed it Bahasa Melayu, or the "Malay Language" in 1986 to better reflect the cultural heritage of ethnic Malay Muslims, who make up nearly 60 percent of the population.
■ TOGO
Sports minister dies in crash
Togo's sports minister and 20 other people were killed on Sunday when a privately owned shuttle helicopter they were flying in crashed at Sierra Leone's Lungi international airport, sporting and airport officials said on Sunday. The helicopter caught fire while descending in preparation for landing at Lungi and crashed on the tarmac at around 8:30pm. One of three Russian crew members survived the crash and was said to be in critical condition. "It was shocking to see the helicopter disintegrating," senior airport maintenance officer Alfred Yelinkeh said. Sierra Leone Football Association public relations officer Chernor Ojuku Sesay said 18 Togolese officials and supporters died in the crash.
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