■ THAILAND
Condom testing popular
Some 1,000 amorous people have applied for 500 positions to volunteer to test condoms for customer satisfaction, a firm said on Wednesday, as part of a campaign promoting safe sex. "We are surprised to see huge interest in our campaign with almost 1,000 applicants wanting to take part," said an official at a Thai marketing firm for condom-maker Durex. The campaign was part of Durex's efforts to promote safe sex as well as giving people "an outstanding opportunity to enjoy their favorite pastime," Durex said in a statement.
■ RUSSIA
Moscow claims seabed
Samples taken by a submarine when it planted a flag beneath the North Pole show that the sea floor there is a continuation of the federal republic's land mass, an official said on Wednesday. The underwater Lomonosov Shelf was shown to be a "structural extension of the Siberian continental platform," said Viktor Poselov, deputy director of the country's institute of maritime geological research, ITAR-TASS news agency reported. The finding was the first to come from study of "geological materials" collected by the submarine on Aug. 2, Poselov said. It will take a year to secure final results, he said.
■ JAPAN
Three murderers hanged
Tokyo hanged three murderers yesterday, the Justice Ministry and media said, bringing to 10 the number of executions carried out since Shinzo Abe became prime minister last September. Another 103 convicts remain on death row following the executions of three convicts in their 60s, Kyodo news agency said. The ministry did not identify those executed but media gave their names and said each had been convicted of multiple murders in the 1990s, mostly in connection with robberies. Tokyo carries out several executions a year, usually when parliament is in recess or as the country winds down in December for New Year holidays.
■ LATVIA
Freiberga plans auction
Former president Vaira Vike-Freiberga is considering using eBay to auction off the wardrobe she wore in office in an attempt to recoup money she spent to look attractive and presidential. Freiberga told public radio in an interview this week that most of her salary during her years in office went on garments fit for a president in all situations. "I literally spent all my salary to take care of myself ... to be able at any time to stand next to the Japanese Emperor, the British Queen, [the Netherland's] Queen Beatrix, any other lady," she said.
■ ISRAEL
Crematorium torched
A crematorium has been torched after its secret location was revealed by a newspaper of ultra-Orthodox Jews who fiercely oppose cremation, police said. The crematorium in Hibat Tzion, a town north of Tel Aviv, has functioned for two years attracting vigorous criticism from the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, which knew of its existence but not its exact location. Ultra-Orthodox Jews oppose cremation on religious grounds. The facility burned down on Wednesday after its location was revealed in an ultra-Orthodox newspaper. Police said they suspect arson.
■ UNITED STATES
Aid workers to be screened
The government plans to screen employees of aid organizations that receive funds from the Agency for International Development looking for possible links to terror organizations, the Washington Post reported yesterday. Outlined in a recent Federal Register notice, the program demands for the first time that nongovernmental organizations file detailed information on key personnel who apply for or manage funds distributed by the federal aid agency, the Post said. The Federal Register notice said the program could involve 2,000 people and "will become effective on August 27," the last day that public comments about it are to be submitted.
■ UNITED STATES
Major indicted for bribery
An Army major and two of his family members, accused of taking bribes from Defense Department contractors in 2004 and 2005, have been indicted in federal court in San Antonio, Texas. Major John Cockerham, a contract officer, and his wife, Melissa Cockerham, are accused of taking at least US$9.6 million in bribes while Cockerham was stationed in Kuwait and responsible for contracts for Defense Department services, including bottled water for soldiers in Kuwait and Iraq. The Cockerhams were arrested last month at Fort Sam Houston, where the major had been reassigned.
■ UNITED STATES
Parrots returned to Mexico
Officials returned 149 parrots and parakeets that were sedated and hidden under blankets or in duffel bags and smuggled from Mexico. The neon-green birds, which had been held in quarantine for up to 18 months at the San Diego, California, Otay Mesa border crossing, were handed over in cages to Mexican authorities on Wednesday. They will be returned to native habitats in southern Mexico or kept for breeding purposes if veterinarians determine they cannot survive in the wild. Strict quarantine rules, partly in response to outbreaks of exotic Newcastle disease in California, have created a thriving black market for pet birds, authorities say.
■ UNITED STATES
Security proposed for farms
Poultry growers are protesting proposed regulations from the Department of Homeland Security that would label propane gas a "chemical of interest" and require anybody with 3,402kg or more of the fuel to register with the agency. At that amount, poultry farmers who use propane to heat chicken houses would have to fill out the forms. "I could think of a lot easier, better targets" for terrorists than chicken farms, groused Richard Lobb, spokesman for the National Chicken Council, a Washington-based industry group. The Poultry & Egg Association and the National Turkey Federation have joined the protests.
■ UNITED STATES
Hunger-striker deteriorating
The health of a hunger-striking TV cameraman at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay has deteriorated sharply in recent months, according to notes released on Tuesday by his lawyer after they were censored by US authorities. Sami al-Hajj, a cameraman for the al-Jazeera TV network, has lost 18kg since he began his strike late last year and has developed intestinal problems and other conditions, according to the notes from attorney Clive Stafford Smith. Al-Hajj, who has been held at Guantanamo since June 2002, seemed anxious and "even paranoid," and had difficulty concentrating or speaking his previously fluent English.
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