■THAILAND
PM in court over TV show
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej defended himself yesterday against accusations that he broke the law by hosting a TV cooking show while in office, an offense that could force him to resign. The Constitutional Court is scheduled to give its verdict today on whether Samak’s appearance on the Tasting and Complaining show violated a prohibition on Cabinet ministers working for private firms. Samak also faces a defamation suit and three corruption charges, but the cooking show case is the most immediate threat to his power. Samak hosted the show for several months before becoming prime minister and made a few appearances afterwards. Samak, who testified for about an hour yesterday, told the court that he only received an honorarium for the show. “I was hired to appear on the program and got paid from time to time. I was not an employee of the company so I did not violate the law,” he said.
■PHILIPPINES
Bomb alert given in south
A crude bomb went off at a public market, while another was defused near a hospital in two cities on Mindanao yesterday, as General Alexander Yano warned of more bombings in the wake of collapsed peace talks with Muslim rebels. No one was hurt when an improvised explosive went off in a public market in Isulan. The second bomb was discovered inside a shopping bag in Tacurong City before it could explode. “Our investigators believed it was supposed to go off at the same time as the second bomb because the two explosive devices were almost identical,” Major Armand Rico told reporters. “They were made from 81mm mortar rounds and remotely detonated by a cellphone.”
■AUSTRALIA
Shark takes surfer for a ride
A surfer said a large shark towed him out to sea like a “powerful jet-ski” after it became entangled in the leg rope of his surfboard, the Northern Star newspaper reported yesterday. John Morgan, 51, said the thrashing animal dragged him more than 50m after it became ensnared in the rope linking his ankle to the board during his daily noontime surf on Clarks Beach on Sunday. “I had just come off a wave when I saw a large swirl of water,” he said. “I was then suddenly hauled backwards … It felt like I was riding behind a powerful jet ski.” Morgan, a surf shop manager in Byron Bay, said the encounter happened as he was about 200m to 300m from shore. “I think the shark was as scared as I was,” he said. “It totally freaked me out; I’m just glad it didn’t turn around and bite me.”
■AUSTRALIA
Stripper faces rape charge
A female stripper hired to entertain the guests at a bachelor party raped the best man with a sex toy, a Melbourne court was told yesterday. Linda Naggs, 39, is accused of penetrating the man at the party in September. A witness said the man was partly naked and on the ground when Naggs allegedly assaulted him. The witness said the man got up, called Naggs an idiot and asked her to leave. A fight then broke out between the pair.
■NEW ZEALAND
Sign error angers residents
A new city council footpath sign in the Wellington suburb of Highbury has misspelled Old Bullock Rd as Old Bollock Rd, upsetting residents, the New Zealand Press Association reported yesterday. “I’m all for better signage for footpaths, but at least they should get the name right,” said one angry resident was quoted as saying. “This is a real balls up.”
RSS