■ INDONESIA
Body parts left on bus
A woman has been arrested on suspicion of killing and mutilating her husband before dumping his dismembered and headless body on a public bus, police said yesterday. Police said the woman had confessed to the crime, but she had not been charged as the body still had not been formally identified. “Since we still can’t find the victim’s head, we will need to conduct a DNA test to ascertain his identity first,” police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira said. Police have not named the suspect, but she was identified in the Jakarta Post as 48-year-old Sri Rumiyati, from Central Java. She had complained to neighbors that her husband beat her and burned her with cigarettes, the daily reported. Thirteen body parts, including the torso, arms and feet were found stuffed in a bag under a seat on a crosstown Jakarta bus in August.
■ CAMBODIA
Two arrested in drugs bust
A Frenchman and a Briton have been arrested and charged with trafficking 1.1kg of marijuana in Cambodia, police said yesterday. Frenchman Jocelyn Fanget, 42, was trying to buy the drugs from Briton Craig Bullock, 37, when they were arrested on Friday in the seaside resort town of Sihanoukville, said Moek Dara, director of the anti-narcotics department. A Cambodian man, 35-year-old Chanda Try, was also arrested for providing transport to Bullock, he said. “They were arrested at the scene while they were exchanging the drugs,” Dara said. “The court has already charged them with drug trafficking. They are in jail now.”
■ INDONESIA
Protest backs anti-porn bill
Hundreds of demonstrators in Jakarta called on the government yesterday to push through a controversial anti-pornography bill, saying it was the only way to reverse signs of social decay in the world’s most populous Muslim nation. The nearly 300 protesters pointed to everything from racy television ads and movies to touts selling Playboy magazine at stoplights as reasons the bill must pass. “I don’t want my children to go to hell because we allow pornography,” said Siti, a demonstrator who goes by only one name. “Sexually explicit movies, TV ads ... its bad for my family, my sons and daughter.”
■ CHINA
Crane accident kills 11
Eleven construction workers were killed and 12 injured near Chongqing when a crane container carrying them at a building site plunged to the ground, state media reported yesterday. The accident took place on Tuesday in heavy rain at a bridge under construction when a steel cable carrying the container snapped, sending the workers to their death, Xinhua news agency said. Nine workers were declared dead at the scene and two died on their way to hospital, Xinhua said. Eleven of the 12 injured are in serious condition, the report said, and safety officials were investigating the cause of the accident.
■ INDONESIA
Former central banker jailed
An anti-corruption court yesterday sentenced a former central bank governor to five years in prison for misappropriating millions of dollars in bank funds. The court also ordered Burhanuddin Abdullah to pay a 250 million rupiah (US$25,000) fine. Abdullah was convicted of using a foundation linked to Bank Indonesia to pay bribes of about US$10 million to members of parliament deliberating amendments to the central bank law in 2004 and to cover the cost of legal assistance for former senior bank officials.
■ IRAQ
Militant sentenced to death
A court has sentenced a militant to death after finding him guilty of killing three US soldiers in 2006, the US military said in a statement yesterday. The Central Criminal Court of Iraq unanimously charged Ibrahim Karim Mohammed Saleh al-Qaraghuli with “acts of terrorism in the murder of three American military personnel in June 2006,” the statement said. It said two other accomplices in the crime were found not guilty and charges against them were dismissed. Specialist David Babineau, Private First Class Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker, from the 101st Airborne Division, were killed in the town of Yusifiya on June 16, 2006.
■ ISRAEL
Father of 14 killed
Soldiers shot and killed a 68-year-old Palestinian yesterday morning in the village of Yamoun, west of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, Voice of Palestine radio said. It said the soldiers entered the village and surprised Muhammad Abahreh, who emerged from his house to check on a commotion he heard outside. The radio said Abahreh, who supports a family of 14, was shot in the back and left to bleed for two hours until the soldiers ended their patrol and allowed a Palestinian ambulance to pick him up. Abahreh’s son, Warrad, was also killed by Israeli soldiers three years ago.
■ ISRAEL
Army scam discovered
Hundreds of soldiers have avoided duty by resorting to the services of unscrupulous Arab Israeli doctors who issue bogus certificates of illness, police said on Tuesday. The scam, which cost a mere 5 shekels (US$1.33) per “sick day,” required only a quick visit to the doctor or even just a telephone call, the source said. Military police have arrested five doctors and three nurses in connection with the business, which was even advertised discreetly on the Internet.
■ RUSSIA
Two Jesuits murdered
A Catholic priest said two members of the Jesuit order have been murdered in Moscow. Reverend Igor Kowalewski said their bodies were found late on Tuesday in an apartment in downtown Moscow. Kowalewski, the general secretary of the Russian Bishops Conference, said yesterday the priests died of numerous stab wounds. He said police have launched an official probe.
■ SOUTH AFRICA
Lassa-type virus kills four
The number of deaths from a new Lassa-type virus has risen to four, doctors confirmed on state radio yesterday. The latest death was a woman who died from the arenavirus, which can cause internal bleeding and mainly affects rodents. The first victims of the new virus were a woman from Zambia and her carers. The symptoms of the virus are similar to Lassa fever: constant fever, infections and rashes.
■ NETHERLANDS
Bicycle thief appeal fails
The Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a bicycle thief who stole a decoy bike planted by police. Lawyers for the convicted thief — a repeat offender who was sentenced to 22 days in jail — had argued that leaving the bike unlocked amounted to entrapment. But the five-judge court has rejected that, saying the man wasn’t personally targeted. His name has not been released. Police arrested him in Deventer in March 2006 after he took a bike they left near a train station that was being plagued by thefts. Tuesday’s court ruling said placing an unlocked decoy bike didn’t make the suspect do anything he had not intended doing beforehand.
■ BRAZIL
Official sex tips go too far
A government Web site for prostitutes that suggests they be prepared to perform fantasies and “offer specialties,” among other tips, is going to be toned down, an official said on Tuesday. Prostitution is legal in the country and sex worker advocacy groups say the Labor Ministry Web site aims to promote the rights of prostitutes. But critics say the site goes too far, and its contents have become fodder for local newspapers. The site contains such tips as: “demonstrate an ability to perform erotic fantasies,” “seduce with affectionate nicknames” and, in a nod to the globalized marketplace, “demonstrate a capacity to communicate in a foreign language.” A ministry spokeswoman said the changes would be made by the end of the year.
■ UNITED STATES
Democrats sorry for typo
A flier sent by Michigan Democrats — featuring a photo of presidential contender Senator Barack Obama and urging voters to submit an absentee ballot application — includes a telephone number connecting callers to a phone sex line. State party spokeswoman Liz Kerr said on Tuesday a typo on the flier from the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee directed people with questions to call an incorrect number. Kerr says the party apologizes for the misprint. The error was reported by WJBK-TV in Detroit. The flier included two absentee ballot applications, as well as photos of Democratic Senator Carl Levin, who is seeking re-election, and Diane Hathaway, the party’s nominee for the Michigan Supreme Court.
■ VENEZUELA
Chavez critic under scrutiny
The government opened a corruption probe of a leading opponent of President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday with less than a month to go before nationwide elections. Attorney General Luisa Ortega said prosecutors should decide whether to file criminal charges against Governor Manuel Rosales by year’s end, throwing up a cloud that would remain through election day on Nov. 23. Rosales, a two-time governor, is running for mayor of the nation’s second-largest city, Maracaibo. Rosales denied any wrongdoing and accused Chavez and his allies of raising false charges to prevent his victory next month.
■ UNITED STATES
Police kill man by mistake
A newlywed killed by police early on Tuesday morning after he stepped outside his home in Anaheim, California, to confront suspected burglars was shot in a case of mistaken identity, police said. Police Chief John Welter said the officer ran into Julian Alexander, mistook him for one of four burglary suspects and shot him. Welter would not release the officer’s name, but said he was a 10-year veteran of the department. The officer was placed on paid leave pending an investigation.
■CANADA
Workers stage rat protest
Customs officers in Sault Ste Marie are protesting what they say is a long-running and severe problem with mice at their International Bridge headquarters. About a dozen border guards walked off the job on Monday, saying the Canada Border Services Agency failed to respond to the rodent infestation. Managers filled in for the missing members of the Customs Excise Union Local 26. Union representative Sandy Lucio met with port chief of operations James Cameron, and the employees then resumed some of their duties at the Ontario-Michigan border crossing. An agency representative says a contractor began work cleaning up the inspection booths on Tuesday.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
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