■HONG KONG
Mugabe guards not charged
Two bodyguards protecting the daughter of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe will not be prosecuted for allegedly roughing up two photographers, officials said yesterday. Government lawyers have decided the male and female bodyguards hired to mind 20-year-old Bona Mugabe, who is at university in Hong Kong, behaved as they did because they were “genuinely concerned for the safety of Miss Mugabe.” The two Zimbabwean nationals, who have not been named, allegedly assaulted Briton Colin Galloway and American Tim O’Rourke on Feb. 13 outside a US$5 million villa provided for Bona by her father while she studies. The photographers were working for the Sunday Times in London, which was investigating the Mugabe family’s links to Hong Kong. “Miss Mugabe was about to leave the house in a two-car convoy with her security personnel when the complainants suddenly appeared at the scene, and the [bodyguards] were apprehensive for her safety in the circumstances which confronted them,” a Department of Justice spokeswoman told reporters. A lawyer representing the two photographers said a tape recording taken by Galloway and handed to police made it clear the alleged assaults took place, in the words of one of the two bodyguards, “because you were taking pictures.”
■HONG KONG
Third acid attack probed
Police were yesterday scouring CCTV footage for clues as to who tossed a bottle of acid from a building onto one of the city’s busiest shopping streets, the third such attack in six months. The attack in the Mongkok district of the city on Monday evening injured 24 people, including a four-year-old girl, who all suffered from burns to their limbs and faces. The latest incident came just hours after a new surveillance system was installed in the district as a result of the previous attacks, in which 76 people were injured in December and last month.
■JAPAN
‘Love hotel’ sect fined
A religious group called the “Cosmic Truth Society” has been fined for declaring ¥1.4 billion (US$14.3 million) in “love hotel” revenues as charitable donations, media reports said yesterday. The group, which runs at least 23 of the pay-by-the-hour hotels and motels, had declared the revenues over seven years as donations to make them tax-exempt under Japanese law, reports said. Tax authorities have ordered the group to pay a ¥300 million penalty. The organization, called Uchu Shinri Gakkai and based in Tadotsu in Kagawa Prefecture, has objected, arguing it donated the money to “unprivileged children,” the Asahi Shimbun reported.
■AUSTRALIA
TV host bans Ramsay
A TV host said yesterday that foul-mouthed celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay would never again be welcome on her show after he hurled insults and sexual references at her during a food and wine fair. Ramsay is the star of reality television programs Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares — ratings winners for Australia’s Nine Network, which also broadcasts the popular A Current Affair television show, hosted by Tracy Grimshaw. After an uneventful appearance by Ramsay on her show on Friday night, the British chef attended a food and wine tasting event in Melbourne on Saturday. Ramsay unleashed a string of insults at Grimshaw in her absence, calling her a lesbian and likening her to a pig. Later he said he was only joking. Grimshaw, though, retaliated on her program Monday night, calling Ramsay an “arrogant narcissist” and a “bully.”
■UNITED KINGDOM
Fleur Cowles dies at 101
Fleur Cowles, a painter, writer and founder of the short-lived but legendary magazine Flair, has died. Cowles died on Friday at a nursing home in Sussex, England. Her death was confirmed by her husband, Tom Montague Meyer. The cause of death was not announced. The New York Times reported her age as 101, though Cowles had cited various birth dates as much as 10 years later. Her friends included Queen Elizabeth and actor Cary Grant. “I want Flair magazine to be considered my obit,” she said in a 1996 interview. “And that’s what I want to be remembered by forever. Nevermind any other thing I may have done. It’s Flair that really reflects me,” she said in a 1996 interview.
■UNITED KINGDOM
‘Host in the post’
In recent years the communion wafer has been made available in a variety of forms — including patterned, wholemeal, crumb-proof and gluten-free — to satisfy the demands of modern life. Soon, altar bread will become even more convenient and accessible with the advent of the “host in the post.” The new service, from the Open Episcopal Church, is aimed at people who either cannot attend Eucharist, through age or ill-health, or those who have drifted away from church. Although the pre-consecrated wafer is free, there will be a charge for postage and packing. Receiving one host costs £2 (US$3.20); receiving 500 costs £10. The organization said it was taking “care and concern” over appropriate packaging for the wafer, which is no more than 1mm thick, to ensure it remained intact on arrival.
■ROMANIA
Ex-model wins election
The daughter of the president is a jet-set queen and an ex-model better known for her blunders and misshaps, but she vowed on Monday not to disappoint now that she has been elected a Euro-deputy. “The media portrayed me as an uneducated woman but I showed during this campaign that I was worth more than that,” Elena Basescu, the 29-year-old daughter of President Traian Basescu, told RFI radio. Basescu, who ran as an independent, won 4.22 percent of votes in the European parliamentary elections, held on Sunday. Born on April 24, 1980, in Constanta, a resort town on the Black Sea coast, Romania’s first daughter took to the catwalk in her youth to show off her slender figure and brunette Barbie doll look. Late nights clubbing in Bucharest and a turbulent love life ensured she soon became a firm favorite of the Romanian tabloids, earning her the dubious honor of being nicknamed the “Carpathian Paris Hilton.”
■HOLY SEE
Bishops may dismiss priests
Pope Benedict XVI has authorized new powers for bishops to dismiss “errant” priests. The guidelines issued by the Congregation for Clergy — the Vatican body that oversees the priesthood — will make it easier and faster for bishops to dismiss priests who are living with women, have left their ministry or have engaged in scandalous behavior. The powers do not apply to cases of sex abuse, which will continue to be dealt with by a separate body. Cardinal Claudio Hummes told the Catholic News Service that the quicker administrative procedure was prompted by “many situations where canon law did not seem adequate for meeting new problems.” The initiative also covers priests who have attempted or entered into a civil marriage, are having a sexual relationship with a woman or have violated another church or moral law that causes scandal.
■UNITED STATES
Detective charged
A veteran detective was charged with murder on Monday in the slaying of her former boyfriend’s wife in 1986 — a crime that went unsolved for more than two decades as she rose through the Los Angeles Police Department ranks. Detective Stephanie Lazarus, 49, could be sentenced to death if convicted of breaking into the victim’s condominium on Feb. 24, 1986, and repeatedly biting, beating and shooting the woman. Lazarus, who joined the force in 1983, was identified as a suspect through a recent DNA match of saliva taken from bite marks on Sherri Rasmussen’s body, Deputy Chief Charlie Beck said.
■UNITED STATES
Man threatened Obama
A federal judge in Las Vegas has ordered that a man be transferred to Utah to face a charge of threatening President Barack Obama, even as the man’s defense attorney and family pleaded that the suspect get mental health treatment. Magistrate Judge Robert Johnston said on Monday that while 36-year-old Daniel James Murray’s “mental health status seems to be severely compromised,” the former armored car company employee was a threat to the community and a flight risk. Murray’s court-appointed lawyer had argued that Murray was mentally ill and did not pose as serious a threat as prosecutors had alleged.
■UNITED STATES
Kenny Rankin dies at 69
Kenny Rankin, a brilliant pop vocalist and highly regarded musician-songwriter whose stylings ranged from jazz to pop to the world music influences he picked up as a child in New York, has died of complications related to lung cancer, his record company announced on Monday. He was 69. Rankin died on Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Mack Avenue Records spokesman Don Lucoff said.
■UNITED STATES
Highways in bad state
National highways are taking on a shaggier look for the peak travel season. Grasses, shrubs and wildflowers are exploding across median strips and road shoulders this summer as states cut back on mowing to save money. Although there are some environmental benefits, the principal reason for the cuts are financial since states rely on fuel taxes to pay for highway maintenance, and fuel sales have been hurt by the recession and the shift toward thriftier vehicles. “Anywhere there are safety issues — sight-distance issues, known animal crossings — we’ll still mow those areas. But we’re not going to do fenceline-to-fenceline mowing like we do today,” said Jeffrey Caldwell, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Transportation, which just announced it would mow half as often to save US$20 million.
■UNITED STATES
Court upholds gay policy
The Supreme Court refused on Monday to hear a legal challenge to the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The decision allows the Obama administration to continue its slow, low-priority response to liberal activists who want homosexuals to serve openly in the military. During last year’s campaign, President Barack Obama indicated that he supported eventual repeal of the law, but he has made no specific move to do so since taking office in January. The White House has said it will not stop the military from dismissing gays and lesbians who acknowledge their sexuality.
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
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
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