■LAOS
Flu makes a comeback
Health officials confirmed six new swine-flu infections in a southern province where residents are still suffering from the impact of Typhoon Ketsana, the Vientiane Times reported yesterday. The ministry said another 11 people in Attapeu province were suspected of suffering from the potentially deadly H1N1 virus, it said. The affected people were mostly students attending schools close to the Vietnamese and Cambodian borders, the Vientiane Times said. With the addition of the confirmed infections from Attapeu province, the country’s total number of swine flu cases edged up to 275 with two deaths, the ministry said.
■NEPAL
Official slaps civil servant
Deputy Agriculture Minister Karima Begam yesterday admitted slapping a senior civil servant in the face to teach him a lesson after he sent an old car to pick her up during an official visit. Begam said she grabbed Parsa Durga Prasad Bhandari, the chief district officer (CDO), by the collar and hit him repeatedly across the face after he failed to send the car she had requested. “I beat the CDO because he ignored my orders by sending an old vehicle,” Begam said. “When I asked him about the vehicle, he tried to argue with me and even pointed fingers at me. I slapped him four times in order to make him more aware of his duties and responsibilities,” she said. Bhandari said Begam “had asked for a Scorpio jeep which was not available at that time. I had sent a Mitsubishi jeep which was recently repaired and was in good condition but the minister did not like it.”
■MALAYSIA
Sedition trial halted
A court yesterday temporarily halted the trial of a prominent anti-government blogger accused of sedition because authorities could not track him down. Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin went into hiding in April, nearly a year after he was charged with sedition over an article he wrote that allegedly implied the prime minister was involved in the murder of a Mongolian woman. Raja Petra, who runs a popular news Web site called “Malaysia Today,” is believed to have fled abroad. Yesterday, he told The Associated Press via Skype from an unknown location that he would not resurface because he believed the authorities were determined to jail him.
■JAPAN
Ozawa criticizes Christianity
A powerful member of the ruling party criticized Christianity as an “exclusive” religion that is weighing down Western society. “Christianity and Islam are both exclusive. Civilizations based on exclusive Christianity are reflected in Western societies that have ground to a halt,” Democratic Party of Japan Secretary-General Ichiro Ozawa said on Tuesday. He made the comments at a meeting with the chairman of the the Japan Buddhist Federation. Buddhism, he said, teaches individuals how they should exist within nature, and is the basis for the thinking and way of life of Japanese people.
■NEW ZEALAND
Kiwis won’t offer asylum
New Zealand does not want to offer a new home to 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers involved in a stand-off with Australian authorities, the government said on Tuesday. “We’re wary of rewarding actions that seek to jump the queue for entry to New Zealand. Sending the wrong message won’t help solve similar situations that may arise in the near future,” Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman said. “For that reason the New Zealand government would be unlikely to offer settlement to asylum seekers aboard the Oceanic Viking.”
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