■AUSTRALIA
Jingle sounds sun alarm
Health officials have devised a novel way to warn beachgoers of the dangers of the sun — play a jingle to remind them to apply sunscreen. As Australians embark on what promises to be another extremely hot summer, the Cancer Council of New South Wales yesterday introduced the five-second musical ditty to convince people to abandon tanning and wear skin protection. It is to be played at beaches in Cronulla in Sydney’s south and Gosford to the north at regular intervals during the day this summer in a bid to cut down on dangerous sun exposure by young people. “Many people don’t realize sun damage in the first 15 years of life greatly increases the risk of skin cancer in later life,” skin cancer prevention expert Sofia Khayech said.
■CAMBODIA
Thaksin to visit
Thailand’s fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was expected in Cambodia yesterday to meet a Thai man jailed for spying on him last month, a government spokesman said. A visit by Thaksin to Cambodia last month caused a diplomatic row when Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen refused to extradite the Thai tycoon to Thailand to serve a two-year jail term for graft. Thai national Siwarak Chothipong, 31, was due to be released from prison today after Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni issued a pardon. He was jailed for seven years for supplying Thaksin’s flight schedule to the Thai embassy.
■CHINA
Twelve dead in shootings
State media say authorities in central China have captured a man who went on a shooting spree with a shotgun, killing 12 people including his father. The Xinhua news agency says Liu Aibing, 34, was apprehended yesterday in Gaoming town in Hunan Province, a day after he went on a rampage with his shotgun. It says Liu also seriously injured two other people and set six homes on fire. An officer at Anhua County’s Public Security Bureau confirmed that Liu was taken into custody after police surrounded him. Xinhua says the dead included his father and several other close family members. It says Liu had a long history of mental illness.
■INDONESIA
Iranian ‘drug mules’ caught
Authorities have arrested seven Iranians accused of smuggling methamphetamine in their stomachs only two days after seven other Iranians were detained in similar circumstances. Jakarta airport customs chief Bahaduri Wijayanta said the latest seven arrived on two flights on Friday from Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. They were allegedly carrying almost 3kg of the illicit drug internally. On Wednesday, police said they arrested seven Iranians flying to Bali carrying at least 2.5kg of methamphetamine in their stomachs.
■INDIA
Clashes injure 60
Sixty people were hurt on Friday as police in Kashmir clashed with demonstrators in the region’s summer capital Srinagar, police and doctors said. Police fired tear gas and live rounds to disperse hundreds of anti-India protesters. Forty demonstrators and 20 policemen were injured, police and doctors said. Among the injured was a young boy who sustained a bullet wound. The demonstrations were in support of a strike call by hard-line separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani to protest the “illegal occupation of land by the Indian army” in Kashmir.
■FRANCE
Hallyday doctor attacked
A surgeon accused of botching an operation on Johnny Hallyday was mugged in Paris, his lawyer said on Saturday, as the veteran rock idol lay in a coma in a Los Angeles hospital with his family at his bedside. Stephane Delajoux, who operated on the “French Elvis” for a slipped disc on Nov. 26, was attacked by two hooded men late on Friday in the well-heeled 17th arrondissement, lawyer David Koubbi said. “Dr Delajoux was attacked extremely violently in the sight of his children,” Koubbi said. Koubbi called for restraint on the part of the media, which have highlighted Delajoux’s checkered medical past, including fines for malpractice, despite being a favorite with stars. He said his client had laid a complaint and requested police protection.
■ISRAEL
Militants fire rockets
The military says an Israeli woman has been stabbed by a Palestinian in the West Bank and Gaza militants have fired two rockets at Israel. The violence follows the torching of a mosque near the West Bank town of Nablus on Friday. Jewish extremists are suspected in that case, though no arrests have been made. The military says the woman was slightly to moderately wounded in the attack late on Saturday. The rockets fired yesterday caused no injuries or damage.
■UNITED KINGDOM
‘Whack A Banker’ is a hit
A new “Whack A Banker” amusement arcade game is proving so popular that the mallets used to clobber them are wearing out fast, its creator said. Inventor Tim Hunkin’s machine at his seaside pier arcade in Southwold, eastern England, offers punters a “truly rewarding banking experience.” “You pay 40 pence [US$0.65] to hit as many bankers as you can in 30 seconds as their heads pop up,” he said of the game based on the amusement arcade classic “Whack A Mole.” “It’s proving very popular. I keep having to replace worn-out mallets,” he said. “The bankers are bald and all look the same because that’s how I think people see bankers — as faceless.”
■ISRAEL
Freighter sinks in storm
A freighter heading to an Israeli port sank in stormy weather in international waters near the Lebanese coast, and six of its 12 crew members were rescued, officials said on Saturday. The ship was headed from Greece to the northern Israeli port of Haifa when it sank, the Israeli military said, adding that no foul play was suspected. Israel’s military sent rescue helicopters, a navy ship and divers to search for survivors. A UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon also sent search teams.
■RUSSIA
Lawyer disappears
A lawyer working for one of the suspects arrested in the affair of the hijacked Arctic Sea has gone missing, one of her colleagues told the Interfax agency on Saturday. Elena Romanova-Lebedeva has not been seen or heard from since she left her Moscow office on Wednesday towards midnight, fellow lawyer Omar Akhmedov told the agency. “We have searched everywhere and reported her disappearance to the police,” said Akhmedov, who represents another of the suspects. The Arctic Sea was hijacked in July in circumstances that are still not clear. But Akhmedov said Romanova-Lebedeva had also been working on several major murder cases.
■UNITED STATES
Obama wants better gifts
The White House may be bedecked with baubles and awash with Christmas cheer, but President Barack Obama appears a tad disgruntled with Santa. “When it comes to gifts, “I give nicer stuff than I get,” Obama said half-jokingly in a interview to air on ABC television yesterday. Asked about Christmas giving by Oprah Winfrey, Obama’s candidness prompted a nudge from first lady Michelle Obama. “No way!” she shot back, “I gave you good gifts last year.” But Obama ceded little ground: “Absolutely — aw, come on please,” he said pointing to a double-stranded pearl necklace that was a gift for their wedding anniversary. “Who gave you this?” he asked with a grin.
■UNITED STATES
Filmmakers in hot water
Detroit police have twice mistaken film crews shooting scenes involving weapons with criminals in recent months. The Detroit News reported on Saturday that in both cases the moviemakers hadn’t obtained the proper permits from the city. Four crewmembers from Detroit-based B.U.P. Films were in court on Thursday after receiving tickets for possession and brandishing facsimile weapons during filming Nov. 5. A hearing was set for Feb. 18. B.U.P. Films production assistant DeAndre King says the crew didn’t think it needed a permit to film at a private home.
■UNITED STATES
Creater of 50-star flag dies
Robert Heft, who is credited with designing and sewing the first 50-star American flag, has died at age 67. Wakeman Funeral Home in Saginaw, Michegan, says Heft died Saturday. A cause of death wasn’t immediately available. Heft made the flag in 1958 as part of a high school history project. He spent more than 12 hours sewing the design on his mother’s Singer sewing machine. Former president Dwight Eisenhower chose Heft’s design to replace the 48-star flag.
■UNITED STATES
Writer arrested at border
Customs and Border Protection officers arrested a Canadian science fiction writer after he became aggressive and refused to comply during an inspection, a government official said on Saturday. Peter Watts of Toronto was detained Tuesday in Port Huron, Michigan, as he was trying to cross into Canada, Customs spokesman Ron Smith said. Watts’ vehicle was selected for inspection. Smith said Watts got out of the vehicle and became “noncompliant” and “aggressive,” so officers detained him. On Watts’ blog, comments attributed to him on Friday denied he had been aggressive and said he had been punched in the face during the arrest. The US attorney’s office declined to prosecute and that the case was turned over to city police in Port Huron, where Watts was charged with assaulting, obstructing and resisting a police officer.
■UNITED STATES
Houston elects gay mayor
Houston became the largest US metropolis on Saturday to elect an openly gay mayor as city controller Annise Parker claimed a solid victory over her rival. Election data showed that Democrat Parker, 53, had 53 percent of the vote and opponent Gene Locke, also a Democrat, had 47 percent. Parker and Locke competed in the runoff after winning more votes than two other candidates in the Nov. 3 election. Several smaller cities have openly gay mayors, including Portland, Oregon; Providence, Rhode Island; and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Parker has worked in the Houston city administration for the last 11 years — first on the city council, and for the last five years as city controller.
Yemen’s separatist leader has vowed to keep working for an independent state in the country’s south, in his first social media post since he disappeared earlier this month after his group briefly seized swathes of territory. Aidarous al-Zubaidi’s United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces last month captured two Yemeni provinces in an offensive that was rolled back by Saudi strikes and Riyadh’s allied forces on the ground. Al-Zubaidi then disappeared after he failed to board a flight to Riyadh for talks earlier this month, with Saudi Arabia accusing him of fleeing to Abu Dhabi, while supporters insisted he was
The Chinese Embassy in Manila yesterday said it has filed a diplomatic protest against a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman over a social media post that included cartoonish images of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela and an embassy official had been trading barbs since last week over issues concerning the disputed South China Sea. The crucial waterway, which Beijing claims historic rights to despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, has been the site of repeated clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels. Tarriela’s Facebook post on Wednesday included a photo of him giving a
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday announced a deal with the chief of Kurdish-led forces that includes a ceasefire, after government troops advanced across Kurdish-held areas of the country’s north and east. Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said he had agreed to the deal to avoid a broader war. He made the decision after deadly clashes in the Syrian city of Raqa on Sunday between Kurdish-led forces and local fighters loyal to Damascus, and fighting this month between the Kurds and government forces. The agreement would also see the Kurdish administration and forces integrate into the state after months of stalled negotiations on
‘MOBILIZED’: While protesters countered ICE agents, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz activated the state’s National Guard to ‘support the rights of Minnesotans’ to assemble Hundreds of counterprotesters drowned out a far-right activist’s attempt to hold a small rally in support of US President Donald Trump’s latest immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday, as the governor’s office announced that National Guard troops were mobilized and ready to assist law enforcement, although not yet deployed to city streets. There have been protests every day since the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ramped up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul by bringing in more than 2,000 federal officers. Conservative influencer Jake Lang organized an anti-Islam, anti-Somali and pro-US Immigration and Customs Enforcement
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