■MALAYSIA
Court upholds book ban
PHOTO: AFP
A court upheld a ban on a book about racial clashes that erupted in 2001, ruling on Friday that its publication could upset ethnic sensitivities already strained by recent attacks on places of worship. The Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that the Home Ministry was correct to issue the ban three years ago on March 8, written by K. Arumugam, which recounts clashes between ethnic Malay Muslims and ethnic Indians. The strife killed six people on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur in 2001. High Court Judge Mohamad Ariff Mohamad Yusof said the book ban was justified “based on public order grounds,” according to a lawyer representing Arumugam, who sued to overturn the ban. March 8 is based on eyewitness accounts and academic research. About 3,000 copies were sold within six months of its publication before it was banned in late 2006, Bon said.
■UNITED STATES
‘Physical’ sexiest song
Move aside Madonna and watch out Barry White. The winner of the sexiest song of all time is — Olivia Newton-John with Physical, according to music publication Billboard. The magazine compiled a list of the 50 most popular songs about sex in time for Valentine’s Day with each song given points according to its performance on the Billboard hot 100 chart from August 1958 until last month. While Physical certainly speaks to sex with lyrics such as “There’s nothin’ left to talk about, unless it’s horizontally,” it became known as well-known as a track for aerobics classes in line with the singer’s exercise-themed video. Following is a list of the top 10 of the top 50 sexiest songs:
1. Physical — Olivia Newton-John.
2. Tonight’s The Night — Rod Stewart.
3. I’ll Make Love To You — Boyz II Men.
4. Too Close — Next.
5. Let’s Get It On — Marvin Gaye.
6. Hot Stuff — Donna Summer.
7. Do That To Me One More Time — Captain and Tennille.
8. Like A Virgin — Madonna.
9. Kiss You All Over — Exile.
10. Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? — Rod Stewart.
■MALAWI
Man jailed for rain spell
A court in the drought-plagued country has jailed a man accused of casting a spell that blocked rain from falling on his neighbor’s field, police said on Friday. Chikumbeni Mwanatheu, 35, was sentenced to two months in prison with hard labor after he admitted a charge of witchcraft, police said. Mwanatheu had pleaded guilty to a charge of “conduct likely to cause a breach of peace” after he boasted that he had prevented rain from falling on his neighbor’s field. Magistrate Lameck Mkwapatira ruled he “needed to be given a custodial sentence to let the community enjoy peace in his absence and for his own safety.”
■FRANCE
Art school censors student
A Chinese artist has accused the art school Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSBA) of censorship after it removed her work, echoing a slogan of President Nicolas Sarkozy, from its facade. The exhibit — four banners hanging from ENSBA buildings in central Paris and emblazoned with the words “Work,” “Less,” “Earn” and “More” — refer to “Work More to Earn More,” the ruling UMP party’s slogan in the 2007 presidential campaign. “I find it despicable. In China, we speak a lot about censorship but my work has never been censored in such a brutal fashion in China,” artist Ko Siu-lan said. The French ministry of culture declined to comment.
■ISREAL
Protesters pose like ‘Avatar’
Palestinian protesters have added a colorful twist to demonstrations against Israel’s separation barrier, painting themselves blue and posing as characters from the hit film Avatar. The demonstrators also donned long hair and loincloths on Friday for the weekly protest against the barrier near the village of Bilin. They equated their struggle to the intergalactic one portrayed in the film.
■UNITED STATES
Wife loves stinky Valentine
Nothing says “I love you” like a nearly kilometer wide heart made out of manure. A Minnesota man created the Valentine’s Day gift for his wife of 37 years in their farm field about 19km southwest of Albert Lea. Bruce Andersland told the Alberta Lea Tribune that he started the project with his tractor and manure spreader on Wednesday and finished on Thursday. His wife, Beth, said it was the biggest and most original Valentine she has ever received. She said some people might think it’s gross, but she said it’s cute and “Why not do something fun with what you got?”
■UNITED STATES
N Korea envoy not visiting
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said on Friday there were no discussions or plans “at this point” for North Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan to make a rare visit to the US. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said Kim would visit the US next month, following a trip to Pyongyang in December by US envoy Stephen Bosworth. Crowley also hinted at US disappointment over North Korea’s failure to return to the six-party nuclear disarmament talks, after UN envoy Lynn Pascoe said North Korea was “not eager” to return to the negotiations. “We have heard from the North Koreans that they recognize the importance of the six-party process. What we need from them is to pull the trigger, actually come back to that process,” Crowley said, his choice of words causing chuckles.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Woman poisons lover
A British woman was jailed for a minimum of 23 years on Thursday for murdering her former lover by lacing his curry with poison. Lakhvir Singh, 45, killed Lakhvinder “Lucky” Cheema, 39, because she was consumed by jealousy about his engagement to another woman, her trial at the Old Bailey in London was told. Cheema had been due to wed fiancee Gurjeet Choongh, 21, on Valentine’s Day last year, but three weeks before the wedding, the couple fell ill after eating vegetable curry at their home in Feltham, west London. Singh was found guilty on Wednesday of murdering Cheema and causing grievous bodily harm to Choongh.
■UNITED STATES
Bill Clinton back at work
Former president Bill Clinton was back to work on Haiti relief and doing ‘very well” on Friday, a day after a successful heart procedure to open a blocked artery to his heart that caused him chest discomfort. TV footage showed Clinton walking to his vehicle as he left the hospital in Manhattan and arriving home later in the New York suburb of Chappaqua. “I’m doing very well. I feel very blessed. I was fortunate that you know I kind of had a feeling about it,” Clinton told reporters in televised comments after returning home.
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