■MALAYSIA
Policeman dies in sex raid
An off-duty policeman trying to flee religious police carrying out a raid on illicit sex died after falling from a hotel room in northern Kelantan state, police confirmed yesterday. “The 33-year-old lance-corporal climbed out of his hotel room window when religious affairs department officials raided his room in the early hours of Saturday,” a senior police official, who declined to be named, said. He said the man was believed to have jumped or fallen from the third-story window. Under Islamic law, which operates alongside the civil code, khalwat — close proximity between a man and a woman who are not married — is forbidden. Teams from the state religious departments routinely carry out raids in the country’s hotels, entertainment facilities and parks in a bid to catch unmarried couples canoodling or having casual sex.
■AUSTRALIA
Uluru striptease condemned
A woman who performed a striptease on top of the iconic giant red rock Uluru yesterday prompted renewed calls for people to be banned from climbing the important indigenous site, a report said. Alizee Sery, 25, stripped down to a white bikini after climbing the monolith, formerly known as Ayers Rock, in what she described as a tribute to Aboriginal culture. “What we need to remember is that traditionally, the Aboriginal people were living naked. So stripping down was a return to what it was like,” she said. Her comments failed to impress David Ross, director of the Central Land Council which covers Uluru, who said it was an indication of how many people ignored traditional owners’ requests not to climb the monumental rock. Ross said the 346m high climb should be closed.
■INDONESIA
Temblor hits off Sumatra
A moderate 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra yesterday, the country’s seismologists said, but no tsunami warning was issued. The quake struck 152km southwest of Bengkulu city at a depth of 16km at 3:47pm, the national geophysics and meteorological agency said. The US Geological Survey gave a slightly higher measurement of 5.8. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
■CHINA
Bus crash kills 11 mourners
An overloaded bus taking mourners to a funeral veered off a mountain road and plunged into a ravine in the northof the country, killing 11 people and injuring 31, state media reported yesterday. Forty-two people were on the private 19-seat bus heading to the funeral when it careened off the road on Saturday morning in the remote Ningxia region, Xinhua news agency reported. Thirteen seriously injured people were in a critical condition while 18 others were in stable condition yesterday, Huang Luning, head of the People’s Hospital in Haiyuan County, where the accident happened, told Xinhua. The county’s top traffic official was fired after the accident and three other officials were suspended, the report said, without explaining why. The youngest of those injured was seven months old and the oldest 77 years old, Huang said.
■THAILAND
Boat crash injures tourists
Two speedboats carrying Thai and Western tourists collided in the Gulf of Thailand, injuring at least 33 people, while two were thought to be missing, hospital staff and media said yesterday. The accident happened late on Saturday night as the boats were ferrying people to and from a full moon party on a beach on Koh Phangan, a monthly event on the island that is particularly popular with thousands of Western backpackers. Two local hospitals said they had treated 33 tourists between them, with nine still in their care including five Australians, two British, one Irish and one Singaporean.
■PHILIPPINES
Communist guerrillas killed
Troops killed at least two communist guerrillas yesterday in the south and captured a rebel camp containing bunkers, bombs and assault rifles, the military said. The country’s 41-year communist rebellion — one of Asia’s longest-running — has raged on despite a deadline set by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the military to crush the rebels by the end of her term on Wednesday. Army troops searching for two abducted soldiers discovered a key New People’s Army camp near Cateel town in Davao Oriental province. The troops clashed with about 50 guerrillas, killing two rebels, army spokesman Captain Emmanuel Garcia said.
■CHINA
Water defenses repaired
Beijing scrambled yesterday to repair water defenses shattered by relentless rain, state media said, after flood-related disasters claimed the lives of 235 people this month. Jiangxi Province flood control officials said a major dyke that broke last week as the river running through Fuzhou burst its banks is exected to be fixed by today after 1.3 million people were evacuated, Xinhua said. More than 400 workers in the eastern province, backed by heavy equipment, were battling to shore up the dyke yesterday, the report said.
■UNITED STATES
Falling branch kills baby
A six-month-old baby was killed on Saturday and her mother injured by a falling tree branch at New York’s Central Park Zoo. Police said the 33-year-old New Jersey woman was posing with her baby in front of the sea lion exhibit and her husband was taking their picture when the branch fell. The woman and infant were taken to a local hospital, where the baby was pronounced dead. The mother was listed in stable condition. Police identified the baby as Gianna Ricciutti of Union City, New Jersey. It’s the second fatality caused by a tree branch this year in Central Park.
■BRAZIL
Pilot drops pants, detained
A United Airlines pilot was briefly detained at the international airport in Rio de Janeiro after lowering his pants during a security screening, police said on Saturday. Pilot Michael Slynn was asked to remove his belt and shoes as part of a routine security screening on Friday afternoon. In response, Slynn laughed at security guards and lowered his pants to his ankles, said a police spokesman who was prohibited by departmental rules from giving his name. Slynn was detained but released shortly afterward and allowed to fly back to Washington after signing a document promising to appear before a judge the next time he is in the country, the spokesman said.
■UNITED STATES
Girl bitten by coyotes
Police say a six-year-old girl was scratched and bitten by a pair of coyotes who charged her as she played with friends in the front yard of her suburban New York City home. The Journal News reports that the girl was treated and released from the hospital. She had bites on her shoulder, thigh and possibly on one ear. Her back had been scratched. Police in the Westchester County city of Rye, about 50km northeast of Manhattan, said on Saturday that they were searching for the coyotes. Police Commissioner William Connors says they believe the animals may be rabid.
■UNITED STATES
Glove fetches US$190,000
Bidders from around the world bought up Michael Jackson memorabilia worth nearly US$1 million at an auction on the anniversary of his death, including US$190,000 for the Swarovski-crystal-studded glove he wore on his 1984 Victory Tour. The bidding that began on Friday on more than 200 items was “unlike anything we’ve ever experienced,” said Darren Julien of Julien’s Auctions, which ran the auction at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Some items, like the glove, brought 10 times more than their estimated value, he said. “It just shows you Michael Jackson is the most sought after and most collectible celebrity of all time. It was just phenomenal,” Julien told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “People flew in from Asia, Russia, all over. Now that he’s gone, we now realize the true legend we lost,” Julien said. He predicted the sales would easily top US$1 million by the time the auction wrapped up yesterday.
■GEORGIA
Stalin statue torn down
Authorities have torn down another monument to Soviet dictator and native son Josef Stalin. The monument in the town of Tkibuli was taken down two days after authorities tore down a bigger and more famous monument to Stalin in his hometown of Gori. Both statues were brought down in the middle of the night in an apparent bid to avoid protests and media attention. The government says the younger generation favors the dismantling of Stalin’s monuments.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
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
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