■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.
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