INDONESIA
Minister tweets slurs
A government minister who has in the past blamed natural disasters on immorality has caused more controversy by posting anti-gay comments on Twitter and joking about people with AIDS. Minister of Communication and Information Tifatul Sembiring, who is also a member of the National AIDS Commission, jumped into a debate about a gay film festival being held in Jakarta, which was protested by Islamic hardliners and students. “Behaviors which are potentially carrying the virus must be prevented,” he tweeted last week, adding that even the Koran had things to say about homosexuals: “God turned the earth upside down” and “rained them with stones from the burnt land.” In his most controversial comment, however, he recalled a former health minister’s joke about AIDS. “AIDS — Akibat Itunya Dipakai Sembarangan,” which translates as “because they were reckless about where they put their genitals.”
INDIA
Bomb scare grounds plane
A Singapore Airlines plane flying home from Moscow made an emergency landing on Sunday in the eastern city of Kolkata after a bomb scare, an airport official told reporters. The plane, carrying 265 people, was denied permission to land in the capital New Delhi because of heightened security for the opening of the Commonwealth Games. “The pilot changed course of the plane after a bomb alert from Moscow police,” Kolkata airport director R. Srinivasan said. “The pilot immediately informed New Delhi airport about the alert, but was denied permission to land.” The plane was granted permission to land at Kolkata airport, where it touched down shortly before midnight. The passengers were offloaded and security forces searched the aircraft and baggage, Srinivasan said.
INDONESIA
Court finishes appeal review
A court yesterday finished reviewing an appeal by an Australian drug smuggler against his death sentence and will pass its recommendations to the Supreme Court. Scott Rush, a 24-year-old member of the so-called Bali Nine gang, is appealing his death sentence for a 2005 attempt to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin to Australia from Bali. Chief Judge Putu Suika told the Denpasar district court in Bali that the recommendations would be passed to the Supreme Court in Jakarta, which would pass sentence. “We will not announce the judges’ recommendations as we will send them along with other documents,” he said without giving a date for the verdict. Rush’s lawyer said he hoped that testimonies by witnesses, including two top Australian police officers, would help secure a lighter sentence. They told the court last month that Rush was only a courier.
BELGIUM
Oldest known twins turn 100
Sisters Gabrielle Vaudremer and Marie Hendrix turned 100 years old on Saturday, celebrating with champagne, cake and a song from their family to claim the title of the world’s oldest known twins. The pair received a shawl from the municipality and flowers from the Chateau Sous-Bois retirement home where they live as they marked their birthday with about 200 people, including 28 relatives, a retirement home manager said. “They drank champagne and they ate cream cake,” regional manager Damien Berteau told reporters by telephone from the retirement home in Spa. “They were very happy.” The Guinness World Records lists 98-year-old French sisters as the oldest twins in the world.
UNITED STATES
Five injured at Frightland
Delaware State Police say part of a Halloween-themed carnival ride malfunctioned and flipped over, injuring five people. Three adults and two children had minor injuries after Saturday’s accident at Frightland, a seasonal Halloween attraction in Middletown. Port Penn Fire Chief Frank Schoeffler said the five were treated at Christiana Hospital. Fire officials said a section of the Merry Mixer ride came loose at about 8:45pm and flipped over. Frightland manager Deb Hall said the park has not had any serious problems with rides in its 14-year history. She said the rides are operated by an independent company and inspected daily.
JAMAICA
Prime minister sued for libel
A prominent backer of the ruling party has sued the prime minister for libel amid a lingering dispute over who hired lobbyists to try to persuade the US to drop its extradition request for alleged drug lord Christopher “Dudus” Coke, officials said on Sunday. Attorney Harold Brady said he filed the suit against Prime Minister Bruce Golding for telling reporters last month that Brady was no longer a member of the Labor Party and that he had been asked to step down from various government boards. Brady said this was false and defamatory.
VENEZUELA
Chavez to visit allies
President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday that he would soon travel to Russia, Belarus, China and Iran, four countries with which Caracas has sought close political and economic ties in recent years. A bilateral finance bank to which Moscow and Caracas agreed two years ago could be ready to launch on time for the visit, he said. Beijing and Caracas have a US$12 billion joint finance fund and Beijing has said it will spend US$16 billion on a heavy crude well in the Orinoco delta area.
NETHERLANDS
Wilders on trial for hate
Anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders was due to go on trial yesterday for alleged hate speech, even as his popularity and influence in the country are near all-time highs. Prosecutors say Wilders incited hatred against Muslims with remarks comparing Islam to Naziism and by calling for a ban on the Koran. Wilders argues he has a right to freedom of speech and his remarks were within the bounds of the law. If convicted, he faces up to a year in prison. He could keep his seat in parliament. Wilders’ Freedom Party booked the largest gains in national elections in June, and it has agreed to support a new all-conservative government forming this month. In return, his political allies have promised to carry out much of his anti-immigration agenda.
SYRIA
Warrants issued for officials
A lawyer in Damascus said on Sunday that the country’s judiciary has issued arrest warrants for 33 people, including senior Lebanese judges and international officials, for allegedly misleading the investigation into the assassination of Lebanon’s former prime minister Rafik Hariri. The attorney, Fasih al-Ashi, represents an ex-Lebanese army general, Jamil al-Sayyed, who was one of four pro-Syrian officers jailed without charge for nearly four years in connection with the 2005 slaying of Hariri. They were freed last year for lack of evidence. Damascus and judicial officials could not be immediately reached for comment. Al-Sayyed filed the suit against people he says misled the investigation.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At 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
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