VIETNAM
US steps into blogger fray
The US yesterday called on Hanoi to free three bloggers facing trial for propaganda against the state, voicing deep concern at the self-immolation of the mother of one of the trio. The defendants were arrested after posting hundreds of political articles on the banned Web site “Free Journalists Club,” as well as writing on their own blogs, in a case that has been raised by US President Barack Obama. If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison, according to their lawyers. Dang Thi Kim Lieng, the mother of one of the three, died after setting herself ablaze on Monday in front of the local authorities’ offices in Bac Lieu Province, according to people close to the family. “We were deeply concerned and saddened to hear of [Lieng’s] self-immolation, reportedly related to circumstances surrounding the detention of her daughter Ta Phong Tan,” the US embassy in Hanoi said in a statement. Tan, a 43-year-old Catholic former policewoman, used her blog to denounce corruption and injustice in Vietnam’s legal system.
SOUTH KOREA
Seoul rejects terror claims
Seoul yesterday rejected North Korean claims that it is planning terrorist acts as “ridiculous,” and said it would protect Seoul activists threatened by Pyongyang. Pyongyang late on Tuesday said the activists were involved in plots aided by Seoul and Washington to blow up statues of past leaders and stage other acts of terrorism in the North. Offenders “will not be safe no matter where they are and they will not be able to escape merciless punishment,” it said in a statement, which took the unusual step of naming those singled out for possible retribution. “The North is making ridiculous accusations of kidnapping, acts of terrorism and crimes involving some North Korean defectors,” a spokeswoman for the South’s unification ministry said. “None of them have any truth in them and the accusations are not worth responding to.”
UNITED STATES
Sergeant gets jail for abuse
A sergeant in the army was sentenced on Tuesday to 30 days in a military jail for assault and mistreatment of Chinese-American soldier Danny Chen, who committed suicide in Afghanistan. Jurors at a court martial in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, set out the penalty a day after acquitting Sergeant Adam Holcomb on the more serious charges of negligent homicide, reckless endangerment and communicating a threat. The suicide in October last year of Private Chen, 19, the son of Chinese immigrants, outraged New York’s ethnic Chinese community amid allegations that he had been singled out for hazing by his fellow soldiers. Family members and supporters said Chen — the only Chinese-American in his battalion — had faced racist abuse, including name-calling such as “egg roll,” “chink” and “dragon lady,” almost every day of his six weeks in Afghanistan. During the trial, the court martial heard that Chen was ordered to crawl on the ground to be pelted with rocks a few hours before he died.
FRANCE
Law defines sex abuse
The parliament unanimously adopted new legislation on Tuesday, making sexual harassment a criminal offense punishable by up to three years in jail, replacing a law that was deemed too vague. The new law, which also provides for a fine of up to 45,000 euros (US$55,000), was rushed through both houses of parliament to appease public anger as the repeal of the original legislation in May saw all suits going through the courts being dropped.
ITALY
Court rules insult illegal
The nation’s highest court on Tuesday ruled that telling a man he has “no balls” as an insult is a crime punishable with a fine because it hurts male pride in a ruling on a row between two cousins. The case was brought to the supreme court by a lawyer named only as Vittorio against his cousin Alberto, a justice of the peace, for the phrase uttered during a heated courtroom exchange in the southern city of Potenza. “Apart from the vulgarity of the term used, the expression definitely also has an injurious quality,” the male judge, Maurizio Fumo, said in his ruling as quoted by news agency ANSA. The court also found that because the insult was uttered at the workplace with third parties present it could be seen as damaging Vittorio’s reputation. A judge will now rule on the fine that Alberto should pay to Vittorio.
NEW ZEALAND
Dead possum show slammed
A school that staged a morbid fashion show in which children were encouraged to dress possum corpses in colorful costumes has come under fire from animal lovers. The contest, part of an annual fundraiser for Uruti School on North Island, was unacceptable and thoughtless, the New Zealand Royal Society for the Protection of Animals said. The local Taranaki Daily News ran an online gallery of the dead marsupials under the headline “pimped-up possums” reporting an overwhelmingly negative reaction in its comments section, including “sick,” “disgusting” and “psycho.” Uruti School principal Pauline Sutton said she saw nothing wrong with the children dressing up the dead possums, which are considered pests.
UNITED STATES
Anti gay-marriage suit filed
Opponents of gay marriage in California filed an appeal on Tuesday asking the Supreme Court to overturn a federal court decision legalizing same-sex unions. The appeal is one of several on the issue of same-sex marriage the Supreme Court will decide whether to review when it resumes on Sept. 24. Same-sex marriage was briefly legal in California, before the adoption of Proposition 8 in a state-wide vote in 2008. The proposition entered into the state constitution that marriage is between a man and a woman. On Feb. 21 this year, a federal appeals court in California ruled Prop 8 unconstitutional, in a decision that the most recent appeal aims to overturn. Analysts say the nine Supreme Court justices are more likely to take on cases related to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) the subject of litigation in Massachusetts. DOMA stipulates marriage is a legal union between a man and a woman. The law prevents couples in same-sex units from obtaining the same federal benefits — including inheritance rights and tax deductions — accorded to their heterosexual counterparts.
UNITED STATES
Jackson family goes home
Michael Jackson’s mother says she is returning to her family’s Indiana hometown to celebrate what would have been her son’s 54th birthday. An announcement released on Tuesday by a representative of Katherine Jackson said that the events in Gary, Indiana, would also be attended by the singer’s three children. A candlelight vigil is planned for Aug. 29 outside the family’s home on Jackson’s 54th birthday. Details on the events, including a tribute concert and an event honoring Katherine Jackson, are posted on a Facebook page for the event. The Jackson family moved to Los Angeles when Michael and his siblings pursued their music careers, but have kept connections to the town.
South Korea would soon no longer be one of the few countries where Google Maps does not work properly, after its security-conscious government reversed a two-decade stance to approve the export of high-precision map data to overseas servers. The approval was made “on the condition that strict security requirements are met,” the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. Those conditions include blurring military and other sensitive security-related facilities, as well as restricting longitude and latitude coordinates for South Korean territory on products such as Google Maps and Google Earth, it said. The decision is expected to hurt Naver and Kakao
THE TRAGEDY OF PUNCH: Footage of the seven-month-old Japanese macaque has gone viral online after he was rejected by his mother and formed a bond with a soft toy A baby monkey in Japan has captured hearts around the world after videos of him being bullied by other monkeys and rejected by his mother went viral last week. Punch, a Japanese macaque, was born in July last year at Ichikawa City Zoo. He has drawn international attention after zookeepers gave him a stuffed orangutan toy after he was abandoned by his mother. Without maternal guidance to help him integrate, Punch has turned to the toy for comfort. He has been filmed multiple times being dragged and chased by older Japanese macaques inside the enclosure. Early clips showed him wandering alone with
MONEY GRAB: People were rushing to collect bills scattered on the ground after the plane transporting money crashed, which an official said hindered rescue efforts A cargo plane carrying money on Friday crashed near Bolivia’s capital, damaging about a dozen vehicles on highway, scattering bills on the ground and leaving at least 15 people dead and others injured, an official said. Bolivian Minister of Defense Marcelo Salinas said the Hercules C-130 plane was transporting newly printed Bolivian currency when it “landed and veered off the runway” at an airport in El Alto, a city adjacent to La Paz, before ending up in a nearby field. Firefighters managed to put out the flames that engulfed the aircraft. Fire chief Pavel Tovar said at least 15 people died, but
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday said he did not take his security for granted, after he was evacuated from his residence for several hours following a bomb threat sent to a Chinese dance group. Albanese was evacuated from his Canberra residence late on Tuesday following the threat, and returned a few hours later after nothing suspicious was found. The bomb scare was among several e-mails threatening Albanese sent to a representative of Shen Yun, a classical Chinese dance troupe banned in China that is due to perform in Australia this month, a spokesperson for the group said in a statement. The e-mail
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