GREECE
Country seeks Nazi war debt
Greece has set up a “working group” to scour historical archives and tally how much Germany might owe in outstanding reparations for Nazi war crimes during World War II, the finance ministry announced on Monday. Greece has said in recent years that it reserves the right to claim reparations worth an estimated US$7.5 million, saying it was forced to accept unfavorable terms during negotiations in the 1950s. “The matter remains pending,” Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said. “Greece has never resigned its rights.”
THAILAND
Starving rooftop tigers found
Thai police said they had discovered six underfed tigers in specially built cages on the roof of an apartment building on Monday, arresting a man who claimed he had been planning to open a zoo. Four adult cats and two cubs were found at the property on an industrial estate in Pathumthani province, north of Bangkok, in the raid by police from the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division. A 28-year-old man, who lives in the building, was arrested at the scene and claimed to own the animals. “The man said that he was preparing to open a zoo in the province,” said police Captain Montri Neepasee, who said the animals had not been given enough food and did not look “completely healthy.” He added he believed the tigers would have been sent to Vietnam, where there is demand for “their meat and skins.”
UNITED STATES
Casino tycoon wins case
US casino tycoon Steve Wynn won US$20 million in defamation damages on Monday after he was accused of planning to have a businessman killed and buried in the desert over a bad gambling debt. Wynn was awarded the damages after taking legal action against Joe Francis, founder of the entertainment group Girls Gone Wild. The week-long trial heard evidence from both men, as well as legendary music producer Quincy Jones. Francis first made the comments in court in April 2010 — where they were immune from legal action. That trial was about a US$2 million gambling debt, which Francis allegedly ran up at one of Wynn’s Las Vegas casinos, but he was accused of repeating them once outside court when he was overheard by an online gossip reporter and again on a recent morning TV show.
UNITED STATES
Hackers hit Web site firm
A member of a hacker collective claimed credit on Monday for downing the Web hosting firm GoDaddy, which manages millions of Web sites around the world. Credit was claimed on Twitter by AnonymousOwn3r, identified as the “security leader” of the loosely organized hacker group known as Anonymous. When some news sites blamed the attack on Anonymous, the same individual responded on Twitter by saying: “it is not Anonymous coletive it’s only me don’t use Anonymous coletive name on it, just my name.”
SINGAPORE
UK royals start Asia tour
Britain’s Prince William and his wife, Catherine, arrived in the city state on Tuesday to start a Southeast Asian and Pacific tour marking Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. The nine-day trip through Singapore, Malaysia, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu is to feature sentimental stops as well as the former Kate Middleton’s first overseas speech as she settles into her duties with the British monarchy. The glamorous couple’s first visit will be to Singapore’s Botanic Gardens.
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
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