INDONESIA
Man steals human remains
A man has admitted stealing human remains from graves to use in black-magic spells he believed would give him the power of flight and invisibility, police said on Monday. Police detained Resi Rokhis Suhana, 27, on Java on Sunday following reports that bones were stolen from graves, including those of twin babies. He was arrested in a banana plantation in Cilacap district in possession of bones, ripped white shrouds of the type used in Muslim burials, women’s underwear and a sickle, police said. “In preliminary questioning, he admitted robbing the graves to perfect a magical power called ‘Ultimate Magical Knight,’” police chief Andry Triaspoetra said. Following his arrest, Suhana was admitted to hospital to evaluate his mental health. Some still believe in black magic in the Muslim-majority nation. In 2003, a man was arrested for eating the flesh of a freshly buried old woman in what he believed was part of a ritual to make him invincible.
NEW ZEALAND
Kiwi probably an Aussie
In a finding likely to be a bitter blow for many New Zealanders, researchers have found the country’s iconic kiwi bird probably descended from an ancestor that flew in from Australia. Paleontologist Trevor Worthy of Adelaide’s Flinders University said fossilized remains suggested the flightless bird did not evolve from the extinct giant moa, as has long been assumed. Instead, he said an ancestor of the kiwi dating back 20 million years discovered in the South Island was more closely related to another giant flightless bird, the emu, which is still common in Australia. Worthy said it was not uncommon for birds to “jump” from Australia to New Zealand. New Zealanders have long complained about their trans-Tasman neighbors appropriating everything from champion race horse Phar Lap to actor Russell Crowe, and any Australian claim to the kiwi is likely to intensify the rivalry.
THAILAND
Bangkok mall tops list
Sure, the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal and the Grand Canyon have inspired many photographs, but a shopping mall in Bangkok has claimed this year’s crown as the world’s most photographed location on Instagram. In its top 10 year-end list, the photo-sharing app dubbed Siam Paragon as the planet’s most “Instagrammed” spot this year. It edged out No. 2 Times Square and No. 3 Disneyland, California, on the list that also includes New York’s Central Park and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Paris’ iconic steel tower got bumped off the list. The luxury mall is not exactly a world-famous landmark, but the mall is a trendy meeting place that claims to have more than 100,000 visitors a day. Suthasinee Tilokruanochai said her friends upload multiple pictures from every visit to the mall. “If you go to the Eiffel Tower, you go once. You take a picture and you leave,” said Suthasinee, a 22-year-old engineering student. “We come here every day after school.”
SERBIA
Suspected thieves blown up
Two suspected scrap-metal thieves trespassing on a testing field for an ammunition factory were killed when they set off a landmine, police said on Monday. The bodies of two men were found early on Monday, police said, refusing to reveal more details pending an investigation. Local media reported a group of four men cut through a fence into the testing ground of the Sloboda factory near the central town of Cacak late on Sunday, looking for unused ammunition to be sold as scrap metal. The two others reportedly fled after seeing their colleagues blown up.
ITALY
Mafia pushing poinsettias
Police on Monday arrested four suspected mafia members who were forcing shopkeepers to buy Christmas flowers for up to 100 euros (US$138) each to raise money for jailed mobsters. The red poinsettia plants — a traditional Christmas gift in the country — usually sell for 3 or 4 euros and business owners who did not buy them at the vastly inflated prices faced retribution, the police said. The four are alleged to belong to the Mazzarella clan of the Camorra. Their victims were shopkeepers in a busy shopping area in the center of Naples. The investigation has been ongoing since Christmas 2011. The Christmas season is a peak time for mafia protection racket demands, although a devastating recession that has hurt many businesses has made it much harder to drum up revenue.
ZIMBABWE
Customers storm bank
Angry depositors forced their way into a bank and attacked a manager in central Harare on Monday after the bank ran out of cash, witnesses said. A witness, who refused to identify herself, said the depositors were waiting in a line outside the bank when a quarrel broke out with the manager at Allied Bank, one of several battling to pay out deposits. “The people got angry and started shouting at the manager and kicked the door of the banking hall where the manager had retreated. They scattered when a [bank] security [guard] fired tear gas.” Another witness said he heard angry shouts and some thuds while he was standing across the road. Allied Bank chief executive Stephen Gwasira apologized for the incident, blaming it on “prevailing cash shortages” and said the bank was “making aggressive efforts to address the challenges.” In recent weeks the bank has been limiting daily cash withdrawals, resulting in lines at most of its branches.
UNITED STATES
X-ray finds stolen necklaces
A Florida man faces burglary and tampering charges after an X-ray machine revealed a dark mass near his stomach while he was being booked into jail. Sheriff’s officials say the mass turned out to be two necklaces stolen during a burglary on Tuesday last week. Joseph Ramos, 21, was arrested the following day when he was stopped for driving a vehicle that was stolen during the burglary. Various items from the home were inside the vehicle. When Ramos stepped on the SecurPass X-ray machine at the jail, the dark spot was identified as necklaces. He underwent surgery to remove them. The owner later identified the items.
URUGUAY
President mulls adoptions
President Jose Mujica is planning to adopt more than 30 children so he can teach them how to farm, local media reported over the weekend. The down-to-earth leader, who eschewed the presidential palace in favor of his small farmhouse and donates most of his money to social projects, told journalists he wants to raise his adopted family when his term expires in March 2015. Mujica, 78, and his wife, Senator Lucia Topolansky, live on the outskirts of Montevideo. They married in 2005 and do not have children. He has long planned to establish a school on his farm. “I have the goal of getting together 30 or 40 poor kids and bringing them to live with me,” El Observador newspaper quotes him saying. Describing the role of state leader as a “heavy coat” that he must wear, Mujica said he hoped to go back to growing chrysanthemums and other flowers, his previous occupation before winning office.
‘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
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
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in