■ Hong Kong
New democracy demands
Hong Kong activists renewed demands for direct elections yesterday, urging the removal of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (董建華), whom they called an enemy of democracy. Opposition legislator James To (涂謹申) said Tung was the biggest obstacle to direct elections in Hong Kong. "At the bottom of his heart he hates democracy," To said. "It's not just that he ignores the issue, he doesn't think it's a good thing." Tung's office did not immediately respond to To's comments. An anti-Tung rally was planned for later yesterday.
■ Indonesia
Corrupt people need religion
Indonesia's Vice President Hamzah Haz conceded that there is still too much corruption in the country. Haz's remarks came a week after a global corruption watchdog, Transparency International, named Indonesia as one of the most corrupt countries. "We are a nation still mired in so much corruption, many bomb attacks, drug abuse and is suspected of being a haven for terrorists," Haz was quoted as saying by <
■ Afghanistan
Prisoners on the loose
Authorities were searching for more than 40 Taliban prisoners -- including several commanders -- who escaped from a high-security prison in southern Afghanistan by digging a tunnel, officials said. Several former Taliban commanders and the brother of former Taliban Defense Minister Mullah Ubaidullah were among the escaped convicts who disappeared without detection late Friday from a prison in Kandahar, Kandahar Governor Yousaf Pashtoon said Saturday. "This is a very serious incident," he said, adding that a province-wide search has been launched for the prisoners.
■ China
China, Japan share history
Relations between Asian giants China and Japan have a history of 7,000 years, state media reported yesterday, citing archeologists from the two countries gathered for a symposium in Beijing. Stone-age people from the two areas kept in contact via a route running from northeast China through coastal areas of what is now Russia's Far East, to the Japanese islands of Hokkaido and Honshu, Xinhua news agency said. The link has been established based on archeological evidence suggesting similar styles were used by artisans in both prehistoric China and Japan, according to the agency.
■ New Zealand
Girls close down restaurant
Three New Zealand schoolgirls with expensive tastes ordered pricey wines, including a bottle of French champagne, when they dined in style at one of Auckland's poshest restaurants before admitting they could not pay the bill. The trendy Mikano restaurant on the harbor city's waterfront has been shut down for 11 days from last Monday by the Liquor Licensing Authority as punishment for serving the girls, who were well under the minimum legal drinking age of 18. The girls, aged 14 and 15, ordered a bottle of wine costing US$156, or more than twice the total amount they spent on food, as well as cigarettes, the Sunday Star Times reported. Confessing at the end of their dinner that they could not pay the bill, they then ordered a limousine to take them home, the paper said.
■ United States
Lego tells Bible stories
Anyone who enjoys stories from the Bible in a somewhat unorthodox setting will find The Brick Testament (http://www.thebricktestament.com) to their liking. Here, surfers can click their way through famous Bible scenes made of Lego blocks, set up and digitally photographed by California's Brendan Powell Smith. Among the scenes already put into plastics are the first two books of the Old Testament (Genesis and Exodus) as well as the gospels, acts, and epistles of Paul. Most scenes are built completely out of original Lego blocks, assures the artist and self-proclaimed "Reverend" of his Web site. Only in exceptional circumstances did he reach for the X-acto knife or Sharpie.
■ United States
Christian makes threat
The US Department of State has condemned an on-air suggestion by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson that the agency ought to be blown up with a nuclear device. Robertson, who heads the Virginia Beach-based Christian Broadcasting Network, made the remark while interviewing author Joel Mowbray on The 700 Club television program last week. Mowbray wrote a book called Dangerous Diplomacy: How the State Department Endangers America's Security. "I read your book. When you get through, you say, `If I could just get a nuclear device inside Foggy Bottom, I think that's the answer.' I mean, you get through this, and you say, `We've got to blow that thing up,"' Robertson said during the interview. The State Department's headquarters are located in Foggy Bottom, a Washington neighborhood.
■ Brazil
Lack of tan ends in arrest
The pale complexion of a man who tried to check two surf boards on an international flight aroused the suspicion of Brazilian airport security officials, who said they found nearly 7kg of cocaine hidden in a package between the boards. Luis Alberto Faria Cafiero, 27, was arrested Friday in Sao Paulo before boarding a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, with a connection to Bali, Indonesia. "He did not look like a person who's always out on the beach," said federal police officer Isaias Santos Vilela. "He did not have a surfer's typical tan."
■ Austria
Vienna made UNESCO site
The UN's cultural arm on Saturday added the center of the Austrian capital Vienna with its many historic buildings to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites to assure its preservation, UNESCO's Francesco Bandarin said. The Austrian capital is "one of the most important examples of historic sites," which include the Habsburg dynasty's imperial palace -- part of which dates back to the Middle Ages -- Saint Stephen's cathedral and the home of Art Nouveau architect Adolf Loos, Bandarin said.
■ Bolivia
Two killed in protest
Demonstrators angry about a government plan to export gas through Chile clashed with the army and police near the Bolivian capital on Saturday, leaving a police officer and a child dead, witnesses and hospital officials said. Protesters shot and killed the police officer, court prosecutor Jimmy Pareja said. Witnesses told local radio stations that a 7-year-old boy was also killed. Another man was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the head and was not expected to survive, hospital officials said.
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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