■ Japan
Compensation offer mulled
Tokyo is considering paying as much as US$400 million to China for the injuries and deaths caused by chemical weapons abandoned by the Japanese army after World War II, according to media reports yesterday. Tokyo's offer to set up a fund for the victims appears aimed at defusing diplomatic tensions before Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi meets Chinese President Hu Jintao (楊建利) at the APEC summit in Bangkok. Beijing has been pressing for compensation since one person died and dozens were sickened by Japanese drums of mustard gas dug up at a construction site in Qiqihar in August. The Yomiuri newspaper said Tokyo would pay up to US$400 million, but would refrain from any reference to "compensation"to avoid reopening the question of war-related reparations.
■ United States
Appeal for dissident made
Members of Congress have urged President George W. Bush to ask Chinese Presi-dent Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) to release a Boston-area activist imprisoned in China on spying charges. In a letter to Bush sent on Thursday, 36 US House members said Yang Jianli's (楊建利) impri-sonment will continue if Bush does not intercede. Yang a Chinese citizen with permanent US residency, has been held since April last year. He was tried Aug. 4 on charges he spied for Taiwan. He pleaded innocent during the three-hour trial. The verdict has been delayed because the prosecutor asked for additional time.
■ Indonesia
Al-Ghozi given hero's burial
Hundreds of militant Mus-lims shouting "Allahu Akbar!" (God is greatest) attended the burial yesterday of bomb-maker Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi in his home town in East Java, a family lawyer said. Activists from the Big Family of Mujahideen and the Indo-nesian Council of Mujahi-deen ran chanting behind the ambulance carrying the coffin to the cemetery, said attorney Wirawan Adnan. Al-Ghozi was killed Sunday by troops in the Philippines three months after he broke out of a Manila jail. The results of an autopsy in Indonesia "indicates that he was not killed during a shootout but in a secret execution" by Philippine soldiers, the lawyer said. Al-Ghozi's body was buried without being bathed and shrouded, as is usual at Islamic burials, because his family believes he had died as a martyr, Adnan said.
■ China
Beijing taking to the sky
China's lofty talk of space tourism may take a while to materialize but, come 2007, Beijingers could be in orbit aboard the world's tallest Ferris wheel. A 210m, US$100 million wheel will soar over the capital's often-hazy skyline by the time of the Olympic Games there in 2008, the English-language China Daily said yesterday. It said the ride was set for completion prior to 2007 in a large park in Beijing. It would overtake both the London Eye, currently the world's tallest at 135m, and one Shanghai plans to build ahead of the World Expo in 2010.
■ India
Mine cave-in kills 10
Ten miners were killed and two injured when the roof of a coal mine collapsed in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh yesterday, a mine company official said. The Singareni Collieries official said the accident occurred in Godavarikhani village about 170km from of the state capital, Hyderabad. This is the second accident for the company in the past four months.
■ United States
General becomes abusive
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declined on Thursday to criticize a senior Pentagon intelligence official who has told Christian gatherings that Muslims worship an "idol" and not "a real God," and instead praised the general's "outstanding" military record. Army Lieutenant General William Boykin, deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and war-fighting support, has used speeches at churches and prayer breakfasts to portray the US battle with Islamic radicals as a fight with "Satan," saying they sought to destroy America "because we're a Christian nation."
■ Canada
Conservatives unite
After more than a decade of often bitter relations, Canada's two conservative parties reached an agreement on Thursday to unite into a single party in an effort to give the governing Liberal Party a competitive race in national elections next year. The Canadian Alliance, a populist party strong in the west, and the Progressive Conservative Party, which is strong in the eastern Maritime Provinces, remain far behind the Liberals in the polls. But the leader of the Progressive Conservatives, Peter MacKay, predicted that the unifying of the right will spark "a groundswell of support" and completely change the political dynamics of the country.
■ Tanzania
Used underwear banned
Tanzania has banned imports of secondhand underwear, fearing the used garments might spread skin diseases, an official said on Thursday. Underpants, bras, stockings and underskirts are all covered by the new rule, which will be enforced by inspectors examining consignments of used clothes entering the east African country. "This is a measure to safeguard human health," said Liandry Kinabo, head of process technology standards at the Tanzania Bureau of Standards. Imports of secondhand clothes from rich nations form a significant part of the economy in Tanzania and various other African countries, where many people cannot afford new clothes.
■ United Kingdom
Grandmother forced to fake
An English grandmother has successfully resorted to the desperate measure of faking copious blood loss to have the surgery she needed to cure a painful hiatus hernia, The Times reported on Thursday. Trizka Litton, 62, from the English Midlands, had waited seven months for her operation, suffering increasing pain before she mixed cranberry juice with crumbled biscuits to simulate her own blood and dialled 999 for an ambulance. "I think it is dreadfully sad when decent, law-abiding people like me are driven to such desperate measures to get treatment. Had I not been underhand, I might be dead," she said.
■ United Kingdom
Two GM varieties banned
Two genetically modified (GM) varieties, oil-seed rape and sugar beet, face a Europe-wide ban after long-awaited field trials showed that the crops damaged wildlife, and would have a serious long-term effect on bee, butterfly and bird populations. Three years of trials growing GM crops alongside conventional crops in the UK, has provided a legal basis for banning the two crops under EU rules. In the case of conventional oil-seed rape, five times as many weed seeds survived, providing food for birds like skylarks, than in the GM field.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
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