■ Pakistan
Border fence started
Pakistan said on Wednesday it had started fencing parts of its western border with Afghanistan to stop cross-border movement of al-Qaeda and Taliban guerrillas. New searchlight towers and checkpoints were also being set up along the Afghan border in southwestern Baluchistan province, military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan said. He did not say how long the fence would be. The Baluchistan border accounts for about half of the 2,450km frontier. The move comes after growing calls from US and Afghan officials for Pakistan to take steps to stem the flow of the militants back and forth into Afghan territory.
■ Indonesia
Commander in court
Indonesian prosecutors brought to court yesterday the commander of Kopassus, the country's top special force, accusing him of crimes against humanity over the killing of Muslim activists almost two decades ago. The prosecution accused Major-General Sriyanto, who was an army captain assigned to the North Jakarta military command when the incident took place on Sept. 12, 1984, of prompting a shooting spree that turned a rally into a bloodbath. The article under which Sriyanto is being charged carries a maximum penalty of death.
■ Japan
Former PMs asked to retire
In an attempt to create a younger, revitalized ruling party, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi yesterday urged two octogenarian former prime ministers to retire and not run in next month's national elections. Kiichi Miyazawa, 84, acquiesced, but Yasuhiro Nakasone, 85, adamantly refused, setting the stage for a showdown with Koizumi in the days leading up to the Nov. 9 poll. The notice came as Koizumi's ruling Liberal Democratic Party was making final adjustments to its candidate lineup before official campaigning begins Tuesday. Koizumi is eager to present a refreshed LDP to voters to underscore his intention to carry out reforms.
■ China
Work deaths on rise
Accidents in China's mines and factories killed 11,449 people in the first nine months of this year, a jump of nearly 9 percent over the same period last year despite a nationwide safety crackdown, officials said yesterday. Fatalities were down slightly in accident-plagued Chinese coal mines, but the number of deaths in non-mining industries rose by 19.1 percent to 5,203, said Liu Jiakun, deputy director of the Work Safety Administration. China launched the safety campaign last year in its mines and factories, which are among the world's deadliest.
■ Indonesia
US to return top suspect
US President George W. Bush promised to return Southeast Asia's top terror suspect Hambali to Indonesia for trial once American investigators have finished questioning him, an Indonesian government spokesman said yesterday. The White House confirmed that Bush agreed to try to make sure Hambali was handed over to Indonesia. "He committed to work with them at an appropriate time, that he would work to make sure that Hambali was handed over," White House communications director Dan Bartlett told reporters in Canberra, Australia, during Bush's visit there. "He did not set a timetable for that. [Indonesian] President Megawati [Sukarnoputri] seemed reassured by that commitment," Bartlett said.
■ United States
Ricin vial discovered
A vial containing the deadly poison ricin was found inside an envelope at a South Carolina postal facility, federal officials said Wednesday. The FBI was investigating but terrorism was not suspected. "Based on the evidence obtained so far, we do not believe this is linked to terrorism but is related to threats criminal in nature," said Brian Roehrkasse, spokesman for the Homeland Security Department. A letter inside the envelope referenced legislation in Congress involving truckers and included an extortion threat against the government, according to a federal law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The envelope carried the typewritten message "caution-Ricin-poison" on the outside, according to a statement issued by the Greenville County Sheriff's Office.
■ United Kingdom
Schoolboys take Viagra
Six British schoolboys were taken to hospital after taking the anti-impotence drug Viagra in their lunch-break, school heads said Wednesday. One of the pupils, all aged between 12 and 13, is believed to have brought the Viagra tablets into an all-boys school in Winnersh, west of London, and handed them around to five of his friends. The school called paramedics to the scene when they heard about the incident which happened last Tuesday and the boys were taken to the nearby Royal Berkshire Hospital. "All six have subsequently been discharged and are not expected to suffer any ill-effects," said a spokeswoman from the local education authority. "All of the tablets have been accounted for. The school has a strict no drugs policy and a pupil will be temporarily excluded for actions which placed other pupils at risk," the spokeswoman said.
■ United Kingdom
Llamas protect owner
Ambulance crews called to the aid of a 72-year-old farmer who injured himself after tripping over a rabbit hole were left powerless to help him Wednesday after his herd of stubborn llamas leapt to his defense. Graham Bailey, who farms four South American llamas, called Milo, Bertie, Horatio and Felix, fell in a field on his farm near Kettering, north England, and was stranded for two hours before a passer-by heard his screams. Attempts to rescue the stricken pensioner were scuppered when the head llama led the animals in a circle and began dancing around to protect him. "The ringleader Milo stirred the others up," an air ambulance spokesman said. "When the ambulance crews arrived they couldn't get to him because the llamas were protecting him," the spokesman said.
■ Canada
GM to rename LaCrosse
General Motors Corp (GM) will rename its Buick LaCrosse in Canada because the name for the car is slang for masturbation in French, embarrassed officials with the US car maker said. Company officials, who declined to be named, said it had been unaware that LaCrosse was a term for self-gratification among teenagers in French-speaking Quebec. GM officials in Canada are working on a new name for the car, a sedan that will go on sale next year to replace the Buick Regal. The mix-up is reminiscent of another GM vehicle with an unfortunate name. In the 1970s, GM exported its Chevrolet Nova to Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, only to be told that Nova translated into "doesn't go."
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
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