■ Singapore
Malaysia ties looking good
Singapore's leader-in-waiting is optimistic ties with neighbor Malaysia will improve under new Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, he said in an interview with Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao published yesterday. "Mr Abdullah Badawi's appointment as prime minister gives us confidence, as we have known him for many years," deputy prime minister and finance minister Lee Hsien Loong, was quoted as saying. "We know his character, his approach to problems and his attitude toward Singapore. I do not believe there will be any problem with his appointment."
■ China
Hiring system blasted
China's stringent requirements over companies' hiring of foreigners are being criticized by some human-resources experts who urge the government to make it easier to tap badly needed talent, state media said yesterday. Current standards for assessing the skills and capabilities of foreign nationals are outdated and must be revised, the Xinhua news agency quoted experts saying. Even Microsoft boss Bill Gates would not be regarded as "talented" under the current criteria used by the Shanghai city government, said Shen Ronghua, director of the city's public administration and human resources department.
■ Vietnam
Defense minister visits US
Vietnamese Defense Minister Pham Van Tra left Hanoi early yesterday for a landmark visit to the US, the first by the communist nation's top military officer since the end of the Vietnam War 28 years ago. The conservative general, who will arrive in Washington later yesterday, is scheduled to meet with his counterpart Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for talks on kick-starting military relations between the former foes. Foreign ministry spokesman Le Dung told reporters on Thursday that his visit "will contribute to enhancing mutual understanding between the two armies and peoples and developing US-Vietnam relations."
■ Myanmar
Call for prisoners' release
A UN human rights envoy has lashed out at Myanmar's military government for jailing old and ailing dissidents, and called for the immediate release of hundreds of other political prisoners. "I told the authorities that it is a shame to keep all these people ... It is outrageous to have people of 75 years [of age] in prison after 10, 15 years,'' Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said on Saturday before leaving the country after a weeklong visit to Myanmar. He called for the immediate and unconditional release of some 1,300 political detainees including 35 people who were arrested after a May 30 clash between pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters and a government-backed mob.
■ China
Temples, churches closed
Authorities in China's eastern province of Zhejiang intent on curbing illegal religious activities have closed down hundreds of temples and 10 churches, a Hong Kong-based human rights group said yesterday. The closure of 392 temples and the churches was part of a campaign against "key members of illegal religious groups" waged by Zhejiang's Deqing county, the Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said in a statement. No comment was immediately available from the authorities who were not working yesterday.
■ United States
Transgender teens arrested
Just two months after America's first gay and lesbian high school opened in Manhattan, it has been embarrassed by the arrests of five transgender students for posing as female prostitutes and robbing their clients. Police said the five teenagers from Harvey Milk High School, wearing wigs, earrings and make-up, approached men in Manhattan's West Village. Posing as undercover vice cops, they stripped their victims of credit cards and cash. The handcuff-toting teens worked in teams of two or three. Once they had an interested client, they would flash `Special Police' badges, telling them they could escape arrest in exchange for their money, cards and PIN numbers.
■ United States
Body parts FedExed
FedEx workers discovered a shipment of two human legs and an arm when one of the boxes was found leaking at a company depot, police said. A Las Vegas donor research company sent the limbs to a man who sells body parts to doctors for use in research projects, a police spokeswoman said. The FBI, state agencies and local police determined no laws were broken, she said. The shipment was discovered on Wednesday when one of the boxes was found leaking at a depot in St. Louis. Police refused to identify the man, who was issued a warning for apparently operating an unlicensed home business. It is against FedEx policy to ship body parts, a spokesman for the company said.
■ United States
Revived toddler on the mend
A toddler who was revived nearly two hours after she was believed to have drowned and 40 minutes after doctors had declared her dead was responding to touch and sound, hospital officials said. Twenty-month-old Mackayala Jespersen was in critical condition but responsive Saturday, said Children's Hospital of Orange County spokeswoman Denise Almazan. Mackayala's mother found her floating face down in the backyard pool on Friday morning. Police and paramedics rushed her to Anaheim Memorial Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. Forty minutes later, police Detective Mike Kendrick noticed Mackayala's chest moving. He summoned doctors, who were able to revive her.
■ Guatemala
Presidential elections held
Guatemalans, fed up with crime and unemployment, were choosing a new president yesterday in elections that will determine whether a former dictator has another opportunity at leadership -- something the US government has warned against. General Efrain Rios Montt was trailing a distant third in pre-election polls, which predicted a runoff vote in December between former Guatemala City Mayor Oscar Berger and center-left candidate Alvaro Colom. Human rights groups have accused Rios Montt's former government of carrying out massacres.
■ Italy
Obelisk headed for home
An ancient obelisk that Italian Fascist forces hauled out of Ethiopia in the 1930s is being disassembled in central Rome for its journey home. A major step in the complicated return of the fragile 24.6m-tall Axum Obelisk came Friday, when workers removed a 6.6m-long chunk from the top that weighs about 36 tonnes. The obelisk was originally carved from a single piece of stone but transported to Italy in several pieces and reassembled. It is now being disassembled into three parts for the trip home.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
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