■ China
Japan's Iraq plan criticized
An editorial in the China Daily yesterday urged Japan to rethink its plan to send troops to Iraq. The paper said there was no way of telling if Japan's Self-Defense Force (SDF), being sent to help in humanitarian and reconstruction efforts, would get bogged down in combat. Japan's Cabinet on Tuesday approved a plan to dispatch troops to Iraq, a landmark decision setting the stage for what is likely to be the nation's biggest and most dangerous overseas military mission since World War II. "The dispatch of SDF personnel is banned under the peace principles of the Japanese constitution," the China Daily said.
PHOTO: AP
■ South Korea
Samsung accused of bribes
An investigation into illegal campaign contributions widened yesterday with allegations that the nation's largest conglomerate, Samsung, funneled 15.2 billion won (US$13.2 million) to the race of an opposition presidential candidate last year. Prosecutors investigating how much money big businesses gave to candidates ahead of last December's presidential poll alleged Samsung illegally provided the funds to Lee Hoi-chang's unsuccessful campaign, with most of the money coming in the form of neat bundles of bonds.
■ China
Police abuse highlighted
Some 460 people died and 117 were seriously injured due to abuse of power and dereliction of duty by law enforcement officials in the first 10 months of the year, state press reported yesterday. Judicial authorities investigated 1,841 such cases at the county level or above that resulted in economic losses amounting to 650 million yuan (US$78.3 million), the China Youth Daily reported. The number of cases of abuse of power and dereliction of duty by law enforcement officials exceeded that for the same period last year, the paper said without elaborating.
■ Australia
Cops nab their own
Red-faced Australian police investigating two men in Ku Klux Klan hoods who sped past a police camera at twice the legal speed limit making rude gestures admitted yesterday that the offenders were senior constables. West Australian state police confirmed an internal investigation was underway into incident at Bunbury, 180km south of Perth, which a senior officer described as "an embarrassment to this organization." A police camera snapped the pair in August 2001 as they travelled at almost 130kph in a 60kph zone. The car's registration was obscured by a sign bearing an expletive. It turns out the pair had used an unmarked police car and were on duty at the time. "I'd say that the chances of keeping their jobs is very slim at this time," police commander Daryl Balchin said.
■ Australia
Ambassador in hot water
Zimbabwe's ambassador to Australia was hauled before foreign affairs officials yesterday to explain why she accused Prime Minister John Howard of acting like a dictator in the row over the African nation's exclusion from the Commonwealth, officials said. Zimbabwean High Commissioner Florence Chitauro was unrepentant about the remarks after the meeting in Canberra, saying she was defending President Robert Mugabe. "I said I'm here to protect the head of state I represent and the country," she told ABC radio. "The president of Zimbabwe has been called all sorts of names, and I am here to make sure that I take a position."
■ United States
`Sex bracelets' cause stir
First made popular by Madonna and other pop stars in the 1980s, "jelly bracelets" are making a comeback with teenagers and schoolchildren in the US. But this time, there's a twist: In some parts of the country, they're calling them "sex bracelets." As the story goes, break someone's orange bracelet (or purple, in some cases) and you get a kiss. Red, a lap dance. Blue, oral sex. Black, intercourse. And so on. "They've been selling like crazy," says Andy Ball, a clerk at The Alley, a clothing and accessories store in Chicago.
■ United States
Nixon critical of Reagan
The late US president Richard Nixon apparently didn't think much of former president Ronald Reagan, calling his fellow California Republican "strange" and an "uncomfortable man to be around," according to White House tapes. The comments are included in 240 hours of Nixon White House tape recordings from July through October 1972 that were released on Wednesday by the National Archives. "The irony will not be lost on people," said Nixon historian Stanley Kutler.
■ United States
Detainee to see lawyer
An Australian imprisoned by the US military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for nearly two years still faces no formal charges and has no date in court. But on Thursday, 28-year-old David Hicks was expected to become the first among some 660 detainees at the US base to be allowed to meet with defense lawyers. Hicks is one of six prisoners designated by US President George W. Bush as possible candidates for trial by military tribunals. His Australian lawyer, Stephen Kenny, said earlier this week that he planned a five-day visit starting Thursday, along with Hicks' military-appointed attorney, Marine Corps Major Michael Mori.
■ Italy
Statue cries blood
Dozens of people have been gathering to pray before a statue of the Italian saint Padre Pio, which witnesses say has been shedding tears of blood for several days, news reports said on Wednesday. A private clinic has confirmed that the substance emerging from the statue is a man's blood, the ANSA news agency reported. More official tests are due from police labs soon.
■ United Kingdom
More money for Iraq troops
The UK government has provided a further ?800 million (US$1.3 billion) for military operations in Iraq, bringing the total allocated by London for the invasion and occupation to ?3.8 billion. Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown announced the increase, saying the total allocated for "war against terrorism" -- including operations in Afghanistan -- now stood at ?6.3 billion. The cost of maintaining 10,000 troops in Iraq is estimated to be about ?150 million. The Ministry of Defense is under intense pressure from the Treasury to make cuts in its ordinary running costs.
■ France
Press freedom honored
A jailed Moroccan journalist on a hunger strike, a Haitian radio director forced to flee home and a Zimbabwean newspaper ordered shut down were all honored on Wednesday with prizes for defending freedom of the press. Reporters Without Borders honored Ali Lmrabet, serving a three-year prison term for criticizing the king of Morocco, with this year's prize. Lmrabet was convicted in May for insulting King Mohammed VI and attacking the monarchy in articles and cartoons. Zimbabwean newspaper The Daily News was honored for symbolizing the right to inform. Michele Montas, former director of Radio Haiti Inter, was also honored; she was forced to shut down her station in February and flee Haiti.
■ Australia
Wine to be dumped
Australian wine growers plan to dump seven million bottles of wine after binging on red grapes. A surfeit of grapes causing a glut in the local market has left producers with an estimated five million liters of red wine stored in tanks that need to be emptied before next year's vintage is collected late next month. It could be turned into vinegar or poured away. Sarah Dent, chief executive of the Wine Industry Association of Western Australia, said the amount of land planted with vines had increased by 165 percent in the four years from 1998.
■ United States
Director plugs meditation
As director of such dark films as Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive and the TV series Twin Peaks, David Lynch seems an unlikely leader for a world peace campaign based on mass meditation. But Lynch has joined a Washington real estate developer and a former magazine executive to try to raise US$1 billion to bankroll a foundation meant to supply instructors in Transcendental Meditation to ease the planet's stress. "I would just encourage people to look more deeply into this, and the giggles go away, unless it's just a giggle of pure happiness at the beauty of this -- because this plan has been tested ... Every time it's been tested it's reduced crime and violence. It's a real thing and it could be put in place this year and bring peace to Earth," he said.
■ Germany
Cheating is the norm
Almost every second German cheats on or has cheated on their partner, according to a new survey.
A survey of 1,059 men and women aged between 20 and 60 conducted last month by the Hamburg-based GEWIS research institute for Stern magazine showed 51 percent of men and 43 percent of women said they had cheated at least once on their partner. Of the self-confessed cheats, some 61 percent of women and 47 percent of men said they cheated because of a lack of love or interest shown by their partner.
■ France
`Doggy bottles' popular
Restaurants have started offering diners a "doggy bag" for any leftover tipple to stem a drop in wine sales as drink-driving controls get tougher. Wine sales in French restaurants have dropped by 10 percent to 15 percent in the last year as the government cracks down on bad drivers, said Bordeaux wine council CIVB, which launched the initiative. Restaurants across the country are now offering to repackage any unfinished wine bottles by recorking the wine using a special pump to extract air, ensuring it keeps for several days, and slipping the bottle into a bag.
Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form — part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade “zine” magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the nation’s enduring love of paper in the digital era. While speaking to Agence France-Presse at the plant, his hands black with ink, one of the creators, Kazuma Obara, said: “I think [paper] is a medium that engages all five
‘CROSSING THE LINE’: China’s embassy in Seoul criticized US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson, asking if his ‘hostile’ remarks were authorized by Washington South Korea and the US are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea, Seoul’s presidential office said yesterday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China. In a recent podcast interview, US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson described South Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say that he had “truly crossed the line.” The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington might seek to expand the role of US Forces Korea in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key
Australian researchers have trained lab-grown brain cells on a silicon computer chip to play the 1990s shooter game Doom and said they are just scratching the surface of what the neurons could be capable of doing. It is the science-fiction work of biotech boffins at Cortical Labs, who researched and developed the technology that harnesses the workings of the brain’s networking system. Each so-called “biological computer” contains about 200,000 living human brain cells, grown from stem cells that were harvested from blood donations. Having mastered the simple computer game Pong, where a paddle is moved up and down to send a ball
France experienced its hottest spring on record, the French weather service said on Tuesday, after an exceptional early heat wave that also broke highs for the season in England and Wales. Meteo-France said the average nationwide temperature over March to May was 13.8°C — about 1.7°C above the norm, and surpassing records set in 2011 and 2020. “The warmest spring since records began in 1900,” it said in a bulletin. All three months were warmer than average, but the onset of an “unprecedented heatwave” late last month pushed the mercury to highs typically seen at the height of the summer. “Our country had never
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