■ Australia
Support for Queen weak
Fewer than a third of Australians support retaining the Queen as head of state, according to an opinion poll published Sunday in the lead-up to the country's national holiday. The poll results in the Sunday Telegraph showed 30 percent of 1,200 respondents believed the Queen should remain as head of state, while 64 percent wanted an Australian to hold the position. It showed 57 percent opposition to changing the Australian flag to remove Britain's Union flag from the top left corner. A constitutional referendum held in November 1999 resulted in Australians voting 55 percent to 45 percent to retain the monarchy after bitter divisions split the republican movement. Republicans were divided over whether they wanted a directly elected head of state or one chosen by parliament, while conservative Prime Minister John Howard threw his weight behind the monarchists. Queen Elizabeth II is officially head of state of Australia, a former British colony that gained independence in 1901.
■ China
Beijingers getting fatter
One third of all residents in the Chinese capital are putting their health at risk by overeating and under-exercising, state media reported yesterday. Nearly 32 percent of all Beijingers suffer from coronary heart disease, hypertension and obesity, the Xinhua news agency reported, citing a survey of 20 communities by the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Forty-seven percent in the sample said they never or rarely took part in sports, and 28 percent admitted to an appetite for oily food, Xinhua said. The young are leading the way in the city's embrace of new sedentary, high-calorie lifestyles. More than 18 percent of Beijing's primary and middle school students are characterized as obese, nearly a doubling from a decade ago, the agency said.
■ Hong Kong
Filipina maids stage protest
More than 50 Filipina maids protested outside the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong yesterday against their government's decision to raise its charge for processing employment contracts. "Protect migrants' rights. No to increase in government fees," they chanted, forming a human chain outside the office tower housing the consulate. The workers accused Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of exploiting them by raising the contract processing fee from HK$85 (US$11) to HK$287.50 (US$37) starting from next month as a way to fund her campaign for presidential elections in May. "This government is making the overseas Filipinas its milking cow," said Eman Villanueva, secretary-general of United Filipinos in Hong Kong, which organized the demonstration.
■ Japan
Iraqi town stable: minister
The security situation in the Iraqi town where Japanese soldiers will be based appears to be stable despite some recent violence, Japan's defense minister said yesterday. Japan's decision to send troops to Iraq in its biggest and most dangerous overseas deployment since World War II has divided public opinion and thousands of people gathered in Tokyo yesterday for the latest demonstration against the mission. "At the moment, it is not our understanding that the security situation has deteriorated," Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba said in an interview with private broadcaster Fuji Television on Sunday, referring to conditions in the Iraqi town of Samawa.
■ Israel
Prisoner swap `correct'
Israel took the "correct and moral" decision in agreeing to a prisoner swap with the Lebanese Hezbollah guerilla group, Premier Ariel Sharon told his Cabinet yesterday. The decision to approve the deal, whereby 435 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners will be exchanged for abducted Israeli business-man Elhanan Tennenbaum and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers, was a "difficult one," Israel Army Radio quoted him as saying. "Israel has once proven that it operates according to the important value of bringing its sons home," Sharon said.
■ Vatican
Pope rails against media
Pope John Paul attacked television on Saturday for its light-hearted portrayal of sex and said positive images in the media of homosexuality and contraception were bad for society. The pope urged parents to impose limits on what their child watched and warned that modern media could be destructive. "Infidelity [and] sexual activity outside of marriage are depicted uncritically, while positive support is at times given to divorce, contraception, abortion and homosexuality," the 83-year-old pontiff said. "Such portrayals ... are detrimental to the common good of society," he added.
■ United States
Nonagenarian robber jailed
A 92-year-old American man outfitted with a cane and hearing aid has been sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison for a 2003 bank robbery, his third in five years, news reports said Saturday. J.L. Hunter "Red" Rountree pleaded guilty to robbing a bank in Abilene, Texas, in August and was sentenced Friday to serve his time in a hospital operated by the federal prison system in Fort Worth, Texas. Rountree walked into the First American Bank and handed a teller a note with "Robbery" written on it with red marker. When the teller asked if he were joking, Rountree told her, "Hurry up or you will get hurt," police said.
■ United States
Porn added to kid's movie
A couple who says their 4-year-old daughter saw hard-core pornography on a PG-rated movie tape from Blockbuster has sued the video company. The plaintiffs, who were not identified, said the footage appeared on a Home Alone 3 tape rented April 7 from a Glassboro store. The pornographic material appeared for 10 minutes after the movie credits for the 1997 film. According to the lawsuit field in Superior Court, Blockbuster "had a responsibility and a duty to inspect, monitor and ensure the quality and propriety of all video products purchased by its customers." Randy Hargrove, a spokesman for Dallas-based Blockbuster Inc, said Friday that the company depends on renters to return a tape "in the same condition it was given to them."
■ United States
Lottery winner killed by car
A man who won US$57,000 in an Indiana lottery game taped for television died hours later when he was hit by a pickup truck. The "Hoosier Millionaire" featuring Carl D. Atwood, 73, was broadcast Saturday night after his family said they wanted the show to go on, Hoosier Lottery director Jack Ross said. Atwood won the money Thursday during a two-hour taping in Indian-apolis. "I am very thankful," he proclaimed. Hours later, Atwood was hit by a truck as he walked to the grocery store where he bought the winning ticket near his home in Elwood, about 64km northeast of Indianapolis.
Thousands gathered across New Zealand yesterday to celebrate the signing of the country’s founding document and some called for an end to government policies that critics say erode the rights promised to the indigenous Maori population. As the sun rose on the dawn service at Waitangi where the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed between the British Crown and Maori chiefs in 1840, some community leaders called on the government to honor promises made 185 years ago. The call was repeated at peaceful rallies that drew several hundred people later in the day. “This government is attacking tangata whenua [indigenous people] on all
A colossal explosion in the sky, unleashing energy hundreds of times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. A blinding flash nearly as bright as the sun. Shockwaves powerful enough to flatten everything for miles. It might sound apocalyptic, but a newly detected asteroid nearly the size of a football field now has a greater than 1 percent chance of colliding with Earth in about eight years. Such an impact has the potential for city-level devastation, depending on where it strikes. Scientists are not panicking yet, but they are watching closely. “At this point, it’s: ‘Let’s pay a lot of attention, let’s
The administration of US President Donald Trump has appointed to serve as the top public diplomacy official a former speech writer for Trump with a history of doubts over US foreign policy toward Taiwan and inflammatory comments on women and minorities, at one point saying that "competent white men must be in charge." Darren Beattie has been named the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, a senior US Department of State official said, a role that determines the tone of the US' public messaging in the world. Beattie requires US Senate confirmation to serve on a permanent basis. "Thanks to
UNDAUNTED: Panama would not renew an agreement to participate in Beijing’s Belt and Road project, its president said, proposing technical-level talks with the US US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday threatened action against Panama without immediate changes to reduce Chinese influence on the canal, but the country’s leader insisted he was not afraid of a US invasion and offered talks. On his first trip overseas as the top US diplomat, Rubio took a guided tour of the canal, accompanied by its Panamanian administrator as a South Korean-affiliated oil tanker and Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship passed through the vital link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. However, Rubio was said to have had a firmer message in private, telling Panama that US President Donald Trump