■ 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.
Yemen’s separatist leader has vowed to keep working for an independent state in the country’s south, in his first social media post since he disappeared earlier this month after his group briefly seized swathes of territory. Aidarous al-Zubaidi’s United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces last month captured two Yemeni provinces in an offensive that was rolled back by Saudi strikes and Riyadh’s allied forces on the ground. Al-Zubaidi then disappeared after he failed to board a flight to Riyadh for talks earlier this month, with Saudi Arabia accusing him of fleeing to Abu Dhabi, while supporters insisted he was
The Chinese Embassy in Manila yesterday said it has filed a diplomatic protest against a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman over a social media post that included cartoonish images of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela and an embassy official had been trading barbs since last week over issues concerning the disputed South China Sea. The crucial waterway, which Beijing claims historic rights to despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, has been the site of repeated clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels. Tarriela’s Facebook post on Wednesday included a photo of him giving a
‘MOBILIZED’: While protesters countered ICE agents, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz activated the state’s National Guard to ‘support the rights of Minnesotans’ to assemble Hundreds of counterprotesters drowned out a far-right activist’s attempt to hold a small rally in support of US President Donald Trump’s latest immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday, as the governor’s office announced that National Guard troops were mobilized and ready to assist law enforcement, although not yet deployed to city streets. There have been protests every day since the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ramped up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul by bringing in more than 2,000 federal officers. Conservative influencer Jake Lang organized an anti-Islam, anti-Somali and pro-US Immigration and Customs Enforcement
NASA on Saturday rolled out its towering Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft as it began preparations for its first crewed mission to the Moon in more than 50 years. The maneuver, which takes up to 12 hours, would allow the US space agency to begin a string of tests for the Artemis 2 mission, which could blast off as early as Feb. 6. The immense orange and white SLS rocket, and the Orion vessel were slowly wheeled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and painstakingly moved 6.5km to Launch Pad 39B. If the
RSS