■ Hong Kong
Woman files SARS suit
A woman has filed Hong Kong's first SARS discrimination lawsuit alleging she was dismissed from her job because her mother contracted the disease, an equal rights official said yesterday. Kwok Yeuk-ching began proceedings Friday to seek damages from her former employer, Hip Wall Industries Ltd., and Mac Thuong Can, a director and shareholder of the company, a court document showed. The Equal Opportunities Commission filed the suit on Kwok's behalf, commission spokesman Sam Ho said. It is the first case filed in a Hong Kong court alleging discrimination against severe acute respiratory syndrome patients or their relatives, Ho said.
■ Hong Kong
Long Hair to take own oath
Leung Kwok-hung (梁國雄) has insisted on taking his own version of the oath on being sworn into the legislature next month despite officials warning of possible disqualification, a newspaper reported yesterday. Veteran protester Leung -- also known as "Long Hair" -- said that Legislative Council officials warned him in a meeting on Friday that anyone who failed to take a proper oath could not attend meetings, the South China Morning Post reported. Leung said that he will swear allegiance to the people of Hong Kong and China, to fight for democracy and justice and to defend human rights and freedom.
■ India
Every vote matters
Indian election workers said yesterday they plan to clock a full day running a polling booth next month in a remote village near Tibet -- where the total electorate is one. Manjulikh Chakma, a 26-year-old tribal woman, is the only registered voter in Miao, a village of 150 families in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which holds state elections Oct. 7. But poll authorities said they were required by law to fully staff the poll station, meaning a team of 14 poll workers and guards will walk six hours through jungle terrain to reach Chakma -- even if she decides not to vote.
■ New Zealand
Food poisonings a mystery
New Zealand's food-poisoning rate is the highest in the developed world -- and no one knows why, the New Zealand Herald reported yesterday. The number of cases of campylobacter alone leapt by 18 per cent last year to a record 14,786 cases. Campylobacter is an infectious disease caused by a bacteria and leads to diarrhoea, cramping, abdominal pain and fever. Although last year's figures for other countries are not yet available, New Zealand's rate of 368 cases for every 100,000 people was almost five times Australia's rate in 2002 and almost 10 times the rate in Canada.
■ Malaysia
Record for `Scorpion Queen'
A Malaysian woman set a new world record yesterday after living 36 days in an enclosed cage with 6,000 live scorpions. Nur Malena Hassan, nicknamed "Scorpion Queen," had already broken the world record on Tuesday after remaining inside the glass cage for 32 days, but she wanted to stay on for another three days to put the record beyond reach. The 27-year-old was greeted by cheers when she stepped out of the cage yesterday. Nur Malena moved into the 4m-by-3m glass box on Aug. 21 in a shopping mall in Kuantan, about 250km east of Kuala Lumpur. She spent her days watching DVDs and reading, and told reporters that her toughest times were at night when the venomous animals became active.
■ Austria
IAEA assails N Korea
A 137-nation meeting of the atomic watchdog agency demanded that North Korea renounce its nuclear weapons ambitions and urged it to allow agency inspectors to police the scrapping of linked arms programs. In a separate resolution, the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also called for a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East, an oblique criticism of Israel, the only country in the region with fully developed nuclear arms. The conference has no authority to enforce the resolutions, issued on Friday.
■ Spain
Nobelist spied for fascists
Revered writer Camilo Jose Cela was an informer for the nation's long-lived fascist regime and betrayed fellow intellectuals during the 1960s, according to recently discovered official records. The last Spaniard to win the Nobel prize for literature continued to inform against other authors and academics even when they thought he had joined an emerging front of dissident writers. The revelations have come from noted historian Pere Ysas, who found papers showing that Cela, who died two years ago, had volunteered advice to the fascist information ministry and suggested some dissident writers could be bribed or tamed by the regime. Cela also was accused of stealing ideas, plagiarism and using ghost-writers during his career, but denied all allegations.
■ Botswana
Bushmen lobbying in DC
African hunter-gatherers whose government has ousted from their traditional lands brought their cause to Washington on Friday. Bushman elder Roy Sesana told reporters the government had forced his people from their territory to make the land available for diamond mining. "The diamonds are the remains of our ancestors," he said. A Botswana Embassy official, John Moreti, assailed Sesana from the audience, "How many Basarwa (Bushmen) does Roy represent? I think he represents 1 percent." "I represent all the Bushmen," Sesana replied. The Gaborone government has relocated about 2,500 Bushmen over the past 18 months. Sesana is touring the US to raise money for a court case in Gaborone to fight their eviction, and will visit the UN next week.
■ Sudan
Alleged coup plot foiled
The Sudanese government again accused supporters of detained opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi of an attempted coup plot, reports said on Saturday. Security forces had arrested several men who had planned to carry out the coup after Friday prayers in Khartoum, the BBC reported, citing the Sudanese Interior Ministry. Turabi has been under house arrest since March as the government has accused him of supporting the rebel movement in the Darfur region in western Sudan. His group has called for peaceful resistance to the government and sought decentralization and a just distribution of wealth.
■ United Kingdom
Guitar stars hail Strat
Famous guitarists such as Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones, Brian May of Queen and the Eagles' Joe Walsh played at Wembley Arena on Friday night in a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster. The concert, which raised money for the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy charity, also featured guitarists Hank Marvin of the Shadows, Gary Moore of Roxy Music, and Genesis' Mike Rutherford.
■ United States
Mayor eases reading ban
Don Williamson, the mayor of Flint, Michigan, said he would allow newspapers in City Hall -- a slight loosening of his ban on city employees reading anything at work that's not related to their jobs. The announcement came on Friday after police temporarily detained a newspaper carrier for trying to deliver subscriptions to City Hall. Williamson issued an executive order in July that prohibits city workers from reading or having non-work-related reading material on city property during their work hours. On Friday, the mayor's office said the city will allow "delivery of newspapers by authorized persons" for use during breaks and lunch.
■ United States
Students fined over pole
Three students at Jacksonville University in Florida have been punished for installing a stripper pole in an on-campus apartment and taking pictures as clothed female students performed on it at a party. About a dozen women competed for a US$100 Victoria's Secret gift certificate on Sept. 11, said James Foster, a 20-year-old who hosted the party. None of the women disrobed. The men bought the steel pole, bolted it to the concrete ceiling and attached the bottom to a plywood stage covered in red felt. "Honestly, we just wanted to say we had a stripper pole," Foster said. "We never actually expected girls to dance on it." The party ended shortly after the beer ran out.
■ United States
Sacred buffalo dies
A buffalo considered sacred by some American Indians because it was born white has died of natural causes at the age of 10, its owner said. The animal, named Miracle, drew as many as 2,000 visitors a day in the year after its birth in 1994. Miracle died last Sunday, its owner, Dave Heider, said on Friday. Although its hide became darker as it aged, some associated Miracle with the white buffalo of American Indian prophecies. According to lore, such an animal will reunite all the races of man and restore balance to the world. Heider said Miracle fulfilled prophecy by turning from white to black, red and yellow -- colors of the various races of man -- before developing the typical dark brown coat of the buffalo.
■ United States
Bootleg law struck down
A federal judge struck down a 1994 law banning the sale of bootleg recordings of live music, ruling the law unfairly grants "seemingly perpetual protection" to the original performances. US District Judge Harold Baer Jr. on Friday dismissed a federal indictment of Jean Martignon, who runs a Manhattan mail-order and Internet business that sells bootleg recordings. Baer found the bootleg law was written by Congress in the spirit of federal copyright law, which protects writing for a fixed period of time -- typically for the life of the author and 70 years after the author's death. But the judge said the bootleg law could not stand because it places no time limit on the ban.
■ Canada
Plague vaccine ordered
Fears terrorists could revive a centuries-old plague led US health officials to enlist a Canadian firm to immunize a large population. Rodent-borne Black Death wiped out one-third of 14th century Europeans, and the US National Institutes of Health have granted a Canadian company US$8 million to come up with the vaccine. Vancouver-based ID Biomedical Corp received the grant this week to find a vaccine that can be delivered using a nasal spray.
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
‘DOWNSIZE’: The Trump administration has initiated sweeping cuts to US government-funded media outlets in a move critics said could undermine the US’ global influence US President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America (VOA) and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organization’s director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave. On Friday night, shortly after the US Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the US Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba. On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial and US
Indonesia’s parliament yesterday amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticisms that it would expand the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs. The revision to the armed forces law, pushed mainly by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s coalition, was aimed at expanding the military’s role beyond defense in a country long influenced by its armed forces. The amendment has sparked fears of a return to the era of former Indonesian president Suharto, who ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent. “Now it’s the time for us to ask the
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