■ China
Man pays for lucky number
A Beijing man has paid 1.8 million yuan (US$215,000) for the ultimate in lucky cellphone numbers -- 133-3333-3333. The phone number was sold this week at an auction in the Chinese capital, newspapers said yesterday. Nine other "highly auspicious" phone numbers also were sold. Chinese tradition considers 3 a lucky number and groups of 3's even luckier. Though the number 8 is luckiest, all Chinese cell phone numbers begin with ``13,'' making it impossible to make a number with all 8's. The reports by the Beijing Times and Beijing Morning Post didn't identify the buyer.
■ Singapore
Political leader bankrupt
Singapore's opposition leader lost a bid to defend himself from bankruptcy when a court dismissed his appeal to reassess libel damages he has been ordered to pay to two former prime ministers. Ruling against the application, the court said Chee Soon Juan, leader of the tiny Singapore Democratic Party, had failed to provide valid reasons justifying his absence from court, the Straits Times said yesterday. The failure of the appeal means Chee is likely to be bankrupted. He would be unable to contest the next general election, likely in 2007, if he cannot pay US$500,000 in damages sought by former prime ministers Goh Chok Tong and Lee Kuan Yew.
■ Thailand
Boy hangs himself
An 11-year-old Thai boy allegedly hanged himself in a huff after his mother refused to give him 10 baht (US$0.25), media reports said yesterday. The incident occurred in Bangkok at 9pm on Thursday, hours after Chaiyawut Kamnuan had been refused 10 baht by his mother Kularb. "I didn't give him the money because he'd got 20 baht (US$0.50) from me just a few hours earlier," Kularb told The Nation newspaper. Kularb reportedly stormed to his room and locked the door after being refused the money. When his mother and father broke down the door hours later they found him hanging by a cloth belt from a window bar.
■ Singapore
New plans against terror
Singapore will deploy security guards and install closed-circuit TV cameras in all of this city-state's schools to deter terror attacks. The measures are expected to cost the government US$9 million to US$12 million, the Straits Times reported. Addressing students at a forum on Friday, Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said it was necessary to beef up security even though there was no immediate threat, the paper reported. The measures are expected to be implemented in all of Singapore's 351 schools in six to eight months, the paper said.
■ Afghanistan
Militants extend deadline
Militants claiming to hold three UN hostages in Afghanistan said they have extended a deadline until late yesterday to decide the fate of the trio, who they have threatened to kill if the UN doesn't pull out of the country. The world body and the Afghan government had until last night to open "formal" talks with Jaish-al Muslimeen, Ishaq Manzoor, who claims to be a spokesman for the shadowy Taliban splinter group, said on Friday. The militant group had said it would decide on Friday whether to kill the hostages or allow more time for negotiations. But "some respected people intervened and convinced our leaders to give time to the Afghan government and UN" to contact the group, Manzoor said.
■ United States
Americans eye move to NZ
Enquiries from Americans wanting to move to remote New Zealand have skyrocketed since US President George W. Bush was reelected. The New Zealand Immigration Service Web site had 10,300 hits from the US the day after the election, compared to the daily norm of 2,500. Thousands of North Americans have migrated to New Zealand in recent years but the number now looks set to soar. Phones at the Immigration Service offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland have been ringing constantly since the vote outcome, marketing manager Don Badman said. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Americans were also looking to Australia and Canada.
■ United States
Jackson case bombshell
A son of late acting legend Marlon Brando was implicated in an alleged plot by Michael Jackson to kidnap the boy who accused him of child molestation, a court heard on Friday. The bombshell was dropped during a pre-trial hearing in Jackson's child molestation case when prosecutors revealed they had recently discovered documents linking Miko Brando with the alleged crime. Brando, 44, works as a security guard for Jackson and received a US$20,000 petty cash payment from Jackson, prosecutor Ronald Zonen told Judge Rodney Melville. But Jackson's lawyer, Robert Sanger, argued that the financial record proved nothing.
■ United States
Oral sex and the city
New York transport officials were impressed when the hip-hop clothing label Akademiks announced it wanted to buy advertisements on the sides of buses promoting the benefits of literacy. But it turned out that the benefits in question weren't the ones the authorities had in mind. The Metropolitan Transit Authority vowed on Friday to start removing the ads after being informed the slogan plastered over 200 city buses -- "Read books, get brain" -- includes a slang term for oral sex. Anthony Harrison, Akademiks' advertising designer, told the New York Daily News he had been fully aware of the connotations of the phrase "get brain." "We knew this," he said. "It's coded language, city slang. Teens know what it means but the general public doesn't."
■ United States
Gun nut convicted
A man who amassed explosives and made a list of public figures who were "marked to die" because of their liberal and anti-gun stances was convicted in federal court. A federal jury on Friday found 20-year-old Michael Breit guilty of illegally receiving explosives and illegally receiving explosive materials with intent to kill, injure, intimidate people or damage property. Breit was charged in April after he accidentally fired an AK-47 assault rifle in his apartment in Rockford, about 130km northwest of Chicago. Police also found an essay in which Breit allegedly outlined a plan to kill 1,500 people at a Democratic presidential caucus. Breit could face up to 10 years in prison.
■ United States
Iraq policymaker resigns
A central figure in developing Iraq policy in the Bush administration, Robert Blackwill, has told his colleagues at the White House National Security Council that he will resign, leaving the administration without one of the major players in stabilizing the country and moving toward elections, according to a senior administration official.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
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
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
A Soviet-era spacecraft plunged to Earth on Saturday, more than a half-century after its failed launch to Venus. Its uncontrolled entry was confirmed by both the Russian Space Agency and EU Space Surveillance and Tracking. The Russians indicated it came down over the Indian Ocean, but some experts were not so sure of the precise location. The European Space Agency’s space debris office also tracked the spacecraft’s doom after it failed to appear over a German radar station. It was not immediately known how much, if any, of the half-tonne spacecraft survived the fiery descent from orbit. Experts said ahead of time
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