■ China
15,000 gamblers detained
China has detained about 15,000 people suspected of gambling offenses since a crackdown announced in November, state media said. The Communist Party outlawed gambling, prostitution and drugs after it rose to power in 1949, but the vices have made a comeback as state controls have been loosened. China's "relentless strike" campaign has broken up more than 1,900 gambling cases so far, the China Youth Daily said. It was not clear if any charges had been laid or what punishments offenders would face. While illegal, gambling remains a way of life for many Chinese, who bet on football matches, mahjong games, horse races and cock and cricket fights.
■ Australia
Labor reinstates Beazley
Former deputy prime minister Kim Beazley returned to lead Australia's embattled Labor opposition yesterday three years after giving up the leadership following his second defeat by Prime Minister John Howard. The Labor party took 23 minutes to elect Beazley unopposed after two other contestants pulled out of the race to succeed former leader Mark Latham, who resigned on health grounds 10 days ago, leaving the party in disarray. "I'm going to give John Howard the fight of his life and we're going to win the next election," Beazley told reporters. "All I am is a bloke who never gives up." The 56-year-old former academic who served as deputy prime minister in Paul Keating's government, resigned as opposition leader after being defeated by Howard in the 2001 poll and attempted a comeback in December 2003.
■ Malaysia
Religious police raid club
The government has ordered an investigation into reports that religious police raided a Kuala Lumpur nightclub, rounding up and humiliating about 100 Muslim women for un-Islamic dress, a newspaper said. The issue of heavy-handed enforcement of Islamic codes of behavior is a tricky one for Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawai, a religious scholar who is also chairman of the world's largest group of Islamic nations. "They were supposedly upholding the law but they themselves seem to have acted above the law by behaving rudely, in an uncultured way and not following correct procedures," Culture Minister Rais Yatim said.
■ Afghanistan
Soldier kills 5 comrades
An Afghan soldier who opened fire inside a US military base killed five of his Afghan comrades and wounding another six Afghan soldiers before another soldier gunned him down to end a shooting that a commander attributed to mental problems. The US military said the soldier attacked fellow Afghan National Army troops early Thursday morning.
■ Greece
Porn shown to students
Students aged 12 to 15 on their way to school received an eye-opener on Thursday when their bus driver put on a porn tape. "The driver said `Kids, we've got a porn tape, do you want to watch it?,'" one of the students told Greek television. "We all started shouting `yes, yes,' and he put in the tape and we watched it on the small TV screens on the bus." Some parents in the northern town of Kilkis are demanding the bus company fire the driver.
■ United States
Shroud may be older
The Shroud of Turin, believed by some to be Christ's burial cloth, is much older than previously thought, according to a new study. The research paper claims carbon dating tests undertaken on the cloth in 1988, which concluded the linen sheet was a mediaeval fake, were inaccurate because not the actual fabric but patches added at a later date had been analyzed. Microchemical tests demonstrated that the actual cloth is between 1,300 and 3,000 years old, said researcher Raymond Rogers from the University of California. "The radiocarbon sample has completely different chemical properties than the main part of the shroud relic," he said.
■ United Kingdom
Tories gaining ground
British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labor Party is still ahead but the opposition Conservative Party has gained some ground ahead of an election expected in May, according to a poll. The monthly YouGov survey found Labor unchanged at 35 percent support, compared to the Conservatives on 34 percent, up two points from December, the Daily Telegraph said. Blair has seen his once sky-high poll ratings eroded over his staunch support for the US-led invasion of Iraq. Despite opposition to the war, analysts say Blair is on course for a historic third election win.
■ United Kingdom
Penitent thief sentenced
A young mother who stole more than ?550,000 (US$1 million) from her employer but has paid it all back was sentenced to three years in prison on Thursday. Reena Gardiner, 28, pleaded guilty to 11 counts of theft, false accounting, forgery, money laundering and using false instruments. The prosecution said Gardiner began stealing money from her employer in 2001 and stopped in late 2003 when she went on maternity leave. She has since paid back all the money. Her lawyer said she was devastated when her family cut her off after she moved in with her husband's family -- and that she thought having the money in the bank would make her feel better. The judge said the fact that Gardiner had pleaded guilty and not led an "extravagant and wild life" on the stolen money saved her from a much longer prison sentence.
■ France
Militants `could attack'
French militants who travel to Iraq to fight in the insurgency against US-led forces could also strike terror elsewhere, including France, the defense minister warned. "These French citizens who are prepared to carry out suicide attacks in Iraq are people who could one day carry out suicide attacks elsewhere," Michele Alliot-Marie said. It is unknown how many French citizens are involved in the insurgency. This week, DST, France's domestic counterterrorism agency, detained 11 people in Paris to break up a network suspected of funneling young French Muslims to Iraq.
■ United States
New meaning for `phone sex'
This is one cellphone you might not want to set to "high and vibrate." Porn star Jenna Jameson is now hawking her "moan tones." For US$2.50, fans of the ubiquitous porno queen can choose from a variety of moans, grunts and lurid sexual noises all recorded by the blond bombshell. If that's not enough, Jameson will talk dirty to you when you phones rings, in English or Spanish. Jameson, who recently wrote a best-selling memoir, has launched the venture with Wicked Wireless, a mobile music and entertainment company.
■ United States
Storm dumps more snow
More than 13cm of snow fell on Boston by Thursday morning, putting a fresh coat on the leavings of last weekend's blizzard and making January the city's snowiest month on record. Schools canceled classes yet again, and Governor Mitt Romney asked US President George W. Bush to declare a federal emergency in the eastern half of the state, which would make the area eligible for extra aid. The 13.7cm of new snow recorded at Logan Airport before the storm let up Thursday morning came only days after the blizzard that dumped more than 90cm of snow.
■ Mexico
Tourism at risk after warning
Mexican shop owners along the US-Mexico border said they worry a US travel alert will keep away American tourists already wary of drug-related violence and further damage their struggling businesses. On Wednesday, the US State Department issued a public announcement alerting Americans visiting Mexico that violent crime, including murder and kidnapping, has increased in its northern border region.
James Watson — the Nobel laureate co-credited with the pivotal discovery of DNA’s double-helix structure, but whose career was later tainted by his repeated racist remarks — has died, his former lab said on Friday. He was 97. The eminent biologist died on Thursday in hospice care on Long Island in New York, announced the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he was based for much of his career. Watson became among the 20th century’s most storied scientists for his 1953 breakthrough discovery of the double helix with researcher partner Francis Crick. Along with Crick and Maurice Wilkins, he shared the
OUTRAGE: The former strongman was accused of corruption and responsibility for the killings of hundreds of thousands of political opponents during his time in office Indonesia yesterday awarded the title of national hero to late president Suharto, provoking outrage from rights groups who said the move was an attempt to whitewash decades of human rights abuses and corruption that took place during his 32 years in power. Suharto was a US ally during the Cold War who presided over decades of authoritarian rule, during which up to 1 million political opponents were killed, until he was toppled by protests in 1998. He was one of 10 people recognized by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in a televised ceremony held at the presidential palace in Jakarta to mark National
US President Donald Trump handed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban a one-year exemption from sanctions for buying Russian oil and gas after the close right-wing allies held a chummy White House meeting on Friday. Trump slapped sanctions on Moscow’s two largest oil companies last month after losing patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin over his refusal to end the nearly four-year-old invasion of Ukraine. However, while Trump has pushed other European countries to stop buying oil that he says funds Moscow’s war machine, Orban used his first trip to the White House since Trump’s return to power to push for
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
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