■ Indonesia
End of war celebrated
Traditional drummers were to lead more than 1,000 war-weary people across Aceh Province late yesterday to celebrate an agreement to end three decades of fighting. Marchers were leave from a mosque in the capital Banda Aceh, traveling across the province's northern tip until they reached the town of Pereulak, a journey that will take all night and day. They will be led by 288 drummers beating wooden barrels covered with cow and goat leather, an instrument known as "rapa i pase," which Acehnese have for centuries used to mark the end of a war. The Indonesian government and rebels agreed last month signed an accord to end the fighting that has killed more than 15,000 people, mostly civilians, since 1976. "We will beat the drums for 24 hours to demonstrate how happy we are that the fighting will finally come to an end," organizer Syamsudin Djalil said.
■ Afghanistan
Taliban militants killed
Eight suspected Taliban militants were killed and three captured as Afghan and US-led troops raided their hideouts in southeastern Afghanistan. The raids by Afghan security forces, supported by members of the US-led coalition, were conducted on Saturday in Zabul province.
■ Hong Kong
Disney worried about dogs
Hundreds of wild dogs are roaming around Hong Kong Disneyland's grounds a month before the park opens, raising concerns that guests and staff could be attacked. Park officials are seeking advice from animal experts -- including the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals -- on how to clear out the dogs, which haven't attacked anyone. Packs of dogs surface by the hundreds from neighboring hills after dark and pester staff. The dog issue came under scrutiny two weeks ago when it was reported that Disneyland staff were using the animals as guard dogs, which were later rounded up and killed. Hong Kong's conservation department confirmed 45 dogs had been caught around Disneyland since May, and some had been euthanized.
■ China
Zoo deaths a concern
Zookeepers from a private wildlife park in Beijing are fretting about the conditions of animals they donated to Kabul Zoo after at least two of them died. The Chinese embassy in the Afghan capital said a bear named Shenshen died of renal failure due to the poor conditions at the zoo while a donated deer died after being fed the wrong food. Wang Wei, deputy general manager of the Badaling Wildlife Park, said, "Only after we can make sure of the safety of the donated animals will we continue to send animals to Afghanistan."
■ Indonesia
Six arrested in ritual killing
Police arrested six people over the killing and mutilation of a man and a young boy for a grisly tribal ritual on the island of Seram. The six men, members of the Naulu tribe, killed the two, cut out their hearts and chopped off their heads, tongues and fingers for use in a ritual linked to the swearing in of a new tribal chief. The tribesmen, who lived in the thick inland jungle, had ambushed a 30-year-old man and his eight-year-old nephew who were spearing fish in a river. Villagers found their remains; the body parts to be used in the ritual were found stored in a thick bamboo grove as tradition required.
■ Sudan
Newspapers banned for day
Sudanese authorities suspended two newspapers for one day for their coverage of riots in the capital, editors of the papers said on Saturday. The al-Wan and al-Watan newspapers both said state security forces took copies of their newspapers from their printing presses early in the morning and prevented them from being distributed. Riots erupted in Khartoum for three days after the official announcement of the death of former rebel leader and First Vice-President John Garang last Monday.
■ Turkey
Al-Qaeda attack foiled
Turkish security forces prevented a mass attack the al-Qaeda terrorist group intended launching against Israeli tourists in the southern Turkish port of Alanya, the Israeli Yediot Aharanot newspaper reported. According to the daily, Turkish security forces arrested the members of an al-Qaeda cell, comprised mostly of Turkish citizens, in Alanya on Thursday. They also found a boat docked in the harbor and loaded with 400kg of TNT, which was to have been used against the Israeli tourists. Four Israeli cruise ships carrying 3,500 tourists to Alanya were ordered to change their routes on Friday and anchor in alternate destinations following intelligence reports.
■ Madagascar
Rio Tinto to start mining
Rio Tinto, one of the world's biggest mining companies, has been given permission to open up an enormous mine on the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar which will involve digging up some of the world's most unique forest. The decision has outraged campaigners at Friends of the Earth, who had opposed the plans from the outset. It is all the more poignant because one of their leading directors, Andrew Lees, died 10 years ago in the same forest while investigating the controversial plans for a mine. Madagascar is unique for its wildlife -- of its estimated 200,000 plant and animal species, three-quarters exist nowhere else in the world.
■ Spain
Two die in raging fires
Two people died on Saturday in the fight against wild fires in Spain as the country and neighboring Portugal continue to face blazes that have torched thousands of hectares. A pilot died when a fire plane he was flying crashed in Medeiros in northwestern Spain, and a 29-year-old voluntary member of the firefighting corps died in central Spain, authorities said. Seven fire fighters were hurt in the southern part of the country in a fire aided by strong winds. Raging forest fires in Portugal injured 21 people, reports said on Saturday, as thousands of firemen continued to battle to get them under control.
■ United Kingdom
Triple murders investigated
Police launched a triple-murder investigation on Saturday after finding the bodies of three people believed to have been tied up and then shot dead in a north London apartment. The bodies of Lorna Morrison, 34, her sister Connie, 27, and their mother's partner Noel Patterson, 62, were found by a family member on a bedroom floor at the house in the Wembley area on Friday. The sisters' mother, Evelyn Daley, a care worker, was out working when the murders are thought to have taken place on Thursday night but Lorna Morrison's nine-month-old baby was in the apartment at the time. He was unharmed, police said.
■ United States
Train hits dump truck
A train collided with a dump truck crossing the tracks in southern California, injuring 20 people, two of them seriously, officials said. Friday's collision was the second between an Amtrak train and a dump truck this week. On Tuesday, a train hit a truck crossing the tracks in North Carolina, killing two people. The two occupants in the dump truck in Friday's crash were taken to a hospital with serious injuries, said Joe Luna, a spokesman for Ventura County Fire Department.
■ United States
Photographer gets shot
A photographer was shot in the leg with a pellet gun outside a home where he believed Britney Spears was attending a bridal shower on Saturday evening, authorities said. It was unclear who fired the plastic pellet as the photographer was staking out the event at the Malibu home, Sheriff's Department Lieutenant Steve Smith said. He said firefighters bandaged the man's leg and he went to a hospital. "It could've been somebody driving by, walking by, we have no idea where it came from," Smith said. The photographer, identified as Brad Diaz, was about 200m from the home when he was hit, Smith said.
■ United States
Paychecks smaller for obese
Overweight Americans pay the price for their bulging waistlines in slimmer salaries, says a research paper by US economists. Bosses claw back the extra price of insuring the health of obese staff by squeezing their pay packets, according to a report by Jay Bhattacharya and M. Kate Bundorf of the National Bureau of Economic Research. As the price of health insurance rose, the shortfall in wages for obese workers had more than tripled over the nine years to 1998, from US$1 an hour to US$3.40. Discrimination is often blamed for the lower wages of larger workers, but the research found that those whose employers were not bankrolling their health insurance were not underpaid relative to slim colleagues.
■ Cuba
Ibrahim Ferrer dies at 78
Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer, known worldwide for his work on the "Buena Vista Social Club" project, died at a Havana hospital on Saturday at the age of 78, his wife Caridad Diaz announced. Ferrer, who had just completed a month-long tour of Europe, checked into hospital a few days ago with symptoms of gastroenteritis, Diaz said. "He was a very worthy person, to be admired, not only as a musician but also as a father and a husband. He completed his European tour with great bravery," she said. Ferrer was in semi-retirement and shining shoes for money when he was recruited to participate in the "Buena Vista Social Club" sessions. US musician and producer Ry Cooder traveled to Havana in the late 1990s to unite aging greats of Cuban music, producing a CD and later a documentary film with director Wim Wenders to worldwide acclaim.
■ United States
Google searches for chefs
Thriving Internet search engine Google is hunting internationally for two talented chefs to crank out haute cuisine for its Silicon Valley workers, company recruiters said on Friday. Among the perks for Google employees are free meals in the company's onsite cafes, and the veteran chef who pleased their palates quit a couple of months ago to open a restaurant chain. Google's kitchens serve free breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks to employees known to work such long hours they practically live on premises.
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
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