■ Tibet
Major temple to be restored
A major temple on the verge of collapse in Tibet where the Panchen Lama, one of Tibetan Buddhism's most important leaders has traditionally resided, will be restored, state press reported yesterday. Sangtsu Tsezung Palace, a 600-year old building in the town of Xigaze some 250km from the capital, Lhasa, has long been recognized as a major pilgrimage destination, Xinhua said. The palace fell into disrepair and is now on the verge of collapse but its foundations are still solid, the report said. The city of Shanghai will sponsor the renovations, and has offered to pay 40 million yuan (US$5 million). Built in 1363, the main structure of the palace is more than 120m high and has a similar architectural style to the 7th century Potala Palace in Lhasa.
■ New Zealand
Glitch, strike spoil holidays
A strike by bank workers and a computer glitch that shut down electronic payment systems yesterday took the merry out of Christmas as 4 million New Zealanders prepared for the holidays. At least 25 branches of the Australian-owned Westpac bank were closed as up to 1,500 staff walked off the job on the last banking day before Christmas, traditionally one of the industry's busiest days. The workers, who picketed outside branches, are demanding a bigger pay rise and are seeking changes in the way they are forced to press loans and credit cards on customers. Meanwhile thousands of electronic payment terminals in shops and supermarkets throughout the country failed as consumers overloaded the system amid last-minute Christmas shopping.
■ Australia
Army to relax entry standards
The military may soon be commanded by fat, asthmatic and colourblind officers as entry standards are relaxed in a bid to beat a recruitment crisis, a report said yesterday. More than 10 percent of officer candidates fail entry on health grounds, prompting military chiefs to order a review of criteria as soldiers are deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and the Pacific, the Australian reported. Documents obtained under freedom of information legislation show that the military has missed its recruitment target by 20 percent for the past six years. Efforts to boost enlistment -- including advertising and free military computer games -- have failed to improve the situation.
■ Thailand
Wife killer arrested
An Australian man was arrested yesterday and charged with beating his Canadian wife to death with a hammer, Thai police said. The arrest took place shortly after the body of Barbara Lynn Mceod, 61, was found dumped in a residential area of Bangkok, said police Major General Kosin Hintow. Her husband, Stewart Keith Mceod, 44, went to police yesterday morning to report his wife missing. Detecting suspicious behavior, police interrogated Mceod for several hours before he confessed to beating his wife to death and dumping her body in the bushes, Kosin said. Mceod is in police custody pending trial.
■ Thailand
Flood death toll reaches 24
Widespread flooding in eight southern provinces has claimed 24 lives and disrupted the lives of 400,000 people, officials said yesterday. While visiting the region yesterday, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the heavy rains had caused worse flooding than he had expected. Thaksin, who has been assailed by critics for his slow response to the flooding, changed his plans and visited the area yesterday instead of today, when he had originally planned to visit. Heavy rains have pounded the southern provinces for more than a week, said the government.
■ China
Journalist set for trial
A Chinese journalist working for the New York Times will go to trial charged with exposing state secrets, his lawyer said yesterday. Zhao Yan (趙岩), who worked as a researcher for the paper before his arrest in September last year, won the Reporters Without Borders 2005 prize this month for journalists who have "shown a strong commitment to press freedom." Zhao faces a possible prison sentence of 10 years or longer after security officials charged him with telling the New York Times details about rivalry between China's outgoing Communist Party leader, Jiang Zemin (江澤民), and new leader Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).
■ United Kindom
Royal message revealed
Queen Elizabeth II is to praise the generous humanitarian response shown to victims of natural disasters and terrorism in her traditional Christmas Day message, officials said yesterday. "This last year has reminded us that this world is not always an easy or a safe place to live in, but it is the only place we have," said the 79-year-old monarch in a snippet released in advance of tomorrow's broadcast. Buckingham Palace described the theme of her remarks as praising "the generous humanitarian response and compassion shown to those who suffered from the succession of natural disasters and acts of terrorism during the year."
■ Spain
Vic wins big
A lottery known as "El Gordo" -- the Fat One -- sprinkled more than 2 billion euros (US$2.4 billion) in Christmas cheer around Spain on Thursday, one town blessed with a quarter of the windfall. The luckiest gamblers this year held the first-prize number 20085 and all 1,700 tickets with this number were sold by one lottery office in Vic, a town 70km north of Barcelona. Each was worth 300,000 euros (US$360,000), so 510 million euros rained on Vic. The lottery is billed as the world's richest for the total sum of prize money dished out, although other lotteries have bigger individual top prizes.
■ Netherlands
Let them eat cake?
Dutch homeless people have received so much Christmas cake over the past weeks that much of it is being tossed into the gutter or is rotting in refuse sacks, the Telegraaf newspaper reported yesterday. The newspaper printed a picture of Anjon from the city of Arnhem, his arms full of Christmas cake and a grimace on his face. Volunteers there had 140 cakes they could not get rid of, the Telegraaf said. In Utrecht there was a refuse sack with 30kg of rotting marzipan, and there was a similar situation in Rotterdam, it reported.
■ United Kingdom
Terror suspect held
British police investigating the failed July 21 London bombings have charged a student with conspiracy to cause explosions. London's Metropolitan Police on Thursday identified the man as Adel Yahya, 23. He was arrested on Tuesday at Gatwick Airport as he got off a flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He was charged with conspiring with four other men -- all of whom are awaiting trial over the plot to attack three subway trains and a double-decker bus -- "to cause by an explosive substance, explosions of a nature likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property." Yahya, from north London, was scheduled to appear in court yesterday. A total of 16 people have now been charged in connection with the attempted attacks, which did not kill anyone as the bombs failed to detonate.
■ United Kingdom
Scotland in nuclear scare
Police and fire services were called to a nuclear power station in Scotland after staff alerted them to "anomalous behavior" of irradiated substances, operator British Energy said yesterday. The alarm was raised just before 9pm on Thursday by employees disposing of spent fuel in ponds at the Torness plant 48km southeast of Edinburgh. A British Energy spokesman said officials were monitoring the situation but there was no major panic.
■ United States
Nun completes sentence
A pacifist nun convicted of using her blood to deface a Colorado missile silo in 2002 in protest of the then-looming Iraq war was released on Thursday from federal prison in Connecticut. Federal authorities released Sister Ardeth Platte, 69, from Danbury Federal Correctional Institution after she completed a 41-month sentence. Platte, along with sisters Jackie Hudson and Carol Gilbert, were convicted in 2002 on charges of obstructing national defense and damaging government property. The nuns are members of the Dominican Sisters order in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
■ United States
DNA exonerates `criminals'
Virginia's governor on Thursday pardoned two men wrongly convicted of sexual assault and recently cleared after a review of DNA evidence saved years ago by a meticulous forensic scientist. Prosecutors had asked Governor Mark Warner to grant the pardons after he exonerated both men last week. Both had previously been paroled after serving long prison sentences. Three other men have also been cleared by evidence saved by the late Mary Jane Burton. A review by an independent lab of all samples saved by Burton has been ordered. The governor's pardons were awarded to Phillip Thurman, 50, and Willie Davidson, 49. Thurman was convicted in 1985 of rape, abduction and assault and Davidson was convicted in 1981 of sexual assault.
■ United States
Mistake helped London
London's winning bid for the 2012 Olympics could have been helped by an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member pressing the wrong button during the voting process, according to a BBC report. The report says that the member mistakenly voted for Paris in the third round of voting in Singapore on July 6, giving it 33 votes to 31 for Madrid instead of 32-32 which would have prompted a vote-off before the final round. Madrid had been ahead after the second round. London then beat Paris in the final round of voting, although the report states that Madrid would have been a big threat to London had they got through to the final round. The circumstances of the vote are to be screened by BBC News 24 on Sunday.
■ United States
Teenage thugs arrested
Florida police have arrested four teenagers who are suspected of having become the bane of restaurant delivery men in a nine-day crime wave, authorities said on Thursday. The suspects, aged 15 to 17, allegedly ordered food from pizza parlors and Chinese restaurants in Broward County, north of Miami, then beat up and robbed the delivery men, said Liz Calzadilla of the Broward County sheriff's office. "In all, the bandits stole more than US$3,000 and several food orders from their victims. The victims suffered facial, dental and other injuries," she said.
■ Russia
Slick from China arrives
The Kremlin envoy to Russia's Far East yesterday assured residents of Khabarovsk that it was safe to drink the city's water despite a toxic slick from China slowly passing through the river that feeds their water supplies. After weeks of dread, frantic preparations and repeated apologies from the Chinese government, the slick slid down the Amur River and crossed into city limits after nightfall on Thursday. "We have carried out all our plans and the water itself is of good quality," envoy Kamil Iskhakov said.
ANGER: A video shared online showed residents in a neighborhood confronting the national security minister, attempting to drag her toward floodwaters Argentina’s port city of Bahia Blanca has been “destroyed” after being pummeled by a year’s worth of rain in a matter of hours, killing 13 and driving hundreds from their homes, authorities said on Saturday. Two young girls — reportedly aged four and one — were missing after possibly being swept away by floodwaters in the wake of Friday’s storm. The deluge left hospital rooms underwater, turned neighborhoods into islands and cut electricity to swaths of the city. Argentine Minister of National Security Patricia Bullrich said Bahia Blanca was “destroyed.” The death toll rose to 13 on Saturday, up from 10 on Friday, authorities
RARE EVENT: While some cultures have a negative view of eclipses, others see them as a chance to show how people can work together, a scientist said Stargazers across a swathe of the world marveled at a dramatic red “Blood Moon” during a rare total lunar eclipse in the early hours of yesterday morning. The celestial spectacle was visible in the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the westernmost parts of Europe and Africa. The phenomenon happens when the sun, Earth and moon line up, causing our planet to cast a giant shadow across its satellite. But as the Earth’s shadow crept across the moon, it did not entirely blot out its white glow — instead the moon glowed a reddish color. This is because the
DEBT BREAK: Friedrich Merz has vowed to do ‘whatever it takes’ to free up more money for defense and infrastructure at a time of growing geopolitical uncertainty Germany’s likely next leader Friedrich Merz was set yesterday to defend his unprecedented plans to massively ramp up defense and infrastructure spending in the Bundestag as lawmakers begin debating the proposals. Merz unveiled the plans last week, vowing his center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/Christian Social Union (CSU) bloc and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) — in talks to form a coalition after last month’s elections — would quickly push them through before the end of the current legislature. Fraying Europe-US ties under US President Donald Trump have fueled calls for Germany, long dependent on the US security umbrella, to quickly
Local officials from Russia’s ruling party have caused controversy by presenting mothers of soldiers killed in Ukraine with gifts of meat grinders, an appliance widely used to describe Russia’s brutal tactics on the front line. The United Russia party in the northern Murmansk region posted photographs on social media showing officials smiling as they visited bereaved mothers with gifts of flowers and boxed meat grinders for International Women’s Day on Saturday, which is widely celebrated in Russia. The post included a message thanking the “dear moms” for their “strength of spirit and the love you put into bringing up your sons.” It
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