■ Hong Kong
Search on for Li tombraiders
Police said yesterday they were hunting a team of grave robbers that media reports claimed raided the tomb of the late wife of Asia's richest man, Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠). Four Chinese men armed with what appeared to be guns and knives tied up two attendants at a Buddhist cemetery on the territory's main island and removed the tomb stone from the grave of Li Chong Yuet-ming (李莊月明), reports said. A police spokeswoman said the interred remains had not been disturbed but that some HK$50,000 (US$6,400) worth of damage had been done to the tomb. Police confirmed the attack, adding that HK$20,000 worth of items were stolen from the attendants.
■ India
Monkey chatter saves baby
Chattering monkeys helped save the life of a new-born baby girl apparently thrown into a 10m-deep well by her parents in a town in eastern India, a witness said yesterday. The monkeys, which had gathered excitedly on the well's edge in Bishnupur town, about 200km west of Kolkata, capital of West Bengal state, drew the attention of passersby, the witness, Samar Sengupta, told reporters. "Attracted by the chattering of the monkeys, some morning walkers went near the abandoned well and looked down to see the baby lying on heap of garbage. It was crying," Sengupta said by telephone from Bishnupur. "The monkeys left after the child was rescued," he said.
■ Japan
Men proclaim wives' day
A group of Japanese men hoping to encourage the nation's legions of workaholic husbands to head home early and show their wives some appreciation proclaimed yesterday " Beloved Wives Day." The group, which calls itself the "Japan Doting Husbands Association," urged men to get home by 8pm and say thanks to their wives for all they do. "Many men can't put their feelings of gratitude towards their wives into words. Work is number one for them," the nonprofit group says on its Web site, www.aisaika.org. "This attitude is putting Japanese marriages under great pressure."
■ Australia
Howard urges good manners
Prime Minister John Howard wants Australia's television networks to clean up their acts, bemoaning the "marked deterioration in good manners." "I think there are certain vulgar expressions that have no place on television and if there's not some self discipline exercised in that, I think standards will continue to deteriorate," Howard told reporters yesterday. Howard was speaking in support of a senior judge who used a speech to the Sydney legal fraternity on Monday night to lament the prevalence of boorish behavior and the lack of ordinary manners in Australian society.
■ Thailand
Astrologer cautions Thaksin
Forget the corruption scandals. The "God of Darkness" could be the downfall of beleaguered Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a respected astrologer said yesterday. Boonlert Pairintra, a senator and noted fortune teller, said Mercury used to favor Thaksin but has been eclipsed by Rahu -- the God of Darkness -- and Thaksin's words will now bring him more enemies than friends. Jupiter, which once made Thaksin a millionaire, will also bring him trouble, he said. "Rahu is overshadowing Thaksin's stars, which will bring all bad luck to him ... Thaksin will face his downfall anytime during the first half of this year," Boonlert said.
■ Canada
Serial killing trial begins
Pig farmer and accused serial killer Robert William Pickton pleaded not guilty on Monday to murdering 27 sex-trade workers who disappeared from Vancouver over a 25 year-period. Outside the court building Aboriginal drummers chanted and dozens of supporters held up a fabric banner bearing the names of dozens of missing women. Pickton, 56, was arrested four years ago at his family's pig farm in Port Coquitlam, 35km east of Vancouver. He had been an early suspect in the disappearances over 25 years of more than 60 women. In early 2002 the task force raided the Pickton farm, and in an investigation uncovered the remains or personal effects of 31 women. In 2004, authorities issued a warning that pig meat sold by Pickton may have been included human remains.
■ United States
Consulate death probed
New York police are investigating the gruesome death of a man in the Indonesian consulate, who was discovered with a knife stuck in his chest and one hand almost severed at the wrist. The body of the man, identified as Bambang Wielianto, 35, of Jakarta, was found on Sunday in a basement room of the four-story mansion that housed the consulate. The medical examiner has not determined whether he was murdered or committed suicide. Officials said Wielianto had been given permission to stay at the consulate while he waited for a flight to Jakarta.
■ United States
Gang `social club' found
Miami police have discovered an abandoned warehouse they say was a "social club" that gangs from across the country used for shooting practice, sex and beatings, the Miami Herald reported on Monday. The warehouse, located near the runway of Homestead Air Reserve Base in south Florida, has rooms for interrogations, target practice, sex and beatings, the Herald reported. Firefighters discovered the site on Jan. 17 when military police reported a fire on the site. Days later police raided the site and arrested five people, the Herald reported.
■ United States
US says `hit man' a fraud
A man who claimed to have worked as a "hit man" for Interpol and offered costly training courses on human trafficking has been arrested for criminal impersonation and computer crime, the US Justice Department said on Monday. David Bannon, author of Race Against Evil -- The Secret Missions of the Interpol Agent Who Tracked the World's Most Sinister Criminals, was arrested last Friday in Boulder, Colorado. Using his alleged background as an Interpol agent and expert in human trafficking, Bannon solicited fees in excess of US$3,000 for speeches and two-day training courses. The US Justice Department said Bannon's credentials were "bogus." The Interpol General Secretariat in Lyon, France, dismissed Bannon's assertions that he he had operated as a hit man for the agency for decades.
■ United States
King dies at age 78
Coretta Scott King, widow of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior, has died at the age of 78, US television reported yesterday. King, who carried on her husband's legacy after he was assassinated in 1968, had suffered a minor stroke and had other health problems in recent years, Fox News and NBC reported.
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
Packed crowds in India celebrating their cricket team’s victory ended in a deadly stampede on Wednesday, with 11 mainly young fans crushed to death, the local state’s chief minister said. Joyous cricket fans had come out to celebrate and welcome home their heroes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after they beat Punjab Kings in a roller-coaster Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket final on Tuesday night. However, the euphoria of the vast crowds in the southern tech city of Bengaluru ended in disaster, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra calling it “absolutely heartrending.” Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said most of the deceased are young, with 11 dead
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