■ China
PRC media laud Ang Lee
Media heaped praise on yesterday on Taiwanese film director Ang Lee over his best director Oscar for Brokeback Mountain, but state media cut the part of his speech in which he thanks everyone in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. State television also cut Lee's words of thanks to the two gay cowboys at the heart of the film. Homosexuality was considered a mental disorder in China until as recently as 2001 and is still a highly sensitive subject. "Ang Lee is the pride of the Chinese people all over the world, and he is the glory of Chinese cinematic talent," the China Daily gushed. But the state-run paper failed to report that Brokeback Mountain would not be coming to Chinese theaters and is only viewable on pirated DVD.
■ United States
Dana Reeve dies of cancer
Actress Dana Reeve, who fought for better treatments and possible cures for paralysis through the Christopher Reeve Foundation, named for her late actor-husband, has died. She was 44. Reeve died late on Monday of lung cancer, said Sean Dougherty, a spokesman for the foundation. Survivors include a teenage son, Will, and two stepchildren, Matthew and Alexandra. Reeve had announced last Aug. 9 that she had lung cancer. Christopher Reeve, the one-time Hollywood "Superman" turned activist for spinal cord research after a horse-riding accident, died on Oct. 10, 2004.
■ United Kingdom
Peyton place on offer
One of the country's top private secondary schools, Brighton College, is looking for a boy or girl between the ages of 13 and 18 with the last name of Peyton because a scholarship funded through an endowment by a former student dictates that the school award the money to a namesake. Derek Wakehurst Peyton, who died in 2002, left the school hundreds of thousands of pounds with one stipulation -- that the money go to a student named Peyton. The successful applicant must have a surname spelled Peyton, prove it with a birth certificate, and not have a hyphenated last name, Brighton College Headmaster Richard Cairns said. Staff at the school have combed British telephone books and contacted all 600 Peytons in the country in an attempt to find a student interested in the scholarship, but to no avail.
■ Australia
Stronger toilets needed
Sturdier toilets may be on their way in Australia to cope with the country's increasingly obese population. Standards Australia, a nongovernment group that establishes safety and design standards, is considering recommending strengthening loos for larger users, a spokeswoman Kate Evans said yesterday. Experts will examine the seats ``from the perspective that people are getting bigger,'' Evans said.
■ United States
False legs returned, again
A 16-year-old girl's prosthetic legs, which have been stolen twice since November, have been quietly returned, police said. Melissa Huff's mother found the legs in her unlocked car in Arcadia, California last Wednesday. The first theft happened in November, when someone cut a hole in a window screen in Huff's home and stole one of her legs. The stolen leg was tossed into the family's back yard in January. But on Valentine's Day, somebody stole both legs after prising open a screen window. The returned legs had graffiti on them.
■ United Kingdom
Tabooboo breaks taboo
Bars and nightclubs in London and other cities have begun using vending machines that sell sex toys such as mini vibrators. The pink Tabooboo machines had previously been used in public toilets under the assumption that such settings gave buyers some privacy. But Geoff Todd, manager of the Alphabet Bar in London's West End area, said the Tabooboo machine it installed in the middle of the bar is used daily. In addition to bars and nightclubs, the vending machines also have begun to show up in hairdressing salons, health clubs and retail stores, Tabooboo managing director Alan Lucas said.
■ United States
State moves to ban abortion
South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds has signed legislation that would ban most abortions, a law he acknowledged would be tied up in court for years while the state challenges the 1973 US Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. The bill signed on Monday would make it a crime for doctors to perform an abortion unless the procedure was necessary to save the woman's life. It would make no exception for cases of rape or incest. Planned Parenthood, which operates the state's only abortion clinic, in Sioux Falls, immediately pledged to challenge the measure.
■ Canada
Horse gets hero's send-off
Hundreds of dignitaries, police officers and ordinary citizens paid tribute on Monday to Brigadier, a police horse on the Toronto force that was killed in the line of duty. Speakers praised the special bond between rider and mount, while the officer who was in the saddle when an irate motorist rammed the horse known as "Brig" struggled to express the depth of his loss. ``Today I'm grateful to be able to say goodbye to my partner, and tell him that being in the saddle will never be the same,'' Constable Kevin Bradfield said through tears during his eulogy. Brigadier, killed Feb. 24, was given a hero's send-off at a large sports stadium. The driver who hit him is charged with dangerous operation of a vehicle causing bodily harm and failing to remain at the scene of an accident.
■ Defense
Britain, France ink ship pact
Britain and France signed an agreement on Monday to jointly develop a new generation of aircraft carriers which the British Ministry of Defense said would be "the largest and most powerful warships ever constructed in the UK." A memorandum was signed by French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and her British counterpart, John Reid, on the sidelines of an EU defense meeting in Innsbruck, Austria. A statement by the British ministry said France will pay Britain £100 million (US$175 million) for access to work Britain has already done on the project. London has committed around £450 million to the 65,000 tonne vessel's design and will make a final decision on building the carriers next year.
■ Brazil
Logger attacks activists
The head of an agricultural cooperative attacked a group of about 50 Greenpeace activists with knives as they protested illegal logging in the Amazon on Monday, the group said. Jose Donizetti Pires de Oliveira did not injure anyone, but he damaged a banner and cars, Greenpeace said. Brazilian authorities fined Donizetti1.49 million reals (US$703,200) in January for illegally cutting down trees on 995 hectares of jungle.
THE ‘MONSTER’: The Philippines on Saturday sent a vessel to confront a 12,000-tonne Chinese ship that had entered its exclusive economic zone The Philippines yesterday said it deployed a coast guard ship to challenge Chinese patrol boats attempting to “alter the existing status quo” of the disputed South China Sea. Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said Chinese patrol ships had this year come as close as 60 nautical miles (111km) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon. “Their goal is to normalize such deployments, and if these actions go unnoticed and unchallenged, it will enable them to alter the existing status quo,” he said in a statement. He later told reporters that Manila had deployed a coast guard ship to the area
HOLLYWOOD IN TURMOIL: Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton and Cary Elwes lost properties to the flames, while awards events planned for this week have been delayed Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton, and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events, while at least five people have died. Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week’s Oscar nominations have been delayed, while tens of thousands of city residents had been displaced and were awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city’s most famous denizens. More than 1,900 structures had been destroyed and the number was expected to increase. More than 130,000 people
A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand more than one decade ago said that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back. Forty-three Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation. “We could be imprisoned and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from
RISING TENSIONS: The nations’ three leaders discussed China’s ‘dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea,’ and agreed on the importance of continued coordination Japan, the Philippines and the US vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia’s waters, the three nations said following a call among their leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and outgoing US President Joe Biden met via videoconference on Monday morning. Marcos’ communications office said the leaders “agreed to enhance and deepen economic, maritime and technology cooperation.” The call followed a first-of-its-kind summit meeting of Marcos, Biden and then-Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Washington in April last year that led to a vow to uphold international
RSS