■ Japan
Russian crab boat rescued
A Russian crab boat ran aground off a small island in northern Japan yesterday but there were no injuries among its 14-member crew, the coast guard said. The incident comes just weeks after a Russian coast guard boat fired on a Japanese fishing vessel that was allegedly trespassing in Russian waters off Hokkaido, killing a fisherman, then seizing the boat and detaining its remaining three crew members. Japan's coast guard dispatched a patrol vessel and airplanes after the Cambodian-registered Pacific No. 3 crab carrier was found aground about 7km off Rebun island near Hokkaido early yesterday morning, a coast guard statement said.
■ Japan
House torched over shrine
A member of a right-wing group arrested on suspicion of burning down the house of a lawmaker has told police that the parliamentarian's remarks about a Tokyo war shrine were unacceptable, Kyodo News agency said on Wednesday. Masahiro Horigome, 65, was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of setting fire earlier this month to the house and office of lawmaker Koichi Kato. The fire took place on Aug. 15 after Kato made numerous TV appearances criticizing Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for visiting Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine that day. Horigome was found collapsed on the grounds of the house with apparently self-inflicted wounds to his abdomen. Police later identified him as a member of the Dai-Nippon Dohosha, or Great Japanese Brotherhood.
■ South Korea
No visas for lingerie models
A South Korean sex trade show promised foreign women in provocative underwear, striptease acts and sex seminars, but had to cancel the performances after losing its lingerie models to immigration laws, organizers said yesterday. The Seoul Sex Education Expo, dubbed SEXPO, opened yesterday, however, with plenty of sex toys, lotions and audiovisual material. "Immigration officials warned us if the models performed without having obtained the appropriate visa, they could be subject to deportation," a SEXPO official said. An immigration official said models were planning to enter the country on tourist visas, but they needed performance visas.
■ Thailand
English-language paper folds
The English-language newspaper of media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul -- a fierce critic of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra -- folded yesterday, claiming that its finances had been undermined by the government. ThaiDay, which is inserted into the Thailand edition of the International Herald Tribune, was one of the country's four English-language dailies. A front-page letter to readers in the last issue said Sondhi's crusade to oust Thaksin had "resulted in credit lines for the Group being cut, bank overdraft facilities being withdrawn and advertisements for Group publications being pulled."
■ China
Rapist farmer executed
A farmer who raped 15 women and girls and killed seven of them has been executed, concluding a case that spread terror across Shaanxi Province, state media said yesterday. Li Fengpo, 28, was executed on Tuesday with a bullet to the back of the head in Weinan City, Shaanxi, China News Service said on its Web site. It said Li's rampage lasted from 2000 to 2004, with rapes committed in Weinan's Hua and Huayin counties, as well as Qinhuangdao City in northern Hebei Province.
■ United Kindom
Detention extension OK
Five suspects who have not been charged in an alleged plot to blow up US-bound airliners with liquid explosives can be held for another week. The decision by a judge on Wednesday means that investigators can continue questioning the five men until next Wednesday, when they either will have to be charged or released. Police can hold suspected terrorists for a maximum of 28 days without charge, subject to court approval. Of the 25 people originally arrested in raids early last month, eleven have been charged with conspiracy to murder and preparing to commit terrorist acts. Four others are accused of lesser offenses and the other five have been released.
■ Russia
Three killed in blasts
A suspected militant was killed and two Russian servicemen were wounded in separate explosions of roadside bombs or mines in Chechnya, the regional Interior Ministry said yesterday. The suspected militant was trying to escape custody when he stepped on an explosive device on the edge of a wooded area in the Kurchaloi district southeast of Grozny, the ministry said. He died at the scene. The two servicemen were wounded when a roadside bomb fashioned from an army anti-personnel mine exploded near the town of Vedeno, the ministry said.
■ Switzerland
Mooove slowly, hikers told
Keep your distance. Avoid eye contact. And even if it looks cute, never hug a Swiss cow. Responding to numerous "reports of unpleasant meetings between hikers and cattle" along Alpine trails this summer, the Swiss Hiking Federation has laid down a few ground rules. "Leave the animals in peace and do not touch them. Never caress a calf," reads the group's guidance, posted on the Web site. "Do not scare the animals or look them directly in the eye. Do not wave sticks. Give a precise blow to the muzzle of the cow in the event of absolute need," it says. A federation officials said that while there were no precise statistics on incidents involving cows, walkers are reporting more run-ins than a few years ago.
■ Italy
Women want naming right
Women members of parliament have tabled 13 bills to try to change the law on surnames, which even the judiciary has criticized for being outdated. Nine of the proposed laws have the backing of legislators of the left and right. Currently a child must take the family name of his or her father, unless the identity of the father is unknown. Italians cannot create double-barrelled surnames to keep alive a maternal family name, nor can single mothers give their last names to their children.
■ Italy
Couple smooch to rob
A couple dubbed "Bonnie and Clyde" by police robbed at least three people by kissing wildly in a parked car, then jumping out to attack unsuspecting passersby, news agency Ansa said on Tuesday. Police arrested the pair in Milan on Monday. The 27-year-old man and his 26-year-old girlfriend would sit in their car, passionately hugging and kissing to lull passersby who may otherwise have suspected them of loitering, Ansa said. Three women passing the car on different days last month were then suddenly assaulted by the man, who beat them and threatened them with a knife before taking all their belongings.
■ United States
Rosales denies he's a lackey
Opposition presidential candidate Manuel Rosales denies charges by President Hugo Chavez that he's a US government pawn, but says he will meet with US officials while campaigning because the two nations share a key relationship based on oil. "We are going to meet with representatives of various governments in the coming weeks," Rosales said on Tuesday. "We are going to meet with representatives of the United States because the United States is an important country for Venezuela ... It's where we sell the oil." Chavez has called all opposing candidates "lackeys" of the US government, and the Dec. 3 election a race between his socialist government and Washington.
■ United States
Anti-Bush T-shirt allowed
A schoolboy was within his rights to wear a T-shirt depicting President George W. Bush as a chicken and accusing him of being a former alcohol and cocaine abuser, an appeals court ruled. Zachary Guiles' school violated his constitutional right to free speech when it ordered him to cover parts of the shirt, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said on Wednesday. Guiles was a 13-year-old student at Williamstown Middle High School in Williamstown, Vermont, in May 2004 when he wore the shirt to classes every week for two months. School administrators said images of drugs violated the school's dress code.
■ United States
More Indian slots permitted
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who once opposed unlimited expansion of gambling on Indian lands, has signed deals with several tribes allowing them to install tens of thousands of new slot machines. The latest of the amended state gambling compacts were announced on Wednesday -- two agreements that would allow the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay nation to install up to 3,000 new slot machines at its El Cajon casino and resort, and the Yurok tribe to install the first 99 slots on its reservation in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. Earlier in the week, the administration announced deals allowing three other tribes to increase the number of slots they operate from 2,000 to 7,500.
■ Mexico
Fox to give final speech
President Vicente Fox's spokesman said on Wednesday that he trusts opposition legislators will act with "civility" when Fox gives his final state of the nation address to the Mexican Congress this week. Fox will deliver the speech to a divided Mexico, with the nation's top electoral court appearing likely to resolve the July 2 election in favor of the ruling party candidate, Felipe Calderon, and his leftist rival, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, threatening to set up a parallel government. Supporters of Lopez Obrador have vowed to protest Fox's address in the Congress building.
■ Peru
Ice Maiden at risk
The famed "Ice Maiden," the frozen mummy of an Inca girl sacrificed to the gods 500 years ago, might be at risk from humidity, the daily newspaper El Comercio reported on Wednesday. Dampness was detected inside the mummy's glass-enclosed refrigeration compartment by an expert from the US Smithsonian Institution who was vacationing in Arequipa, where the mummy is kept, it said. The unnamed expert notified Peruvian authorities that the mummy could deteriorate beyond repair within five years if the problem is not corrected.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
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