■ CHINA
Graft tackled with feng shui
A court in Shenzhen, tainted by a corruption scandal involving crooked judges, hired a Hong Kong feng shui master to help purge bad luck from the court building, a newspaper reported yesterday. In March, three judges from the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court in Guangdong Province were prosecuted for taking bribes, local media reported. In recent days, the court had renovated its eastern and western doors under the instruction of a feng shui master "to correct the misfortune of the previous year," the Beijing News said, citing an unnamed source. The eastern side of the court building was facing a factory with an inauspicious smokestack, while the western side's yin was too strong and needed a pair of stone lions to ward off "misfortune," according to the advice given the court's leaders.
■ AUSTRALIA
Scam victims keep paying
Australians lose millions of dollars annually to foreign investment scams and many continue sending money even after being told they have been conned, police said yesterday. Some 134 people from Queensland state lost A$4.4 million (US$3.7 million) last year after being promised the money would be returned as part of windfalls that never materialized, Acting Superintendent Brian Hay said. Hay, who heads an anti-fraud task force, said only 24 percent of those told they were the victims of one particular Nigerian scam believed the authorities, while the rest carried on sending money to the fraudsters.
■ SINGAPORE
Coach fired in online sting
A Singapore basketball coach was fired from schools after teachers identified him in a local newspaper article about men who prey on young girls online, a newspaper said on Sunday. The Sunday Times said the coach was fired from two schools after teachers identified him in the newspaper, despite his face being digitally masked, as one of the men who tried to hook up with a reporter posing as a 13-year-old girl. In the May 6 article headlined, "You're 13? What's your bust size?" the coach was quoted as saying he wanted to meet the reporter "to cuddle a bit" after meeting her in an online chatroom for teenagers.
■ THAILAND
Thaksin's wife pleads
The wife of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, her brother and her secretary pleaded not guilty yesterday to tax evasion charges in a case which could finish off the charismatic billionaire politically. The court postponed the start of the trial to May 25 after the defendants asked for more time to gather evidence to counter charges filed by prosecutors in March, Noppadon said. Potjaman, her brother and secretary, freed on bail of 15 million baht (US$435,000), could face up to 14 years in jail in a case involving the transfer of shares in what is now Shin Corp, the firm Thaksin founded.
■ NEW ZEALAND
Intruder locks himself up
A bumbling intruder broke into an empty police station and accidentally locked himself in a cell, but managed to smash his way out again just before authorities arrived. Sergeant Graham McGurk said yesterday that the person broke into the police station in the town of Matamata on North Island on Saturday night. The intruder went to the cell bloc, and was accidentally locked in when a self-closing door clicked shut. As police rushed to respond to an intruder alarm at the post, the intruder used a chair to smash through a window.
■ BRAZIL
Pope condemns Marxism
Pope Benedict XVI condemned globalization and Marxism as the causes of many of Latin America's ills on the final day of his trip to Brazil, and lamented the wide gap between the region's small elite and its poor masses. Benedict urged the region's bishops to mold a new generation of leaders to reverse Roman Catholicism's declining influence in Latin America, but warned that priests should steer clear of politics.
■ RUSSIA
Ten people die in cafe fire
Ten people have been found dead after an explosion and fire in a cafe in Orsk, emergency officials said yesterday. Authorities were trying to determine the cause of the late-night blast and fire in the city, Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov said. He said all the victims were believed to have been found. Investigators suspect it may have been an arson attack, state-run Vesti-24 television reported, citing a regional emergency official.
■ FRANCE
Sarkozy's wife didn't vote
The wife of Nicolas Sarkozy did not vote in the election that saw him win the French presidency, a Web site said on Sunday, claiming that a newspaper which had the information first gave in to pressure not to reveal it. Rue89.com, a new left-leaning site created by journalists who used to work for the Liberation daily, attributed the news that Cecilia Sarkozy did not vote in the May 6 second round to the Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. But, the Web site added, the planned article was "censored" by the managing editor and by the paper's owner, Arnaud Largardere, the industrialist and friend of the incoming president.
■ BELGIUM
EU praises Serbian progress
The European Commission yesterday praised positive progress in Serbia and urged it to finalize talks on a new government, holding out the prospect of a quick resumption of talks on future ties with the EU. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, a moderate nationalist, and pro-Western President Boris Tadic agreed a coalition on Friday after 16 weeks of on-off talks, to the relief of Western governments which had feared a resurgence of nationalism. As part of the deal, the two sides agreed to unseat hardline parliament speaker Tomislav Nikolic, who resigned on Sunday after two days of debate. "In general they are going towards a better direction," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told reporters before a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
■ ARMENIA
Republicans win election
Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian's Republican Party garnered the most votes in parliamentary elections, officials said, as foreign observers praised the vote and opposition parties accused authorities of fraud. The Republican Party was leading in the list of five parties topping the 5 percent minimum for seats in the 131-seat National Assembly, the Central Elections Commission said on Sunday. Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), meanwhile, commended the vote, saying it was, on the whole, better than the previous one four years ago. "The election campaign was dynamic with extensive media coverage. Election day was calm, with no major incidents reported, but a few cases of fraud schemes were observed," the OSCE's election monitoring team said in a report.
■ UAE
Bin Laden still `alive'
An anti-US Afghan rebel leader said he had information that Osama bin Laden is alive but keeping a low profile by not issuing statements, a video monitored in Dubai said on Sunday. The al-Qaeda leader's long silence has fueled speculation that the world's most-wanted fugitive may have died. "Based on information I have, I believe Osama is alive," said Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whose forces operate in southeastern Afghanistan, in the undated video broadcast on Al Arabiya TV. "I also believe that it is good that he ... does not appear in the media and that it is wise that no statements or tapes are issued even after a long while," Hekmatyar said.
■ UNITED STATES
Sea lion joins walk-a-thon
He has flippers instead of feet, but that didn't stop a sea lion from joining schoolchildren on a walk-a-thon. The marine mammal apparently noticed children doing laps on Friday morning around a course they had set up at the Marin Country Day School on the shores of San Francisco Bay. The 84kg Steller sea lion waddled ashore, shocking students and teachers. "He did a whole lap," said Kelly Watson, director of constituent relations and Web communications at the private school.
■ UNITED STATES
You're never too old to learn
At the age of 95, Nola Ochs of Kansas is now the world's oldest person to receive a college diploma. But her studying days might not be over just yet -- she is considering a master's degree. Ochs received her bachelor's degree in general studies and history during Saturday's graduation ceremony at Fort Hays State University. When she was handed her degree by Governor Kathleen Sebelius, the crowd gave her a standing ovation, breaking a rule against applauding until all the names of all 2,176 graduates were read. Ochs has 13 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.
■ UNITED STATES
Deep fried testicles a hit
Wisconsinites have deep-fried cheese curds, candy bars and Twinkies. They now have deep-fried livestock testicles, too. More than 300 people paid US$5 for all-you-can-eat goat, lamb and bull testicles on Saturday at the ninth annual Testicle Festival at Mama's Place Bar and Grill in Elderon in central Wisconsin. "Once you get over the mental [aspect] of what you're eating, it's just like eating any other food, and it tastes good," Buster Hoffman said. Festival founder Nancy Fenske said the festival grew out of her late husband Roger's birthday party 12 years ago. They decided to have "a nut fry" at Mama's Place after bringing back lamb fries from a trip to Montana. The event grew every year and now they fry up to 45kg of testicles, she said.
■ BRAZIL
Rancher goes on trial
A rancher went to trial yesterday for the killing of US nun Dorothy Stang, whose death while trying to save the Amazon rainforest now threatens to strip away the impunity of the region's often violent elite. Vitalmiro Bastos Moura is one of two ranchers accused of ordering the 2005 killing of the 73-year-old nun, a naturalized Brazilian originally from Dayton, Ohio. She was slain by six bullets on a muddy patch of road deep in Para state. The gunman, his accomplice and an intermediary were convicted, but Moura is the first alleged mandante -- mastermind -- to stand trial. Prosecutors allege Moura and rancher Regivaldo Galvao offered the gunmen 50,000 reals (US$25,000) to kill Stang over a patch of rain forest they wanted cut down for pasture.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
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