■ MALAYSIA
God is not Allah, paper told
A Catholic weekly newspaper has been told to drop the use of the word "Allah" in its Malay language section if it wants to renew its publishing permit, a senior government official said yesterday. The Herald, the organ of Malaysia's Catholic Church, has translated the word "God" as "Allah," but this is erroneous because Allah refers to the Muslim God, said Che Din Yusoff, a senior official at the Internal Security Ministry's publications control unit. "Christians cannot use the word Allah. It is only applicable to Muslims. Allah is only for the Muslim god. This is a design to confuse the Muslim people," Che Din said.
■ INDONESIA
Officials fix slogan slip-up
A new tourism campaign got off to a rocky start after embarrassed officials acknowledged that a key slogan was ungrammatical and ordered it corrected. "Visit Indonesia 2008. Celebrating 100 Years of Nation's Awakening" has been printed on billboards, government Web sites and emblazoned on the sides of aircraft belonging to the national airline, Garuda. A ministry of culture and tourism official said the phrase would be changed to "celebrating 100 years of national awakening."
■ MALAYSIA
Thai border bridge opened
Malaysia and Thailand yesterday opened a second bridge across their border as part of efforts to spur commerce between Muslim communities on both sides, which some hope will subdue an Islamic insurgency in southern Thailand. The 9.2 million ringgit (US$2.8 million) bridge project connects Jeli in northeast Kelantan state to Ban Buketa in Narathiwat Province in southern Thailand, national Bernama news agency said.
■ CHINA
Human trafficking rising
Trafficking in women and children is on the rise in China, authorities said yesterday as they unveiled a five-year plan to combat the problem. The nationwide campaign, to begin next year, will seek to step up monitoring as well as help victims, a circular posted on government Web sites said. Under the plan, local government departments will be required to close unlicensed job and marriage agencies. Transport departments must also step up monitoring at railway and bus stations, ferry docks, airports and entertainment venues to prevent women and children from being kidnapped.
■ UNITED KINGDOM
Brown's rating hits new low
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's popularity has dropped to an all-time low, a YouGov poll in the Daily Telegraph showed yesterday. Brown's government has been hit by a series of scandals in recent months, from a banking crisis to the losses of millions of Britons' personal data, as well as rows over donations to his Labour Party. The poll showed that some 60 percent of respondents were "dissatisfied" with his performance, compared with 48 percent in October, and just 27 percent in July, while 51 percent rated it as poor or very poor. His government's approval ratings also fell to 22 percent, from 32 percent before the last general election in May 2005.
■ FINLAND
Firefighters calm anaconda
Firefighters called to help a pet owner with his agitated and aggressive anaconda succeeded in taming the dangerous beast by spraying foam on it, news agency STT reported on Thursday. The 3.3m-long reptile, which was apparently hungry after fasting for four months, attacked its owner as he tried to remove it from its terrarium to move to a new apartment. The snake also attacked a veterinarian who tried to inject it with a sedative. The firefighters cooled the snake's temper by emptying the contents of a fire extinguisher into its terrarium. Ten minutes later, it was easily lifted into a bag and moved to its new home.
■ SWITZERLAND
Christmas `thief' arrested
It wasn't global warming or political correctness that chased away reindeers and snowmen in the village of Birr. Police identified the alleged culprit on Thursday as a 49-year-old woman who stole Christmas decorations from gardens in her picturesque town and packed them into bags. Passers-by caught the woman in the act on Wednesday and stopped her until police could arrive, authorities said. Police visited the woman's house and found a "significant" stash of Christmas ornaments, including illuminated reindeers, plastic snowmen and miniature figurines. The woman, who is accused of committing a number of heists throughout the region, was not identified because of privacy laws.
■ UNITED KINGDOM
Recycled gifts to top 73m
Britons are set to recycle 73 million unwanted gifts this Christmas, passing on presents worth an estimated £264 million (US$526 million). Some 53 percent of people receive an average of three unwanted Christmas gifts, and almost half of these are given to someone else, a survey for Citi shows. Women are the most prolific recyclers, with nearly half admitting to giving second-hand gifts compared with only two-fifths of men. But 37 percent of the 1,000 people polled said they only pass on "nice" presents.
■ CANADA
Dalai Lama `not a call girl'
When Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper tried to explain in a year-end
interview why he'd met the Dalai Lama in his Ottawa office, it was clear he wanted to show respect for the exiled Tibetan leader. Unfortunately, it didn't quite come out that way. "I met the Dalai Lama in my office but I meet everyone in my office. I don't know why I would sneak off to a hotel room just to meet the Dalai Lama. You know, he's not a call girl," Harper told OMNI television. He quickly added: "As I say, he's a respected international spiritual leader."
■ CANADA
Sexual abuser sentenced
A man who sexually abused his four-year-old daughter live on the Internet so another man could watch was sentenced to four years in prison. The father, whose name was not released to protect the identity of his daughter, was arrested in October last year, just hours after he used a Webcam to expose his daughter to another man -- who was actually an undercover police officer -- during a chat room conversation. The father from St. Thomas, Ontario, pleaded guilty in October to seven criminal charges. The four-year sentence handed down Thursday takes into account time already served, which means he will serve another 20 months and will then be on probation for three years.
■ UNITED STATES
Spears' book canceled
A Christian publisher said on Wednesday it has called off a parenting book written by Lynne Spears, the mother of troubled pop star Britney Spears and her pregnant 16-year-old sister, Jamie Lynn. "We have postponed the book indefinitely," said Lindsey Nobles, spokeswoman for Tennessee-based Thomas Nelson. Nobles did not give a reason for the decision, which followed news on Tuesday that Jamie Lynn Spears was three months pregnant. The working title for the book was Pop Culture Mom: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World. Described by the publisher as "a parenting book that's going to have faith elements to it," it had been set for publication on Mother's Day in May next year.
■ UNITED STATES
KITT up for auction
An original KITT -- the talking car that helped David Hasselhoff escape bad guys on the 1980s TV series Knight Rider -- is up for sale on eBay. The black 1984 Pontiac Trans Am is being sold to satisfy the debts of a slain real estate developer, whose killing last year is unsolved. Boats, cars and other items owned by car aficionado Andrew Kissel already have been sold after creditors said he owed US$30 million. One bid -- for the US$20,000 minimum -- had been posted on eBay as of Thursday. Patrick Gil, administrator of Kissel's estate, said: "My understanding is that there were only four of them made specifically for the television series. I expected some Knight Rider lovers to jump on it."
■ BRAZIL
Cleric ends hunger strike
A Roman Catholic bishop on a hunger strike for 23 days to protest against an irrigation project ended his fast on Thursday after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said construction will go forward. Brazil's largest public works venture is set to pump water from the Sao Francisco River through 700km of canals to people and farms in the arid and poor northeast, where Lula was born. Bishop Luiz Cappio, hospitalized since Wednesday, began the hunger strike on Nov. 27 in a bid to block the project that he and other critics say is too expensive and would benefit wealthy landowners more than poor peasants.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
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