■ INDIA
Suspected militants slain
Police killed two suspected Pakistani militants after a car chase and gun battle on the outskirts of New Delhi before dawn yesterday. Police said the two men were shot dead in the town of Noida and one policeman was injured. “We recovered AK-47 rifles and grenades and some documents, including a Pakistani passport,” Navin Arora, a senior Noida police officer told reporters. The attack came on the eve of Republic Day today. Police said the suspects were trying to enter New Delhi.
■SOMALIA
Car bombing kills 16
A policeman and 15 civilians were reported killed on Saturday in a suicide car bombing in Mogadishu and 38 others seriously wounded, the Arab broadcaster al-Jazeera reported. The bombing at a police checkpoint came a week after the withdrawal of the remaining Ethiopian troops, and during a power vacuum contested by Islamist rebels and the interim government. The policeman shot at the car as it sped toward the checkpoint. In response, the bomber steered his car into a full bus.
■JAPAN
Medvedev invites Aso
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has invited Prime Minister Taro Aso to visit Sakhalin island next month for talks on “all issues” between the two nations, officials in Tokyo said late on Saturday. In a 15-minute phone call, Aso said he would consider the proposed meeting, the Japanese foreign ministry said. Medvedev invited Aso for a ceremony at the Sakhalin II project, which has just started, liquefied natural gas production and will export to Japan. Moscow and Tokyo have never signed a peace treaty to formally end World War II due to Tokyo’s claims over four islands which Soviet troops seized in 1945 off Japan’s northern coast.
■HONG KONG
3D porn flick planned
Filmmakers are preparing to leave filmgoers goggle-eyed by releasing the world’s first pornographic movie in 3D, the Sunday Morning Post. said yesterday. Shooting on the Chinese-language film 3D Sex And Zen, budgeted at US$4 million, is scheduled for April with producers promising some of the most realistic close-up sex scenes ever. “Just imagine that you’ll be watching it as if you were sitting beside the bed,” Stephen Shiu Jr said. “There will be many close-ups. It will look as if the actresses are only a few centimeters from the audience.” However, he said casting for the film was proving difficult. “We’re having trouble finding a male lead who is willing to undress in front of the camera,” he said. “It’s a lot more difficult to find an actor than an actress for this kind of film.”
■HONG KONG
Mugabe’s daughter studying
The daughter of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is studying at the University of Hong Kong under an assumed name, the Sunday Morning Post said yesterday. Bona Mugabe, whose father and fellow leaders are banned from visiting the US, the EU and Australia, began studying in the territory last year, a senior university source said. Her presence was revealed after her 43-year-old mother, Grace Mugabe, allegedly assaulted a British photographer who tried to take photos of her outside the Kowloon Shangri-la Hotel on Jan. 15. Police said they were still investigating the alleged assault on photographer Richard Jones, who said he had been repeatedly beaten and punched by Grace Mugabe while her bodyguard held him.
■ EL SALVADOR
Leftists gain in elections
Former leftist rebels won more seats than any other party in the legislative elections on Jan. 18, but fell short of a majority, final results showed on Saturday. The Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) won 35 seats, three more than in the 2006 polls, making it the strongest party less than two months before the presidential election. But the outcome also shows that the party will have to negotiate with a conservative bloc if it takes the presidency. While President Tony Saca’s conservative Arena party lost two seats to end up with 32 in the 84 seat-unicameral congress, the Christian Democratic Party won 11 seats and the conservative National Conciliation Party won five.
■CANADA
Bird flu found in farm
Authorities discovered strains of bird flu on a western turkey farm and officials said on Saturday that 60,000 birds would have to be culled. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said tests indicate that the H5 avian influenza virus found on a turkey farm in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver, British Columbia, is “low pathogenic.” That means the severity of the illness it causes in birds is relatively low. Even so, agency officials said that along with euthanizing all birds on the premises, food inspectors are also restricting the movement of poultry and poultry products within 3km of the farm.
■UNITED STATES
Plumber recovers diamond
It took a plumber to retrieve a woman’s seven-carat diamond ring after city workers failed in efforts to flush the gem out of the pipes of a restaurant toilet. The US$70,000 diamond ring fell from Allison Berry’s hand when she flushed the toilet in the restroom of the Black Bear Diner in Phoenix, Arizona, on Jan. 14. City workers opened a pipe outside the restaurant and continuously flushed the toilet, hoping to push the ring out to the opening. When that didn’t work, the city called the office of Mr. Rooter, a plumbing service. Mike Roberts, general manager of Mr. Rooter, used a tiny video camera to track and later retrieve the diamond ring.
■UNITED STATES
Workers find cash in trash
Three state highway workers cleaning up litter in Indiana picked up an abandoned tire — and found about US$100,000 inside. State police suspect the cash, in denominations of US$5 to US$100, may be drug money. State Police spokesman Mike Burns said a drug-sniffing dog found the scent of drugs on the bills. Police said the workers found the tire on Friday in a ditch along Interstate 70 just east of Indianapolis.
■MEXICO
Relatives to see ‘acid man’
Relatives of 100 missing people want to show photos of their loved ones to a man arrested in Tijuana for allegedly helping a druglord dispose of his slain enemies by dissolving their bodies in acid, a victims’ group said on Saturday. Santiago Meza Lopez, known as the “Pozole Maker” after a local stew, is accused of disposing of 300 bodies for Teodoro Garcia Simental, a suspected former lieutenant of the Tijuana-based Arellano Felix drug cartel. The relatives have asked authorities for permission to meet face-to-face with the 45-year-old Meza, said Cristina Palacios, president of Citizens United Against Impunity, a group that represents families of missing people in Tijuana. Meza was arrested on Thursday and paraded by soldiers and federal police in front of reporters on Friday at a cement-block shack where he allegedly got rid of many of the bodies over several years.
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the population at 10 million has the backing of almost half the country, according to a poll before an expected vote next year. The party, which has long campaigned against immigration, argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. The level of support comes despite the government urging voters to reject it, warning that strict curbs would damage the economy and prosperity, as Swiss companies depend on foreign workers. The poll by newspaper group Tamedia/20 Minuten and released yesterday showed that 48 percent of the population plan to vote
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
The Philippines deferred the awarding of a project that is part of a plan to build one of the world’s longest marine bridges after local opposition over the potential involvement of a Chinese company due to national security fears. The proposals are “undergoing thorough review” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which acts as a lender and an overseer of the project to ensure it meets international environmental and governance standards, the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways said in a statement on Monday in response to queries from Bloomberg. The agency said it would announce the winning bidder once ADB
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