■ HONG KONG
Entrepreneur unmasked
Police yesterday were investigating a 12-year-old schoolboy who posted naked pictures of himself online and offered himself as a gigolo for women as old as 45. The boy gave himself the nickname Little Leung and offered sexual services to “females between the ages of 10 and 45” on an adult friendship forum, the Hong Kong Standard reported. His bizarre advertisement, which included a photograph of his private parts, described him as a Christian and offered to “make love” to girls and women for HK$450 (US$58). Outraged Internet users published the boy’s personal details online. After he was unmasked, the boy on Saturday posted an online appeal to his principal and teachers not to expel him from school, the Standard said.
■CHINA
Police hold ‘troublemakers’
Police in the southeast have detained seven “troublemakers” for setting off fireworks in a bar, causing a blaze that killed as many as 17 people, state media reported yesterday. Following Saturday’s fire in Changle city, police were also investigating seven staff members at the bar, and were searching for the establishment’s legal representative, Xinhua news agency said. The fire erupted shortly before midnight when a group of young people set off fireworks inside the bar, Xinhua reported.
■THAILAND
‘Economist’ issue banned
The distributor of the Economist said yesterday it had banned the latest edition of the news magazine as it carried a “sensitive” article critical of the army and Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. The piece refers to the country’s alleged mistreatment of hundreds of ethnic Rohingya migrants who washed up on its shores from Myanmar, describing the authorities’ treatment of the group as “astoundingly callous.” “The magazine carried some article relating to a sensitive issue, so we decided not to order it,” a staff member at Asia Books’ head office said. It was the Economist’s third ban in two months.
■SINGAPORE
Thieves steal rare tortoises
Ten rare and expensive tortoises have been stolen from a private museum, its third theft in two years, media reported yesterday. The thieves struck on Saturday, escaping with tortoises worth S$75,000 (US$49,730) that were on display at the Live Turtle and Tortoise Museum. Three endangered radiated tortoises, one of the rarest tortoises in the world, and seven Indian star tortoises were stolen, owner Danny Tan told reporters. “I opened the tortoise museum to educate the public about tortoises, yet thefts happen. Of course I feel disappointed,” Tan said.
■MYANMAR
Laureate meets UN envoy
Detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari yesterday after refusing to see him during his last visit to the military-ruled country, witnesses said. The meeting marked the first time that Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel peace laureate who has spent most of the past 19 years under house arrest, had spoken with someone from outside the country since she met Gambari last March. The UN envoy returned to the country at the weekend in a renewed effort to push its ruling generals, who have been in power for nearly five decades, toward democratic reform. Aung San Suu Kyi was allowed to leave her lakeside Yangon home to meet Gambari and senior members of her National League for Democracy for one hour at a state-run guest house, witnesses said.
■SAUDI ARABIA
Smoker to get 30 lashes
A man has been sentenced to 30 lashes for smoking on a domestic Saudi Arabian Airlines flight, local media reported yesterday. The unnamed man had refused to put out his cigarette on a flight to Jeddah from Qurayyat, the Saudi Gazette said. He was arrested when the aircraft landed and sentenced to 30 lashes by a court on Sunday.
■ISRAEL
Family reaches settlement
Authorities have reached a huge financial settlement with the family of James Miller, a British cameraman killed by Israeli troops in 2003, an official confirmed on Sunday. The Haaretz daily reported that the government paid James Miller’s family 1.5 million euros (US$2.2 million), a figure that Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said was “more or less” correct. A statement from Miller’s family spokesman confirmed that a settlement has been reached, adding that “this is the nearest they are likely to get to an admission of guilt by the Israeli government.” In May 2003, Miller, 34, was in the town of Rafah shooting footage for a documentary about the impact of violence on children in the region, when he was shot and killed. The family said the killing was caught on film by another cameraman. The footage showed that the cameraman and his colleagues, who were leaving the Rafah refugee camp after dark, carried a white flag and called out to let troops know they were British journalists but Miller was still hit by gunfire. The army officer who fired the shot was cleared by a court martial last year, despite a military court recommendation that disciplinary action be taken against him. In 2006, a British coroner’s inquest concluded that Miller’s death was murder.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Snowfall causes chaos
Heavy snowfall overnight caused widespread travel delays across the country including disruptions to flights and London’s rush hour yesterday. All public buses in London were suspended because of what the city’s transport authority described as dangerous road conditions. Several subway lines were shut down and others were working with severe delays.
■LEBANON
Paper returns to newsstands
The country’s only English-language daily is back on newsstands after it was forced to shut down for about two weeks due to a legal dispute with a creditor. An announcement on yesterday’s front page of the Daily Star says the judiciary has granted the paper permission to resume publication. A court order forced the closure of the paper’s offices on Jan. 14. Its publisher had said the paper owed a bank around US$700,000 and would appeal the court’s closure order while looking for investors. The Star is one of the few English-language dailies in the Arab world that is independent of government influence.
■ITALY
Youths set fire to immigrant
An Indian man was beaten and set on fire on Sunday near Rome, police said. The homeless immigrant was sleeping in a train station south of Rome when several people beat him before setting him on fire, police said. Three youths, including one minor, were arrested later on Sunday, the agency reported. Police official Vittorio Tomasone said the trio “had spent the night drinking and taking drugs, and wanted to finish their night off with a powerful gesture,” he said. On Sunday night, a Rome hospital where the man was being treated said his life was not in danger.
■ KENYA
No charge for Obama kin
George Obama, half-brother of US President Barack Obama, will not face charges after he was arrested in a drug raid on Saturday, police said yesterday. “He was caught along with some other young people, one of them in possession of cannabis,” police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said. “They were interrogated by police, but it is a minor offence.” The two Obamas share the same father, although neither of them knew their father well.
■GREECE
Farmers teargassed at port
Riot police fired tear gas at farmers from Crete yesterday to prevent them from driving their tractors from the port of Piraeus to Athens as part of a protest demanding government financial help. At least two people, including an opposition deputy, were injured in the scuffles. The port standoff is the latest twist in nearly two weeks of protests by farmers, who had used their tractors to block border crossings and highways across the country.
■UNITED STATES
Skydiver dies in air
South Carolina authorities say a skydive instructor who was sharing a parachute with a first-time jumper apparently died of a heart attack in the air. The first-time jumper was able to parachute to the ground safely on Saturday in Chester County. He tried to revive 49-year-old instructor George Steele after they had landed, but the coroner’s office said it was too late. They were skydiving in a tandem jump, where instructors are strapped to the backs of their students. Steele worked for Skydive Carolina and had made thousands of jumps over a lengthy career.
■UNITED STATES
Girl shot fighting for gun
Ohio authorities say an eight-year-old girl was shot in the head after struggling over a pistol with her 10-year-old brother. Elyria Police Lieutenant. A.D. Eichenlaub said Najia Boone was critically wounded when a .22-caliber pistol went off in an upstairs bedroom of the family’s home during the struggle. She was listed in critical condition at a Cleveland hospital on Sunday night. Police say the girl’s brother had taken the weapon from a relative’s home on Saturday.
■VENEZUELA
New holiday honors Chavez
The government on Sunday created a new national holiday on Feb 2 to commemorate President Hugo Chavez’s taking power. The announcement came less than 24 hours before the holiday was to begin. Yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of Chavez’s self-styled socialist revolution. Vice President Ramon Carrizalez said on Sunday the day would declared “a day of festivity, because the people have things to celebrate and many things to defend.”
■SOUTH AFRICA
ANC supporters attacked
The African National Congress (ANC) yesterday called for political tolerance after a number of its supporters were attacked in KwaZulu-Natal Province. The violence erupted on Sunday after the ANC held a rally in northern Zululand. ANC buses were stoned and a car carrying Member of Parliament Prince Zeblon Zulu and two women was shot at, police said. All three were injured, police said. The unrest comes as the country prepared for a general election expected to be held in April. “Everybody must be able to campaign everywhere in the country,” ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe told 702 Talk Radio, adding that the party would not accept the establishment of “no-go areas” by rivals.
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
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,
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
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