SINGAPORE
Lee KuXUL3an Yew’s wife dies
The wife of the city-state’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀), died yesterday at age 89, the Prime Minister’s Office said. Kwa Geok Choo (柯玉芝), who had been bedridden for over two years, unable to speak or move, passed away at 5:40pm in her home. Her husband, Lee Kuan Yew, 87, the architect of modern Singapore, has been in hospital since Wednesday for a chest infection. However, he was shown in good spirits on Friday in his hospital room. Lee is credited with transforming Singapore from a swampy Third World sea port into a First World financial dynamo.
UNITED STATES
Bin Laden behind plots: US
Counter-terrorism officials say they believe that senior al-Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden, are involved in the latest terror plots against European cities. The multi-pronged scope of the emerging plan — which aimed to launch coordinated shooting sprees or attacks in Britain, France and Germany — is an al-Qaeda hallmark. One US intelligence official added, however, that the details of how the plan was directed or coordinated by the group’s core leaders is not yet clear.
THE NETHERLANDS
Anti-Islam MP faces trial
Anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders, set to become a shadow partner of the next coalition government, goes on trial in Amsterdam tomorrow for inciting hatred against Muslims. The controversial politician with his signature shock of blonde-dyed hair risks up to a year in jail or a 7,600 euro (US$10,471) fine, according to prosecutors, for calling Islam “fascist” and likening the Koran to Hitler’s Mein Kampf. Wilders, 47, will stand trial on five charges of giving religious offense to Muslims and inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims and people of non-Western immigrant origin, particularly Moroccans. Wilders campaigns for a stop to Muslim immigration, banning the construction of new mosques and a tax on headscarves.
SOUTH AFRICA
Charity trustee facing charges
A former trustee of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund is facing criminal charges after supermodel Naomi Campbell told a war crimes tribunal she gave him three alleged blood diamonds in 1997, prosecutors said. Jeremy Ractliffe, who admitted he had the stones after they came under scrutiny at the war crimes trial of former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, has been charged with illegal possession of uncut diamonds, South Africa’s national prosecuting authority said on Friday. Campbell told judges she gave the three uncut diamonds to Ractliffe to “do something good with.” The day after her testimony, Ractliffe confirmed he had kept the stones.
UNITED KINGDOM
Police pay review launched
The government said on Friday it was launching the most comprehensive review of police pay and conditions in more than 30 years to maximize value for money in tough economic times. Home Secretary Theresa May said “nothing would be off limits” in a re-evaluation of roles, pay, pensions and work conditions. She said detailed scrutiny of practices aimed to inject a dose of modern management thinking into the running of the 43 forces in England and Wales. In July police watchdog Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Audit Commission said better procurement, more collaboration between forces and reforming old-fashioned shift patterns to meet demand could save ￡1 billion (US$1.6 billion)
NORWAY
Oil firms resist US pressure
Major European oil firms resisted pressure from the US on Friday to stop doing business with Iran, in spite of Washington’s drive to isolate Tehran over a nuclear program the West suspects is aimed at making bombs. France’s Total said it was still buying Iranian crude as it was not illegal under new UN sanctions, Norway’s Statoil said it was providing Iran with technical assistance and Italy’s Eni said it would exit Iran only when existing deals expire. The US had said on Thursday that all three, as well as Royal Dutch Shell, would abandon their Iranian activities voluntarily to avoid US sanctions. US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said on Thursday the firms “have provided assurances to us” that they have stopped or are in process of stopping activity in Iran and would not undertake new deals that may be sanctionable.
UNITED STATES
New US$100 bill delayed
The Federal Reserve said on Friday that the Feb. 10 release of the new high-tech US$100 bill had been postponed because of printing troubles, adding that it would announce a new date as soon as possible. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing said the new bills, which have been redesigned with sophisticated elements aimed at thwarting counterfeiters, had come out of some of initial printing runs with unwanted creases. Officials unveiled the redesigned US$100 bill in April. Benjamin Franklin is still on the C-note, but he has been joined by some snazzy new features. Those include a disappearing Liberty Bell in an inkwell and a bright blue security ribbon that is composed of thousands of tiny lenses. Those lenses magnify the objects underneath them to make them appear that they are moving in the opposite direction from the way the bill is being moved.
UNITED STATES
Michigan official under fire
An assistant attorney general in Michigan has taken a personal leave of absence and may be disciplined for his online attacks on a gay campus leader at the University of Michigan. The official, Andrew Shirvell, has drawn national attention — and calls for his ouster — because of his attacks through his personal blog on the student, Chris Armstrong, who is believed to be the first openly gay president of the university’s student assembly. Shirvell has called Armstrong a racist with a “radical homosexual agenda.” Shirvell will face a disciplinary hearing when he returns to work, a spokesman for the attorney general said on Friday. Armstrong, 21, has filed for a personal protection order against Shirvell, saying Shirvell took pictures outside his house at 1:30am. University officials and students have come together to support Armstrong. The university has banned Shirvell from campus, and its president, Mary Sue Coleman, called his behavior reprehensible.
FRANCE
Interpol raids counterfeiters
Police taking part in an operation against illegal counterfeiting in 13 Latin American countries have arrested 600 people and seized US$50 million in fake goods, international police agency Interpol said on Friday. The counterfeit articles ranged from car parts to soft drinks and falsely branded designer clothes, and included sub-standard toys that pose a health risk to children. The raids were launched under Interpol’s Operation Jupiter against counterfeiting in 12 countries in South America as well as Panama, which has seized goods worth an estimated US$340 million since 2005 and helped dismantle criminal gangs smuggling guns and narcotics.
Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form — part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade “zine” magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the nation’s enduring love of paper in the digital era. While speaking to Agence France-Presse at the plant, his hands black with ink, one of the creators, Kazuma Obara, said: “I think [paper] is a medium that engages all five
‘ABSURD MISTAKE’: The election commission said that there had been a failure to anticipate turnout after 14 polling stations ran short of ballot papers South Korean riot police yesterday cleared protesters from a Seoul polling station after a 35-hour blockade sparked by a shortage of ballot papers during local elections earlier this week. Wednesday’s election was the first nationwide vote since South Korean President Lee Jae-myung took office following the ouster of Yoon Suk-yeol over his short-lived martial law declaration. Lee’s ruling Democratic Party swept most races, but failed to flip the crucial Seoul mayoral seat. The South Korean National Election Commission apologized, blaming a failure to anticipate turnout after 14 polling stations in Seoul ran short of ballot papers. Some polling stations stayed open until 10pm to
Australian researchers have trained lab-grown brain cells on a silicon computer chip to play the 1990s shooter game Doom and said they are just scratching the surface of what the neurons could be capable of doing. It is the science-fiction work of biotech boffins at Cortical Labs, who researched and developed the technology that harnesses the workings of the brain’s networking system. Each so-called “biological computer” contains about 200,000 living human brain cells, grown from stem cells that were harvested from blood donations. Having mastered the simple computer game Pong, where a paddle is moved up and down to send a ball
France experienced its hottest spring on record, the French weather service said on Tuesday, after an exceptional early heat wave that also broke highs for the season in England and Wales. Meteo-France said the average nationwide temperature over March to May was 13.8°C — about 1.7°C above the norm, and surpassing records set in 2011 and 2020. “The warmest spring since records began in 1900,” it said in a bulletin. All three months were warmer than average, but the onset of an “unprecedented heatwave” late last month pushed the mercury to highs typically seen at the height of the summer. “Our country had never
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