THE PHILIPPINES
Chopper chrash kills three
A military helicopter operating in the rebellion-torn south crashed into a mountain yesterday, killing three people, the air force said. The Bell UH-1H aircraft pitched into Mount Sinumaan on Jolo Island when its crew attempted to land at a military outpost there, air force spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Miguel Ernesto Okol said. “The UH-1H attempted a precautionary landing ... due to mechanical problems,” he said in a statement. “There were three reported fatalities [but] the co-pilot survived,” he said. All the casualties were aboard the helicopter.
CHINA
Most new railways on hold
The building of 80 percent of new railway projects have been delayed pending clarification of government policies for the sector, a newspaper reported yesterday. “At present, more than 80 percent of ongoing railway construction projects have been suspended and the completion of many projects has been pushed back by a year,” the 21st Century Business Herald said. The government said it would suspend new railway project approvals and launch safety checks on existing equipment to address public anger following a crash on a new high-speed rail line in July which killed 40 people. The government came under fire again this week after a collision on Shanghai’s subway injured more than 270 people.
MALAYSIA
Exiled leader in coma
A person close to the family of a former guerrilla who led a communist insurgency against British rule says he is in a coma at a Thai hospital. The person says relatives of 86-year-old Chin Peng visited him in Bangkok after he was hospitalized last month. The person spoke on condition of anonymity yesterday because he was not at liberty to comment on behalf of the family. Chin Peng has lived in exile for five decades. He led the 1948-1957 communist insurgency against British Commonwealth troops when the country then known as Malaya was under colonial rule.
MALAYSIA
Facebook posts earn fine
A Malaysian court has ordered a man to pay 100,000 ringgit (US$31,347) for defaming a mechanics’ training center on Facebook, his lawyer said yesterday. The High Court in Penang State said Leong Yook Kong defamed the center, where his son had studied, through three posts on the social networking site last year, Leong’s lawyer K. Paramanathan said. Leong, 64, posted the comments implying the center was guilty of fraud and corrupt practices after his son failed an examination for a diploma in vehicle maintenance and repair. Leong is also not allowed to publish further defamatory statements.
JAPAN
‘Ark’ to withstand tsunamis
A small Japanese company has developed a modern, miniature version of Noah’s Ark in case Japan is hit by another massive earthquake and tsunami: A floating capsule that looks like a huge tennis ball. Cosmo Power says its “Noah” shelter is made of enhanced fiberglass that can save users from disasters like the one on March 11 that devastated the northern coast, leaving nearly 20,000 people dead or missing. Company president Shoji Tanaka says the US$3,900 capsule can hold four adults, and that it has survived many crash tests. It has a lookout window and breathing holes on top. It can also be used as a toy house for children. The company has already delivered two capsules and has orders for 600 more.
BELGIUM
Man wants antarctic burial
Alfred David dreams one day he will find eternal rest in the icy waters somewhere near Antarctica, dressed in his penguin suit and laid out in a coffin decorated with penguins. The 79-year-old “Monsieur Pingouin” (Mr Penguin), as he is known to locals in his Brussels neighborhood, dons his favorite hooded black-and-white penguin costume as he looks back at more than 40 years of obsession. “My ultimate dream is to be buried in a deep ocean close to where penguins live,” he said. David’s life changed in May 1968 when his hip was injured in a car accident. His resulting limp was characterized by his colleagues as a waddle, and they dubbed him Mr Penguin. As a consequence he embraced an interest in the flightless sea bird and began collecting everything he could find that had a link with the animal. As his obsession grew, he eventually set up a museum in his home displayed some 3,500 items of penguin memorabilia. His wife showed him and his collection the door when he told her he wanted to officially change his name to Mr Penguin. David later donated his penguin collection to a local soccer team to raise money for the club.
UNITED KINGDOM
MP’s wife stole kitten
The estranged wife of a lawmaker was convicted on Friday of stealing a kitten from the house of her husband’s lover. Christine Hemming, 53, had denied the charge, but was caught on a surveillance camera crawling on her hands and knees under a window and entering the house of her husband’s mistress, Emily Cox, a year ago. She was later filmed leaving the house with four-month-old tabby kitten Beauty under her arm. Hemming told the jury at Birmingham Crown Court in England that she had gone to Cox’s house to deliver mail to her husband, but could not remember what happened next. She said she later tried to return the cat, leaving it in the yard of a house in Cox’s neighborhood. It has not been seen since. Hemming is separated from her husband, Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming. She will be sentenced next month.
TURKEY
Morgue can detect life
Officials in the eastern city of Malatya, responding to an ancient local fear of being buried alive, have equipped the local morgue with the latest gadgetry in case any of the bodies stored there have been declared dead by mistake. Alarms and electronic motion detectors in the mortuary can detect the slightest movement by a living person emerging from a coma or long period of unconsciousness. The 36 refrigerators will be fitted with interior door handles to allow their occupants to climb out of their coffins and open the doors, Akif Kayadurmus, head of the municipal funerals service, told the state news agency Anatolian. “The device detects even the slightest movement and sends out an alarm,” he said. “The resurrections may be rare, but we have taken every possibility into account.”
NIGERIA
Nation marks independence
The nation celebrated its independence anniversary from Britain in a low-key ceremony amid bombings and attacks carried out by a radical Muslim sect. President Goodluck Jonathan joined foreign diplomats and dignitaries yesterday for a military ceremony at the presidential villa Aso Rock, which remains shielded from public view by its mountain namesake in the capital, Abuja. The government typically holds such events at a parade ground in the capital, but moved it to the secure villa amid increasingly bloody attacks by a radical sect known as Boko Haram.
UNITED STATES
Primary move sparks chaos
Florida officials decided on Friday to move up the vital battleground’s presidential primary date to Jan. 31, sowing chaos in the political calendar in the run-up to next year’s November elections. The state, which has 29 of the 270 electoral college votes needed to clinch the White House, is expected to be the largest battleground when President Barack Obama faces off against his as yet undetermined Republican rival. Moving up the date gives candidates less time to raise funds and court supporters, which could weigh on Republicans tempted to consider making a late entry into the already crowded field, such as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
UNITED STATES
Gotti denies Travolta meet
A lawyer for John Gotti’s son is denying a report that actor John Travolta met with the mob boss’ widow to seek her blessing for his upcoming movie role as the mafia kingkin. The New York Post reported that Travolta went to the family’s New York City home on Sept. 22 to meet with widow Victoria Gotti and son John “Junior” Gotti. However, Junior Gotti’s lawyer, Charles Carnesi, said that Victoria was not home when Travolta visited. A Post spokeswoman said on Friday the newspaper stands by its story. A Travolta spokesman says the actor has no comment. The Post story was first challenged by former Post reporter Jerry Capeci in his newsletter ganglandnews.com. Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father is set to start shooting in January.
UNITED STATES
No US$16 muffins after all
The government did not pay US$16 for each muffin served at a legal conference after all, the Department of Justice inspector general’s office said on Friday, contradicting an earlier report that caused an uproar. A spokesman for the office said it had based the US$16 muffin on documents showing an invoice from the Capital Hilton Hotel of US$4,200, including gratuity and service charge, for 250 muffins at the August 2009 conference in Washington. The report, released on Sept. 20, generated widespread news coverage and prompted President Barack Obama to order federal agencies to review expenses for conferences. While the inspector general’s office backed down on the US$16 muffins, it said it remained critical of the amount paid for food and beverages as too expensive.
UNITED STATES
Gun fans become ammo
There is something to be said for going out with a bang. Two Alabama game wardens have devised a smoking send-off for avid hunters and gun enthusiasts: For a small fee, the pair will turn cremated ashes into ammunition that the deceased’s loved ones can fire at will.
MEXICO
Cartel, casino arrests made
Authorities detained an alleged Zetas drug cartel hit man suspected in the disappearance of three marines, the navy announced on Friday. Angel Mora, nicknamed “Commander Devil,” was detained Thursday in Veracruz, along with another gunman, the navy said. In Nuevo Leon, authorities on Friday announced the arrest of one of the suspected masterminds of a casino arson that killed 52 people last month. Nuevo Leon state security spokesman Jorge Domene said federal agents detained Roberto Lopez on Thursday in Zapopan, Guadalajara. Lopez, 32, is believed to be one of four alleged members of the Zetas drug cartel who planned the Aug. 25 arson of the Casino Royale in Monterrey.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
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