NEW ZEALAND
Muslims back Sonny Bill
Islamic leaders are pushing to have All Black and “Muslim superstar” Sonny Bill Williams listed among the world’s 500 most influential Muslims, it was reported yesterday. They are disappointed the world champion midfield back failed to make last year’s list and will be writing to compilers — the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Jordan — to have him included next year. The center says its annual list provides a window on the “movers and shakers of the Muslim world,” gives an insight into the ways Muslims impact on the world and “shows the diversity of how people are living as Muslims today.” Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand senior vice president Javed Khan said he would be writing to the center to tell them about Williams, the Herald reported.
INDONESIA
Workers killed in Aceh
Unidentified gunmen on a motorbike shot dead three telecoms workers and wounded seven others in Aceh Province, police said yesterday. They killed the workers from the state-owned company PT Telkom on New Year’s Eve as they were resting in their rented house in Blang Cot Tunong village in Bireuen district, local police chief Yuri Karsono said. “Three people were killed and seven had gunshot wounds. Two gunmen came on a motorcycle, one got down and started shooting at workers with a rifle,” he said. “Their motive remains unclear. We are still investigating,” he added. Last month, unidentified gunmen shot dead three oil palm plantation workers and wounded five others in north Aceh. Police suspected “economic motivation” behind the shooting.
INDIA
Girl killed as sacrifice
A seven-year-old girl was murdered in a tribal sacrifice and her liver offered to the gods to improve crop growth, police in Chhattisgarh State said yesterday. The body of Lalita Tati was found in October, one week after her family reported her missing. “A seven-year-old girl was sacrificed by two persons superstitiously believing that the act would give a better harvest,” Narayan Das, the police chief of Bijapur district, told reporters by telephone. Two men was arrested on Wednesday last week on suspicion of killing the girl. Police said the men had confessed to the crime. The girl was murdered in a jungle district of Chhattisgarh that is a stronghold of rebel Maoists who have tapped into disaffection among local tribal groups. Human sacrifices occasionally make headlines in deeply religious and superstitious areas of the country and usually occur in poor places where some people revere practitioners of black magic. The victims are often ritually killed by witchdoctors to appease gods, spirits or deities.
PHILIPPINES
Firecrackers injure hundreds
Despite a government scare campaign, firecrackers and gunfire injured nearly 500 people as revelers welcomed the new year in one of the world’s most raucous and dangerous celebrations. About a dozen flights, including two from the US, were diverted or canceled early yesterday after dark smog caused by a night of firecracker explosions obscured visibility at Manila’s airport, officials said. Health Secretary Enrique Ona said the number of injuries — 454 from firecracker blasts and 18 from stray bullets — was slightly lower than last year, but remained alarming. Injured revelers, including many children, filled hospital emergency rooms in the capital shortly after midnight.
UNITED STATES
Pirate cruise runs aground
Authorities in Florida say a Pirate-themed cruise ship carrying about 100 passengers ran aground on New Year’s Eve. Public safety officials in Clearwater, Florida, said on Saturday night that crews responded at the Memorial Causeway Bridge when the cruise ship, known as the Pirate’s Ransom, ran aground. A second vessel attempted to take some of the passengers to shore also ran aground. Police and fireboats were taking passengers to shore late on Saturday night. A city press release says a 77-year-old woman was examined at the scene, but refused treatment. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Authorities said fog is believed to have been a factor in the ships running aground. Clearwater is located on Florida’s Gulf coast.
UNITED STATES
Banana Sam found alive
A beloved squirrel monkey that had been stolen from the San Francisco Zoo has been found safe. Authorities say Banana Sam was located on Saturday evening. Police say in a release that a park visitor noticed the 17-year-old primate and lured him into his backpack. He called police who retrieved Banana-Sam and found him in apparent good health. He was returned to the zoo. Banana Sam’s theft on Thursday prompted the zoo to boost security and keep the other 17 squirrel monkeys indoors. He was taken after thieves cut through a gate and made holes in the mesh surrounding the monkey exhibit. A US$5,000 reward had been offered for his safe return.
UNITED STATES
Explosives found at airport
A man was detained after trying to go through a security checkpoint at a Midland, Texas, airport with explosives in military-grade wrapping, federal and local officials said. The man was stopped on Saturday at a security checkpoint at the Midland International Airport at about 9am and taken into custody by the FBI, they said. FBI spokesman Mike Martinez declined to say whether the man was in military uniform or how many explosives were found in the bag. He said he did not know where the man was being held, saying he was at either the airport or at the FBI office in Midland. Police Sergeant Brian Rackow told the Midland Reporter-Telegram and Odessa American that the man identified himself to investigating officials as being active in the military. He and his family had been in the area visiting relatives and were on their way back to his base in North Carolina, Rackow said. It’s not clear which base and Rackow did not immediately return phone calls for comment. City spokeswoman Tasa Watts said she had no information on the suspect, but the explosives were wrapped in military-grade wrapping.
BRAZIL
Thousands flee flooding
Flooding caused by heavy rain in the southeast has forced more than 9,000 people to flee their homes, civil defense officials said on Saturday. Officials in Minas Gerais State said in a press release that 44 municipalities have been declared to be in a state of emergency. The heavy rain has destroyed 84 homes and damaged more than 2,000 buildings, while 400 people were left homeless, the state Civil Defense said. The heavy rain has affected 2 million people living in the area, officials said. Two adults, a man and a woman were killed in the floods on Tuesday, a death toll that was unchanged on Saturday. At least 32 people have been injured, but no victims have been reported missing, officials said, adding that more rain is forecast for the weekend.
Tens of thousands of Filipino Catholics yesterday twirled white cloths and chanted “Viva, viva,” as a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ was paraded through the streets of Manila in the nation’s biggest annual religious event. The day-long procession began before dawn, with barefoot volunteers pulling the heavy carriage through narrow streets where the devout waited in hopes of touching the icon, believed to hold miraculous powers. Thousands of police were deployed to manage crowds that officials believe could number in the millions by the time the statue reaches its home in central Manila’s Quiapo church around midnight. More than 800 people had sought
DENIAL: Pyongyang said a South Korean drone filmed unspecified areas in a North Korean border town, but Seoul said it did not operate drones on the dates it cited North Korea’s military accused South Korea of flying drones across the border between the nations this week, yesterday warning that the South would face consequences for its “unpardonable hysteria.” Seoul quickly denied the accusation, but the development is likely to further dim prospects for its efforts to restore ties with Pyongyang. North Korean forces used special electronic warfare assets on Sunday to bring down a South Korean drone flying over North Korea’s border town. The drone was equipped with two cameras that filmed unspecified areas, the General Staff of the North Korean People’s Army said in a statement. South Korea infiltrated another drone
COMMUNIST ALIGNMENT: To Lam wants to combine party chief and state presidency roles, with the decision resting on the election of 200 new party delegates next week Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary To Lam is seeking to combine his party role with the state presidency, officials said, in a move that would align Vietnam’s political structure more closely to China’s, where President Xi Jinping (習近平) heads the party and state. Next week about 1,600 delegates are to gather in Hanoi to commence a week-long communist party congress, held every five years to select new leaders and set policy goals for the single-party state. Lam, 68, bade for both top positions at a party meeting last month, seeking initial party approval ahead of the congress, three people briefed by
Indonesia and Malaysia have become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, after authorities said it was being misused to generate sexually explicit and nonconsensual images. The moves reflect growing global concern over generative AI tools that can produce realistic images, sound and text, while existing safeguards fail to prevent their abuse. The Grok chatbot, which is accessed through Musk’s social media platform X, has been criticized for generating manipulated images, including depictions of women in bikinis or sexually explicit poses, as well as images involving children. Regulators in the two Southeast Asian
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