THAILAND
Kissing record broken
A kiss lasting nearly two-and-a-half days propelled one determined couple to a new record for the world’s longest smooch on Valentine’s Day, organizers in Bangkok said yesterday. Hospital security guard Ekkachai Tiranarat, 44, and 33-year-old housewife Laksana locked lips for 58 hours, 35 minutes and 58 seconds, smashing last year’s Guinness World Record by more than eight hours. The romance of the clinch may have been marred by competition rules requiring contestants to remain on their feet throughout, slurp food and liquids through a straw and even go to the toilet while continuing to press their lips together. The “kissathon” ended shortly before midnight on Valentine’s Day, with the male couple who won last year unable to maintain their smooch, collapsing just two minutes before Ekkachai and Laksana.
SERBIA
Sabotage plot uncovered
Police said they have uncovered a plot to sabotage a government plane while it carries top officials. The police said in a statement released on Thursday that “certain criminal clans” and individuals with access to the government aircraft planned to sabotage the plane during a foreign trip by President Tomislav Nikolic, Prime Minister Ivica Dacic or his first deputy Aleksandar Vucic. The sabotage “would cause limited damage and after takeoff would bring down the plane,” the police statement said. The three top officials continued with their flights. No other details of the alleged plot were given. Dacic used a French-made Falcon government jet for his visit to Ireland on Thursday.
UNITED STATES
App offends Chubby Checker
Rock ’n’ roll legend Chubby Checker is twisting mad over a software application that allowed women to estimate the size of a man’s penis based on his shoe size. The singer, whose real name is Ernest Evans, filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Hewlett-Packard and Palm Inc in federal court in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Tuesday, saying that the app “adversely affects Chubby Checker’s brand and value.” The app, which was called “The Chubby Checker,” was an unauthorized use of Checker’s name and trademark, the lawsuit alleges. “He’s hurt,” Checker’s attorney Willie Gary said. “He worked hard to build his name and reputation over the years.” The app is no longer available. Checker, who is 71 and lives in Pennsylvania, is seeking a half-billion dollars in damages and restitution.
PARAGUAY
Ex-president to do DNA test
Former president Fernando Lugo will have to undergo court-ordered DNA testing, after a judge ruled in favor of a woman who says he fathered her 11-year old son, court officials said on Thursday. Sources said the family court judge in Ciudad del Este has set March 7 as the date for the DNA test. “I am very happy about the decision of the judge, after four years” of wrangling in court, said the child’s mother, Benigna Leguizamon. Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop, was ousted from the presidency in June last year. He was impeached by the Senate just months before the end of his four-year term over his handling of a land dispute. Leguizamon claims Lugo fathered the boy during his time as bishop of San Pedro state, where she worked as his house cleaner. Lugo has admitted to fathering two other children from different mothers, and there is at least one more woman in addition to Leguizamon who has claimed that he is the father of her child.
BANGLADESH
Doraemon gets the boot
Japanese manga cartoon Doraemon has been banned from TV screens over fears that youngsters who are hooked on the Hindi-dubbed version are struggling to learn their native Bengali. Bangladeshi Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu told parliament on Thursday that television channels which have been screening Doraemon had been sent official notifications ordering them to take the series off air. “The government doesn’t want children’s educational atmosphere to be hampered by Doraemon,” the minister said. The ban comes after several local dailies called for a ban on the cartoon, worried that Doraemon addicts were speaking Hindi to each other instead of Bengali. Shahriar Alam, a ruling party lawmaker, had last week demanded that television stations should only be allowed to air foreign cartoons if they are dubbed in Bengali.
NICARAGUA
Five hundred say ‘I do’
A public square became an improvised wedding chapel on Thursday for 550 couples who took their marriage vows en masse on Valentine’s Day. Mass weddings have become a tradition in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua since they began a decade ago. Sponsored by the government and a radio station, and broadcast on television, the ceremony in the Plaza Maya featured brides in white dresses and grooms in suits. Bride Lilieth Obando said that the mass ceremony was a big help for couples like her and groom Leoncio Martinez. They had lived together for two years, but did not have the money for a private wedding.
ARGENTINA
Bride marries sister’s killer
A woman tied the knot on Thursday with a man convicted of killing her twin sister. No one from the family of 22-year-old bride Edith Casas attended the civil ceremony in the town of Pico Truncado. Afterward, a group of around 20 people threw rocks and eggs at groom Victor Cingolani, who is serving a 13-year sentence for killing the sister, a fashion model named Johana, in 2010. Cingolani was out on a day pass to get married and escorted by prison guards and riot police. “I want to start a family with Victor because I love him. He is innocent,” the bride said before the ceremony. The wedding had been planned for December, but a judge blocked it, pending a psychiatric evaluation of Edith Casas at the request of her mother. However, Judge Marcelina Orellana ultimately let the nuptials go ahead, ruling there was no evidence that the bride had any psychiatric disorder. The father was disconsolate. “For me, they are both dead. Johana is with God and Edith with the devil,” Valentin Casas said.
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
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