INDONESIA
‘No sex’ signs mulled
Officials on the island of Bali are considering putting up “no sex” signs at Hindu temples besides the usual “no eating” and “no smoking” warnings after a lusty Estonian couple were caught in the act. Police took the pair in for questioning after they were found by youth leaders who had gone to check up on repairs at the temple in the village of Saraseda. “They said they really did not know that sex at temples was prohibited in Bali, so we just let them go and left it up to the village heads to decide how to handle the case,” Gianyar district police chief Hadi Purnomo said yesterday. “In the end, the village decided they wanted to hold a cleansing ceremony and ordered the couple to pay 20 million rupiah [US$2,063] to fund the ritual.” The couple admitted they had also used the temple’s outdoor shower before having sex, Purnomo said, and apologized.
SOUTH KOREA
‘Little Psy’ aims for fame
The impish boy who showed off his dance moves alongside Psy in Gangnam Style is hoping to go viral, too. The seven-year-old, nicknamed “Little Psy,” is releasing an electro-pop song next week through iTunes. The boy, whose real name is Hwang Min-woo, says he wants to gain global fame like his “big brother,” Psy. Sporting a black suit and a sleek haircut, Min-woo performed at a news conference on Wednesday. He is the latest recruit in the increasingly global K-pop industry. Min-woo is a second-grader and his mother comes from Vietnam. Meanwhile, the big Psy has released a Gangnam Style remix and is continuing his worldwide tour. The video released on YouTube in July last year has a record 1.39 billion views.
ZIMBABWE
Lions kill third victim
Lions claimed a third victim in the resort town of Kariba after a man’s head, ribs and pelvis were found on Thursday, the country’s parks authority said. Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and the Civil Protection Unit in Kariba have asked professional hunters to help kill the cats after efforts to trap them failed, spokeswoman Caroline Washaya-Moyo said in a telephone interview yesterday from the capital, Harare. Hunters have shot and killed a zebra that will be used to bait the lions, she said. Two earlier victims were discovered on Tuesday, the state-controlled Herald reported. Kariba town, in the north of the country, sits on the shores of a man-made lake of the same name. The town is a popular tourist destination. A plan to poison the lions was rejected by National Parks as dangerous to other wildlife in the area. Elephant, hippo and antelope are commonly seen in Kariba, though lions rarely venture close to human habitation.
BRAZIL
Skulls cause bewilderment
Police in Sao Paulo are baffled by a macabre puzzle: someone has been leaving gift-wrapped human skulls around town. Investigator Paul Henry Bozon Verduraz described the case to the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper in a story published on Thursday. The first skull in cherry-red wrapping was found on Feb. 20 in a planter near a residential building downtown. Since then, seven others have been found near Mormon temples or consulates, including those for Russia, the Czech Republic and South Africa. The skulls are old, with traces of dirt. Verduraz says security cameras captured images of a woman in an ankle-length skirt leaving the skulls. He thinks this may be part of some sort of ritual.
UNITED STATES
Man charged over fatal crash
A man arrested in connection with a New York car crash that killed a rabbinical college student, his pregnant wife and their baby has been charged with vehicular manslaughter and other offenses. Julio Acevedo was arraigned on Thursday in state Supreme Court in Brooklyn and was ordered held without bail. He arrived in the city earlier on Thursday after agreeing to be returned from Pennsylvania, where he had surrendered on Wednesday. Police in New York say Acevedo left the scene of Sunday’s fatal crash. He is accused of speeding down a Brooklyn street and crashing into a car carrying 21-year-olds Nachman and Raizy Glauber. Acevedo has told the Daily News he was fleeing someone who was trying to shoot at him.
UNITED KINGDOM
Bieber faints during show
Justin Bieber is recovering after fainting backstage at a concert in London. A spokeswoman for Bieber said late on Thursday that the 19-year-old pop star was given oxygen and took a 20-minute reprieve after fainting backstage at London’s O2 Arena. “Getting better,” Bieber later posted on Twitter. “Thanks for everyone pulling me thru tonight. Best fans in the world. Figuring out what happened. Thanks for the love.” Jazz Chappell, a 20-year-old concertgoer who brought her younger sister and her friend to the show, said a backup dancer helped Bieber off stage after he announced he could not breathe and needed water. She said many fans in the audience were gasping and crying, while others kept cheering for him to return. “I thought, ‘Give the guy a break. He just fainted. He’s not a performing horse. Let him rest a second,’” Chappell said. In a video of the concert posted online, Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun, appeared on stage and told the crowd that the singer was feeling “very low of breath,” but would come back to finish the show. Chappell said Bieber, who is in London to perform four concerts at the O2, later returned and performed low-energy renditions of his hits Boyfriend and Baby.
RUSSIA
Female heading for space
Russia will send a female cosmonaut into space for the first time in two decades next year, an official at the space training center said on Wednesday. Yelena Serova, 36 and a professional cosmonaut, “is getting ready for a space flight in the second half of 2014,” said Alexei Temerov, an official at Russia’s Star City space training center. Russia will this year celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first woman’s trip to space. The feat was accomplished by Valentina Tereshkova on June 16, 1963. However, only one Russian woman has flown to space since the early 1980s.
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
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
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
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,
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