PHILIPPINES
Worst airport in the world
The nation’s main airport terminal in Metro Manila has been named the world’s worst for the second year in a row in a survey by an online travel Web site. Officials yesterday dismissed the survey results, insisting conditions were being improved. “The Guide to Sleeping in Airports” Web site said Manila’s crowded Terminal 1 was ranked the world’s worst by travelers based on comfort, convenience, cleanliness and customer service. Reviews posted on the site mentioned “dilapidated facilities,” dishonest airport workers — particularly taxi drivers — long waiting times and rude officials. “These are old issues,” Terminal 1 manager Dante Basanta said, adding that the problems were already being addressed by the government.
HONG KONG
US director Bay attacked
Hollywood director Michael Bay was attacked during his stay in the territory to shoot the latest Transformers film, suffering injuries to his face, reports said on Thursday. Police said they had arrested two men in the early hours of Thursday morning after the attack on a 48-year-old man named by local media as the Armageddon director. The two men reportedly confronted Bay and his film crew in the Quarry Bay District, claiming they were owed HK$100,000 (US$12,900) compensation for filming in the area. Police have handed the case to specialist anti-triad units reserved for tackling criminal gangs.
RUSSIA
Band member drops plea
Jailed Pussy Riot punk band member Maria Alekhina yesterday withdrew her plea for an early release in a show of support for a bandmate now in hospital after going on hunger strike to protest over prison conditions. Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova are serving a two-year sentence for what critics termed a profanity-laden protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow’s main cathedral. “I do not have any moral right to take part in this court hearing at a time when my friend and fellow convict Nadezhda Tolokonnikova does not have such opportunity,” Alyokhina told the court in the city of Nizhny Novgorod. “She is currently in hospital or back in that same prison which we have heard horrible things about.”
CHINA
Child sold for iPhone: report
A young couple are facing criminal punishment for “selling” their daughter and using part of the proceeds to buy an Apple iPhone, state media said yesterday. Shanghai prosecutors have brought a case against the couple for human trafficking after they illegally put their third child up for adoption through online postings and accepted money for the baby, the Liberation Daily reported. Investigators said the mother used the money to buy an iPhone, high-end sports shoes and other products, also online, it said. In an incident widely reported last year, a teenager sold his kidney and used the funds to buy an iPhone and an iPad.
UNITED STATES
Maya Angelou honored
Her body weak, her voice rich and strong, Maya Angelou sang, lectured and reminisced as she accepted a lifetime achievement award on Thursday night from the Norman Mailer Center. The 85-year-old author, poet, dancer and actress was honored during a benefit gala at the New York Public Library, the annual gathering organized by the Mailer Center and writers colony.
UNITED STATES
Security head named
President Barack Obama was to nominate attorney Jeh Johnson yesterday to be the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, a White House official said on Thursday. Johnson, who served as general counsel in the Department of Defense during Obama’s first term, would succeed Janet Napolitano, who stepped down earlier this year. Johnson is now a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. He authored a report that helped lead to the 2010 repeal of the “Don’t’ Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that prevented gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.
UNITED STATES
Man faces jail over bombs
A man was charged on Thursday with planting at least two “dry ice” bombs at the main Los Angeles airport, and could face up to six years in jail, police said. Airport employee Dicarlo Bennett — who police say set off the devices as a prank rather than anything more sinister — pleaded not guilty to two counts of possessing a destructive device in a public place. Nobody was injured by the devices going off, but they led to evacuations and disrupted flights. One of the contraptions that exploded was placed early on Sunday evening in an employee restroom at the airport, police said. A second was deposited near an aircraft at the Tom Bradley International Terminal, police added.
UNITED STATES
Sex offender told to register
Authorities in Seattle have ordered a high-risk sex offender who recently fled Canada to register so officials can keep track of him. Michael Sean Stanley, 48, was found on Thursday in downtown Seattle and told to register as a sex offender, the Seattle Police Department said. He was not arrested because Canadian authorities have declined to try extraditing him, although Seattle police said he could be arrested if he fails to register. Stanley has a long history of sexual offenses against women and children and had been missing since Oct. 1, when he cut off his electronic-monitoring bracelet near the Alberta-Saskatchewan boundary.
SOUTH AFRICA
Activist shot dead: union
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) yesterday said one of its shaft chairpersons at platinum producer Lonmin was shot dead in the restive platinum belt town of Marikana, an incident sure to stoke labor tensions. The NUM has had tens of thousands of members in the platinum shafts poached by a rival group, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, in a turf war that killed dozens of people last year. Sporadic killings have occurred this year. Police spokesman Thulani Ngubane confirmed a man was gunned down on Thursday night, but did not release his name and said the reason for the shooting was unknown. Lonmin spokeswoman Sue Vey said the victim was the NUM chairperson at the Roland shaft at the company’s Western Platinum mine.
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
The Philippines deferred the awarding of a project that is part of a plan to build one of the world’s longest marine bridges after local opposition over the potential involvement of a Chinese company due to national security fears. The proposals are “undergoing thorough review” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which acts as a lender and an overseer of the project to ensure it meets international environmental and governance standards, the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways said in a statement on Monday in response to queries from Bloomberg. The agency said it would announce the winning bidder once ADB
A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the population at 10 million has the backing of almost half the country, according to a poll before an expected vote next year. The party, which has long campaigned against immigration, argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. The level of support comes despite the government urging voters to reject it, warning that strict curbs would damage the economy and prosperity, as Swiss companies depend on foreign workers. The poll by newspaper group Tamedia/20 Minuten and released yesterday showed that 48 percent of the population plan to vote
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