■ JAPAN
Dalai Lama arrives
The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama arrived yesterday for a week-long visit at the invitation of a Buddhist group. The Dalai Lama flew in on a commercial flight from India. A small crowd greeted him, with many bowing their heads to show respect as he walked by. During his stay in the country, which he last visited a year ago, he will go to the ancient Shinto shrine of Ise in Ise and give a speech at a forum on religion in Yokohama. He will also visit local schools in Tokyo. China has opposed visits to Japan by the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing accuses of being a dangerous figure agitating for Tibetan independence.
■ SRI LANKA
Army raids Tamil bunkers
Soldiers overran six Tamil Tiger rebel bunkers and attacked them in at least three other places in the north, in violence that killed 15 guerrillas and one soldier, the military said yesterday. Government troops pushed into rebel-held territory in northern Vavuniya district on Wednesday and destroyed the bunkers, killing eight rebels, a defense official said. Twenty-four rebels were wounded in the battle, the official said on condition of anonymity, citing government policy. Elsewhere in Vavuniya soldiers fired mortars at rebel locations on Wednesday, killing five guerrillas.
■ AUSTRALIA
Protesters arrested
Police arrested 15 activists who broke into a power station yesterday before painting an anti-coal energy slogan and chaining themselves to a conveyor belt. The demonstration by Greenpeace activists at the coal-fired Munmorah Power Station, 125km north of Sydney, coincided with the release of data showing that the country's electricity production is the dirtiest in the world per capita. The demonstrators forced their way into the station before dawn and chained themselves to machinery, New South Wales state police said in a statement. TV footage showed the activists also painted the words "coal kills" on a building.
■ SWITZERLAND
Man told to learn German
A 70-year-old German seeking Swiss citizenship was told to go back to school to learn his own native tongue despite being proficient in German, a Swiss newspaper said. The Swiss town of Dielsdorf ordered Ulrich Kring, who has lived in Switzerland his entire life but is only now applying for citizenship, to take a German language course costing 250 Swiss francs (US$223), the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper said. The class is obligatory for all foreigners seeking a Swiss passport. Kring had lodged an appeal with a higher local authority, but had not received a reply.
■ GHANA
Kufuor unhurt in accident
President John Kufuor escaped unhurt when a car crashed into his vehicle on Wednesday, rolling it over several times, witnesses and officials said. "The car finally rested on the sidewalk and the people around helped his security men to pull him out. The president came out holding his head," James Kobinah, an electrician working nearby said. Presidential Press secretary Andy Awuni said Kufuor appeared to be unhurt but was undergoing medical tests.
■ SWEDEN
Man targeted PM's wife
A 42-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of planning to kill the wife of Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, the Aftonbladet newspaper said yesterday. Filippa Reinfeldt, 40, is a leading Conservative politician in the Stockholm County Council where she is commissioner of health services. The man lived near the County Council headquarters, the report said. It said the man wanted to "hurt" the prime minister. The man was alleged to have been in regular contact with psychiatric services in recent years and had disclosed his plans to doctors who decided to alert the police. Police found maps and sketches when they searched his flat.
■ NETHERLANDS
Police arrest online thief
Police have made their first arrest of an online thief -- a 17-year-old accused of stealing virtual furniture from rooms in the Habbo Hotel -- a popular teenager networking Web site. An Amsterdam police spokeswoman confirmed a report that the teenager was accused of stealing 4,000 euros (US$5,860) in virtual furniture by hacking into the accounts of other users. Four 15-year-olds have also been questioned in the case, which was instigated by the Web site. They are suspected of moving the stolen furniture into their own online hotel rooms. Habbo users can create their own characters, decorate their own rooms and play a number of games, paying with Habbo Credits, which they have to buy with real cash.
■ RUSSIA
Thieves steal luxury car
Thieves have stolen a Maybach luxury limousine worth 530,000 euros (US$777,000) while the car's owner had dinner in a Moscow restaurant, local media reported on Wednesday. Thieves bundled the owner's chauffeur into the back seat and threatened to kill him, the Kommersant newspaper reported. The driver was later abandoned outside Moscow's ring road. Police said they suspected the car was stolen to order by a special gang for sale in Kazakhstan or Ukraine. The Maybach has been adopted as the ultimate status symbol by the country's super-rich. There are only a few dozen in the country and this was the first case of one being stolen, the daily said.
■ UNITED STATES
Airport checkpoints fail tests
US undercover investigators successfully carried bomb-making material across security checkpoints during tests at 19 US airports earlier this year, a report said on Wednesday. The Government Accountability Office report said agents were able to clear Transportation Security Administration checkpoints with components for making several improvised explosive devices (IED) or an improvised incendiary device (IID). The two investigators concealed the materials in their carry-on luggage and on their persons. "Our tests clearly demonstrate that a terrorist group, using publicly available information and few resources, could cause severe damage to an airplane and threaten the safety of passengers by bringing prohibited IED and IID components through security checkpoints," the report said.
■ UNITED STATES
Johnson wins book award
Denis Johnson's Tree of Smoke, a 600-page journey through the physical, moral and spiritual extremes of the Vietnam War and its aftermath, won the National Book Award for fiction Wednesday night. "I'm very sorry to miss this one chance to dress up in a tuxedo in front of so many representatives in the worlds of literature, and say thank you to the people who have given me my life," he said in a statement read by his wife, Cindy. The 58-year-old Johnson, who lives in New Mexico, rarely talks to the media and is currently writing on assignment in Iraq. Other National Book Award winners included Tim Weiner's Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA for nonfiction and Robert Hass' Time and Materials for poetry.
■ UNITED STATES
Pigs cause ruckus in Iowa
Two stray pot-bellied pigs stirred up a commotion while on the run from two animal control officers, two police officers and even a couple of utility company workers who joined the 35-minute chase. "They're tough," said animal control officer Leah Messmer. "They have no necks, so you really can't get a collar on them." The pigs were eventually caught. "They dart in and out of cars, and somebody could get hit," Messmer said. "That's why you have to catch 'em. Poor little buggers." The pigs will be sent to an animal shelter, Messmer said.
■ UNITED STATES
Sotheby's sale sets record
Led by a record-breaking Jeff Koons sculpture and a US$46 million Francis Bacon canvas, Sotheby's roared back from a dismal Impressionist sale to score the highest total in its history at a contemporary and postwar art auction on Wednesday. Bacon's Second Version of Study for Bullfight No. 1 far exceeded its US$35 million-plus pre-sale estimate, while Koons' stainless steel Hanging Heart (Magenta/Gold) soared to US$23,561,000, including commission, obliterating the artist's US$11.8 million record set one day earlier by his Diamond (Blue) sculpture.
■ UNITED kingdom
Al-Masri may be extradited
A court ruled yesterday that radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri could be extradited to the US to face terrorism charges including trying to set up an al-Qaeda training camp in Oregon. Egyptian-born Hamza, 49, currently serving a seven-year jail term for inciting his followers to murder non-believers, is wanted by US authorities on 11 charges. The US indictment accuses him of attempting to set up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon, from 1999 to early 2000, and also providing support to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
When Shanghai-based designer Guo Qingshan posted a vacation photo on Valentine’s Day and captioned it “Puppy Mountain,” it became a sensation in China and even created a tourist destination. Guo had gone on a hike while visiting his hometown of Yichang in central China’s Hubei Province late last month. When reviewing the photographs, he saw something he had not noticed before: A mountain shaped like a dog’s head rested on the ground next to the Yangtze River, its snout perched at the water’s edge. “It was so magical and cute. I was so excited and happy when I discovered it,” Guo said.
TURNAROUND: The Liberal Party had trailed the Conservatives by a wide margin, but that was before Trump threatened to make Canada the US’ 51st state Canada’s ruling Liberals, who a few weeks ago looked certain to lose an election this year, are mounting a major comeback amid the threat of US tariffs and are tied with their rival Conservatives, according to three new polls. An Ipsos survey released late on Tuesday showed that the left-leaning Liberals have 38 percent public support and the official opposition center-right Conservatives have 36 percent. The Liberals have overturned a 26-point deficit in six weeks, and run advertisements comparing the Conservative leader to Trump. The Conservative strategy had long been to attack unpopular Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but last month he
Chinese authorities said they began live-fire exercises in the Gulf of Tonkin on Monday, only days after Vietnam announced a new line marking what it considers its territory in the body of water between the nations. The Chinese Maritime Safety Administration said the exercises would be focused on the Beibu Gulf area, closer to the Chinese side of the Gulf of Tonkin, and would run until tomorrow evening. It gave no further details, but the drills follow an announcement last week by Vietnam establishing a baseline used to calculate the width of its territorial waters in the Gulf of Tonkin. State-run Vietnam News
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
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