■HONG KONG
Pop star refuses to testify
The pop star at the center of a celebrity sex photos scandal has refused to return from the US to testify against a suspect in the case, the South China Morning Post reported yesterday. Edison Chen (陳冠希), 27, fled the territory after pictures of him romping with a string of young women stars were downloaded from his laptop when he took it in for repairs and distributed on the Internet in January. Computer technician Sze Ho-chun, 23, was due to go on trial on Monday on a charge of dishonest use of a computer, but the case has stalled because Chen has refused to return. At a hearing on Tuesday, the case was adjourned until November as lawyers discuss whether the case can proceed without Chen being present to testify, the newspaper said.
■JAPAN
Arson suspect arrested
Police said yesterday they had arrested an unemployed man in Osaka on suspicion of deliberately starting a fire at a late-night video shop that killed 15 people. The bodies of 15 men were found in individual, private viewing cabins after the fire, which took about an hour and a half to extinguish, reports said. Another 10 men and one woman were rescued from the blaze, with three of them suffering serious injuries.
■MALAYSIA
Smuggler locks up police
A police team was locked by a suspected smuggler in a cattle enclosure during an inspection check as he made his escape, the Star newspaper reported yesterday. A team of the General Operations Force, the paramilitary wing of Malaysia’s police, went to inspect a cattle holding area in a village in the northern state of Kelantan after receiving information that cattle was being smuggled from Thailand when they were duped by the suspected smuggler, the Star said. The suspect, who was posing as a worker, convinced the officers to wait in a cattle enclosure, sneaked out and locked them in before fleeing the scene. The officers broke the lock and seized the cattle for investigation.
■SOUTH KOREA
Museum conman arrested
A conman opened a private museum stuffed with fakes and earned 530 million won (US$443,000) from visitors who thought they were ancient treasures, police said yesterday after arresting him. The 60-year-old, who was identified only by his family name Yu, bought cheap ceramics and other items from flea markets and passed them off as historic. Some 153 of the 184 artifacts displayed at the museum in Gongju were fakes, local police said. The museum, established in August 2004, has attracted more than 130,000 visitors, police said.
■FRANCE
Tax could target sweets
Lawmakers want to increase taxes on snack foods and cut taxes on fruits and vegetables to fight growing child obesity. The health minister, however, said she opposed the idea. A parliamentary report released on Tuesday has 70 proposals for fighting obesity. One would hike taxes from 5.5 percent to 19.6 percent on chocolate bars, chips and other “snack foods.” Taxes would be reduced from 5.5 percent to 2 percent on fruits and vegetables. Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot said on Canal-Plus television that obesity-fighting efforts “should not go in that direction” and that such a tax would hit poor households at a time of economic downturn. The report, which is not binding, also suggests banning transfats.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Court rules for Gurkhas
A court has struck down immigration restrictions placed on Gurkha veterans who served in the country’s armed forces, ordering the government to draw up a new policy that takes their service into account, lawyers for the Gurkhas said on Tuesday. The Nepalese soldiers, who have served with the British military since the early 19th century, are demanding the repeal of regulations that bar some of them from settling in Britain. “This court has struck that policy down as being completely unlawful, and has ordered the government to draw up a new policy as soon as possible that takes in account the long a distinguished service of these men,” attorney David Enright said.
■AUSTRIA
Far-right remains divided
The leader of the resurgent far-right Freedom Party on Tuesday ruled out merging with the country’s other rightist bloc after their big election gains. No party received a majority in Sunday’s parliamentary elections and coalition talks are expected to begin soon. The outgoing center-left coalition presented its resignation to President Heinz Fischer on Tuesday after about 18 months in office. Preliminary results gave the coalition partners, the Social Democrats and conservative People’s Party, their worst results since World War II. Heinz-Christian Strache, in his first news conference after his Freedom Party’s gains at the polls, was dismissive of the other right-wing group, the Alliance for the Future of Austria.
■SPAIN
Migrants intercepted
The coast guard has rescued 229 Africans trying to reach the Canary Islands by boat, the biggest group intercepted in a single vessel off the archipelago, a government official said on Tuesday. The coast guard found the 30m fishing boat late on Monday about 100km south of Gran Canaria and took the would-be immigrants to the port of Los Cristianos in Tenerife, arriving just after midnight. All the Africans were male, including at least 20 children, the country’s emergency services said.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Church weddings easier
A new law making it easier for couples to get married in Anglican churches came into force yesterday. Previously, couples could only get married in a church if they worshipped there regularly, lived in the parish or applied for a special licence. Under the new rules, called the “Church of England Marriage Measure,” couples can choose to get married in a place with a special connection for themselves or their families. The Church said that a recent survey had shown that more people would choose a church wedding if they could have one.
■HAITI
Donated food aid stolen
Food donated for storm victims was stolen and put up for sale, according to authorities who seized three storehouses full of illegally diverted food aid on Tuesday. In the western city of Carrefour, Mayor Yvon Jerome said authorities acted after residents complained about the sale of donated rice. “A lot of people were buying the rice because it was much cheaper compared to prices on the regular market,” Jerome said. “You can read on the bag ‘Donated by Taiwan’ and on some other bags we read ‘US Rice.’” The storehouses full of stolen food were placed under seal and the food will be redistributed to the needy, Jerome said.
■MEXICO
Misconduct fines issued
The country issued million-dollar fines for misconduct on Tuesday to both sides in the bitterly disputed 2006 presidential elections. The Federal Electoral Institute fined the leftist Democratic Revolution Party 57 million pesos (US$5.2 million) for blocking downtown Mexico City for two months after narrowly losing the vote, and for disrupting former president Vicente Fox’s state of the nation address around the same time. It ordered the ruling National Action Party to pay 38 million pesos because Fox illegally supported his party’s candidate, current President Felipe Calderon. Mexico considers political endorsements from sitting presidents to be an unfair use of executive power.
■UNITED STATES
Feds indict 17 in drug ring
A Canadian man suspected of heading an international drug trafficking ring from his Southern California home has been arrested, along with an American business owner who allegedly helped encrypt the group’s communication from investigators, federal officials said. Jason Ming Wei, a Canadian citizen who lives in Temple City, California, was among 17 people indicted in a scheme to ship cocaine, Ecstasy and other drugs back and forth across the US-Canada border. Wei’s arrest in Los Angeles followed a two-year federal investigation dubbed “Operation Candystore,” aimed at disrupting a complex network of smugglers operating in Canadian cities.
■UNITED STATES
Attack plotter gets 35 years
A one-time admirer of Osama bin Laden who plotted a hand-grenade attack at an Illinois mall jammed with Christmas shoppers — and tried to trade two stereo speakers for the weapons — was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Tuesday. Derrick Shareef said he once admired bin Laden as a sheik and a scholar but has changed his views and opposes violence. “I am not an extremist,” said Shareef, who was sentenced on his 24th birthday. District Judge David Coar said he hopes Shareef has changed but that a long sentence was still warranted to discourage others who might plan similar attacks.
■SWEDEN
‘Alternative Nobel’ awarded
A US journalist, a German gynecologist and activists from India and Somalia share this year’s Right Livelihood Award, also known as the “alternative Nobel.” Organizers say the 2 million kronor (US$290,000) award was split in four parts. American Amy Goodman was honored for her independent political journalism, while Germany’s Monika Hauser was cited for her work helping sexually abused women. Somalia’s Asha Hagi was awarded for her peace work and the last part of the prize was shared by Indian couple Krishnammal and Sankaralingam Jagannathan for their efforts to promote social justice.
People with missing teeth might be able to grow new ones, said Japanese dentists, who are testing a pioneering drug they hope will offer an alternative to dentures and implants. Unlike reptiles and fish, which usually replace their fangs on a regular basis, it is widely accepted that humans and most other mammals only grow two sets of teeth. However, hidden underneath our gums are the dormant buds of a third generation, said Katsu Takahashi, head of oral surgery at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital in Osaka, Japan. His team launched clinical trials at Kyoto University Hospital in October, administering an experimental
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency and the Pentagon on Monday said that some North Korean troops have been killed during combat against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk border region. Those are the first reported casualties since the US and Ukraine announced that North Korea had sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in the almost three-year war. Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said that about 30 North Korean troops were killed or wounded during a battle with the Ukrainian army at the weekend. The casualties occurred around three villages in Kursk, where Russia has for four months been trying to quash a
ROYAL TARGET: After Prince Andrew lost much of his income due to his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, he became vulnerable to foreign agents, an author said British lawmakers failed to act on advice to tighten security laws that could have prevented an alleged Chinese spy from targeting Britain’s Prince Andrew, a former attorney general has said. Dominic Grieve, a former lawmaker who chaired the British Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) until 2019, said ministers were advised five years ago to introduce laws to criminalize foreign agents, but failed to do so. Similar laws exist in the US and Australia. “We remain without an important weapon in our armory,” Grieve said. “We asked for [this law] in the context of the Russia inquiry report” — which accused the government
A rash of unexplained drone sightings in the skies above New Jersey has left locals rattled and sent US officials scrambling for answers. Breathless local news reports have amplified the anxious sky-gazing and wild speculation — interspersing blurry, dark clips from social media with irate locals calling for action. For weeks now, the distinctive blinking lights and whirling rotors of large uncrewed aerial vehicles have been spotted across the state west of New York. However, military brass, elected representatives and investigators have been unable to explain the recurring UFO phenomenon. Sam Lugo, 23, who works in the Club Studio gym in New Jersey’s Bergen
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