■PHILIPPINES
Police foil bomb attack
Police yesterday defused two homemade bombs found inside a passenger bus in the country’s troubled south, officials said. The bombs, made from 81mm and 60mm mortar shells, were hidden in abandoned baggage inside the bus in Isulan town, Sultan Kudarat province. Police Superintendent Suharto Teng Tucao said bomb experts removed the explosives from bus and safely defused them. The bus, which was carrying some 40 passengers, was allowed to travel after the bombs were removed. On Tuesday evening, a suspected bomb courier was killed and a police officer was wounded when a homemade bomb planted in a tricycle exploded in Esperanza town, also in Sultan Kudarat. Police said they suspect Islamic militants could be involved in the Esperanza blast.
■FIJI
Embassy security tightened
The US embassy in Fiji was placed under tight security yesterday after receiving a suspicious package containing white powder, police told local media. All access routes to the embassy were closed in the clampdown, Radio Fiji reported. At least 18 other US embassies around the world have received white powder this month, as well as more than 40 governors’ offices in the US. Initial tests showed the substance was harmless but the deliveries sparked security alerts.
■EAST TIMOR
Whale ‘hot spot’ found
One of the world’s highest concentrations of dolphins and whales — many of them protected species — has been discovered off the coast of East Timor, local and Australian researchers said yesterday. A “hot spot” of marine cetaceans migrating through deep channels off the Timor coast, including blue and beaked whales, short-finned pilot whales, melon headed whales and six dolphin species was uncovered in a study for the Timor government. “We were all amazed to see such an abundance, diversity and density of cetaceans. Most of them are actually protected,” principal scientist Karen Edyvane said. The survey was done by East Timorese researchers and experts from the Australian Institute of Marine Science, working from a traditional wooden Indonesian vessel.
■KOREAS
N Koreans defect by sea
An official of South Korea’s spy agency says four North Koreans defected to the South by boat and are being questioned. The official of the National Intelligence Service said yesterday the defectors crossed the western sea border into South Korean waters on Tuesday. He declined to give details and asked not to be named, citing the agency’s policy. Defections by boat are rare, with the vast majority who flee the hunger and harsh political oppression in North Korea traveling overland through China and Southeast Asia to South Korea.
■AUSTRALIA
Teetotalism ‘risky’: expert
Making a New Year’s resolution to give up alcohol can be bad for your health, a rehabilitation expert said in a news report yesterday. It could have serious side effects and people should find out if they are dependent on drink before going cold turkey in the new year, said James Pitts, chief executive of Odyssey House, New South Wales. People with an alcohol dependency could suffer serious withdrawal symptoms such as seizures, convulsions, cramps, vomiting, delusions and hallucinations, the AAP news agency quoted him as saying. He said drinkers planning to go teetotal should seek advice from a healthcare professional.
■IRAN
Students want a fight
Hardline student groups were asking the government to authorize volunteer suicide bombers to leave the country and fight against Israel in response to the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip. As of yesterday, the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had yet to respond to the call. Hardline student groups and conservative clerics were signing up volunteers after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a religious decree on Sunday that said anyone killed while defending Palestinians in Gaza against Israeli attacks would be considered a martyr. Hardline groups have issued calls for suicide volunteers in the past, but there is no record of any of them ever carrying out an attack.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Man £100 billion in the red
A man was left reeling in shock on Tuesday when his bank statement showed him to be £100 billion (US$144 billion) overdrawn. As if the credit crunch was not hitting Britons hard enough, Donald Moffat was temporarily in deep, deep, deep financial trouble — because of a “technical error.” The 38-year-old, from Irvine on Scotland’s east coast, said his wife noticed the somewhat “major discrepancy of two £50 billion debits” after he logged on to his account online. “When I saw it … I’ve been shaking, I’ve been feeling sick — everything,” the stunned student and part-time care worker told the BBC. “We knew we still had quite a bit left in the account as we checked last night before we went out. Barclays bank said in a statement: “A technical error caused some customer accounts to be incorrectly debited.”
■ZIMBABWE
Activists remain in jail
A court yesterday ordered 16 activists to remain in jail pending a Supreme Court hearing on accusations that they plotted to overthrow President Robert Mugabe’s government. The magistrates’ court did not rule on the charges against them, but said leading human rights campaigner Jestina Mukoko and the other 15 activists should remain in custody pending a ruling by the nation’s highest court. Two other activists facing lesser charges were released.
■BELGIUM
New government in office
A new government took office on Tuesday that is nearly a replica of the quarrelsome alliance of Christian Democrats, Liberals and Socialists that quit 11 days ago in a bank bailout scandal. The new premier, Herman van Rompuy, 61, succeeds fellow Christian Democrat Yves Leterme whose government quit Dec. 19 amid allegations that Leterme and his justice minister interfered in a court case dealing with the sale of Fortis Bank. King Albert swore the new government into office at a ceremony at the royal palace. The new government faces a parliamentary vote of confidence Friday. Its program of policies is identical to that of the previous government.
■RUSSIA
Gas row continues
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was scheduled to travel to Moscow yesterday for last-ditch talks to resolve a gas row, Interfax news agency quoted the Ukrainian embassy as saying. “The embassy confirms that Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is coming to Moscow on Wednesday,” the agency quoted an embassy official as saying. Russia has said it would cut off gas supplies to Ukraine today if a dispute over arrears and prices for next year is not settled.
■UNITED STATES
Extra second added to year
Those eager to put last year behind them had to hold their good-byes for just a moment on New Year’s Eve. The world’s official timekeepers added a “leap second” to the last day of the year yesterday, to help match clocks to the Earth’s slowing spin on its axis, which takes place at ever-changing rates affected by tides and other factors.
■DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Jet diverted by passenger
A passenger jet bound for Toronto made an unscheduled landing in the Dominican Republic on Tuesday after an agitated passenger tried to tamper with an emergency door, an airline official said. The Boeing B757 landed safely and nobody was hurt, said Sabah Mirza, spokeswoman for Canadian carrier Skyservice. She said flight crew and passengers restrained the man until the plane landed at the Punta Cana international airport in the late afternoon. “At no time was the safety of the aircraft in jeopardy,” Mirza said. “While the door was never at risk of opening in flight, the flight crew reacted quickly and appropriately.” The flight originated in Grenada and stopped in Barbados before making the unscheduled landing.
■UNITED STATES
One indicted in Hudson case
Two months after three of Jennifer Hudson’s family members were murdered, her brother-in-law was indicted in the case, the Chicago Tribune reported on Tuesday. William Balfour, 27, who was the estranged husband of Hudson’s older sister Julia, is charged with killing the Oscar winning actress’ mother, brother and nephew Julian, 7. The state’s attorney said Balfour man killed the family members because he believed his wife had a new boyfriend. Hudson’s mother, Darnell, 57, and brother, Jason, 29, were found shot to death in their house on Oct. 24. Julian, Julia’s son by a previous relationship, was found three days later in an abandoned car with a bullet wound to the head. Jennifer Hudson, who was discovered on talent program American Idol, won an Oscar for best supporting actress in the musical Dreamgirls and recently released her debut album.
■UNITED STATES
USS ‘Pueblo’ men awarded
A federal judge on Tuesday awarded more than US$65 million to several men who were captured and tortured by North Korea after the country seized the US spy ship USS Pueblo during the Cold War. North Korea never responded to the lawsuit filed by William Thomas Massie, Donald Raymond McClarren, Dunnie Richard Tuck and the estate of Lloyd Bucher. The USS Pueblo was seized off North Korea while it was on an intelligence-gathering mission on Jan. 23, 1968. The crew members were released after 11 months of captivity and sometimes torture. The ship is still in North Korean hands, the only active-duty US warship in the hands of a foreign power.
■ARGENTINA
Ancient ship uncovered
Workers digging to lay the foundation of a luxury apartment complex uncovered a Spanish ship believed to be from the 18th century. It was found in Buenos Aires’ upscale Puerto Madero neighborhood, on the banks of the Plata River. The area used to be the city’s old port, but was eventually filled in and developed. Mayor Mauricio Macri announced the ship’s find at a news conference on Tuesday. Urban archeologist Marcelo Weissel says it probably dates back to 1750 or earlier. But he says it likely does not contain any treasure, beyond its archaeological value. Experts will work carefully to rescue the ship so that it can be sent to a museum.
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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