■INDIA
Saving Gandhi’s belongings
The country is preparing legislation to prevent more of Mohandas Gandhi’s belongings being auctioned off abroad, after a recent sale sparked outrage, the Press Trust of India reported yesterday. A senior official at the ministry of culture told the news agency that the government planned to obtain injunctions in advance in European and US courts against possible auctions of Gandhi’s possessions. “We want to preempt any auction of Gandhi items in the future by making it known that selling or buying these heritage articles is illegal,” the official was quoted as saying. “No one has the right to do this.”
■MYANMAR
New pagoda inaugurated
In a ceremony presided over by military supremo Senior General Than Shwe and attended by the junta hierarchy, a new pagoda for the capital of Naypyitaw was inaugurated on Saturday, media reports said yesterday. Than Shwe and his wife Kyaing Kyaing presided over the hoisting of the umbrella on top of the Uppatasanti Pagoda on Saturday in Naypyitaw, the country’s capital since 2004 that is situated about 350km north of Yangon, the former capital. The couple also donated a Buddha tooth relic, provided by China, to be placed inside the pagoda, the first to be opened in Naypyitaw since it became the country’s new capital, the New Light of Myanmar reported.
■PHILIPPINES
Rebels kill three fishermen
Gunmen attacked a fishing boat in the volatile south, shooting to death three fishermen and abducting two others, officials said yesterday. Government troops and police were trying to determine who was behind Thursday’s attack off Basilan Island, where al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants have been blamed for a surge in kidnappings for ransom, navy Commodore Alex Pama said. The gunmen on a motorboat approached the fishing vessel and opened fire. The two surviving fishermen were abducted and the boat’s engine and fishing equipment were seized, Basilan Vice Governor Al Rasheed Sakkalahul said.
■AUSTRALIA
Cyclone Hamish closes in
Thousands of holidaymakers fled one of the country’s top tourist destinations yesterday as a tropical cyclone lashed the northeast coast. Authorities in Queensland State ordered the evacuation of Fraser Island as Tropical Cyclone Hamish approached the World Heritage-listed site shortly after it was upgraded to a category five storm, the most severe on the weather scale. The cyclone has been tracking south about 120km off the Queensland coast, but meteorologists warn its path is unpredictable and it could veer onto the mainland, potentially sparking a major disaster. Five tourist islands have been evacuated.
■AFGHANISTAN
Two policemen killed
A joint Afghan-coalition patrol killed two Afghan policemen who opened fire on their team in the northeast, the coalition said in a statement yesterday. The joint patrol was conducting an operation against a senior insurgent leader in Kapisa Province late on Friday when the policemen began shooting, despite attempts to identify themselves as friendly forces, the statement said. “In self-defense, the patrol returned fire killing two individuals,” it said. The coalition said it is reviewing the incident. “We sincerely regret the loss of life of our friendly forces and we are continually working with our Afghan partners to prevent situations like this from happening in the future,” said Colonel Greg Julian, a spokesman for US forces.
■FRANCE
Two die in rail accident
Two people were killed and 11 injured on Saturday when a commuter train hit them while they were on the rails between the northern Paris suburbs of Aubervilliers and Saint-Denis, firefighters said. The accident took place when a train hit the people who were on the railway overpass crossing a highway, firefighters said. Children were among the victims, and three of the injured were in serious condition, they said.
■UNITED STATES
Never too late to confess
Some New York City Catholic churches are trying to send a message that it’s never too late to come to confession. A few churches stayed open from Friday night through early Saturday morning in hope of boosting participation in one of the faith’s sacraments, the New York Times reported. Several other parishes offered extended hours. Organizers and the Archdiocese of New York say the event was the first of its kind in the city. Organizer Mario Bruschi says at least 855 confessions were made as part of the event.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Crash was an ‘accident’
The government said late on Saturday it believed the automobile crash that injured Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and killed his wife Susan was indeed an accident and not a politically motivated attack as some have alleged. The truck that collided with Tsvangirai’s car belonged to a British-American organization, the foreign ministry said in London. The evidence points to an accident, a spokeswoman said. In a statement released in South Africa on Saturday, Tsvangirai’s party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) described the crash as a “perfect organized hit.” In Zimbabwe, leading MDC members stopped short of such a direct accusation, but said they were making their own investigations, and accused the government of failing to provide the protection of a police escort for Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai survived Friday’s crash with minor injuries after his vehicle was hit by an oncoming truck but his wife was killed.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Demo protests PRC rule
More than 1,000 people gathered in London on Saturday for a demonstration against Chinese rule in Tibet ahead of this week’s 50th anniversary of a failed uprising. The crowd held banners with such slogans as “Stop the torture in Tibet” and “China stole my land, my voice, my freedom.” The Tibet Society of the UK said the march set off from the Chinese embassy, where an open letter which it said featured documentary evidence of torture, was delivered by Tibetan monk Palden Gyatso, who was imprisoned for 33 years. “It is a shameful indictment of the Chinese government that 50 years after its brutal crackdown on the Tibetan people, they continue using the same policies today,” said Philippa Carrick, the society’s chief executive.
■IRAN
Karzai to attend summit
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is to visit Tehran to attend an economic summit beginning on Wednesday, Hamshahri newspaper reported yesterday. The newspaper, quoting foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi, said that the presidents of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Turkey will attend the summit. Karzai’s visit to Iran gains significance as the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday that Iran will be invited for an international conference later this month to solve the crisis in Afghanistan.
One of Japan’s biggest pop stars and best-known TV hosts, Masahiro Nakai, yesterday announced his retirement over sexual misconduct allegations, reports said, in the latest scandal to rock Japan’s entertainment industry. Nakai’s announcement came after now-defunct boy band empire Johnny & Associates admitted in 2023 that its late founder, Johnny Kitagawa, for decades sexually assaulted teenage boys and young men. Nakai was a member of the now-disbanded SMAP — part of Johnny & Associates’s lucrative stable — that swept the charts in Japan and across Asia during the band’s nearly 30 years of fame. Reports emerged last month that Nakai, 52, who since
EYEING A SOLUTION: In unusually critical remarks about Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump said he was ‘destroying Russia by not making a deal’ US President Donald Trump on Wednesday stepped up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to make a peace deal with Ukraine, threatening tougher economic measures if Moscow does not agree to end the war. Trump’s warning in a social media post came as the Republican seeks a quick solution to a grinding conflict that he had promised to end before even starting his second term. “If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
PINEAPPLE DEBATE: While the owners of the pizzeria dislike pineapple on pizza, a survey last year showed that over 50% of Britons either love or like the topping A trendy pizzeria in the English city of Norwich has declared war on pineapples, charging an eye-watering ￡100 (US$124) for a Hawaiian in a bid to put customers off the disputed topping. Lupa Pizza recently added pizza topped with ham and pineapple to its account on a food delivery app, writing in the description: “Yeah, for ￡100 you can have it. Order the champagne too! Go on, you monster!” “[We] vehemently dislike pineapple on pizza,” Lupa co-owner Francis Wolf said. “We feel like it doesn’t suit pizza at all,” he said. The other co-owner, head chef Quin Jianoran, said they kept tinned pineapple
RSS