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A golden fence surrounding Sri Lanka’s sacred Sri Maha Bodi tree in Anuradhapura.
ANURADHAPURA, Sri Lanka =-
Buddhism’s holiest tree in Sri Lanka’s ancient capital, tightly guarded by monks and security forces after Tamil rebels attacked it 23 years ago, is under threat again – this time from monkeys.
Pilgrims are frisked and scanned by metal detectors before being allowed to worship the “Sri Maha Bodi”, grown from a sapling of a tree in India that sheltered the Buddha when he attained enlightenment more than 2,550 years ago.
But primates in the temple compound are free to swing from tree-to-tree, grab sweet offerings and in the process endanger what Sri Lankan Buddhists believe is the world’s oldest religiously significant tree, a Banyan species propped up by iron supports at temple ruins dating back 2,300 years;-In the mainly Buddhist nation, the tree is not only an object of worship, but a symbol of national sovereignty. Buddhist devotees from India, Myanmar, Thailand, Korea and Japan visit to pay homage, while tourists also flock to the scene despite the security procedures.
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Hong Kong actor-singer Edison Chen faces the media at a hastily convened press conference in Hong Kong on Feb 21. At least seven stars have been sucked into the twists and turns of a sex scandal over explicit photos.
HONG KONG
The Canadian-born actor at the centre of a sex photos scandal Thursday apologised “for all the suffering that has been caused” and announced he was retiring from the Hong Kong entertainment scene. Explicit photographs of Edison Chen with a string of Hong Kong starlets and pop stars have been plastered across the Internet over the past few weeks, causing a storm in this celebrity-obsessed city.
Chen, 27, said he had come back to Hong Kong to account for himself. “I would like now to apologise to all the people for all the suffering that has been caused and the problems that have arisen from this,” Chen said, reading out a statement in English to a packed press conference. “I would like to apologise to all the ladies and to all their families for any harm or hurt that they have been feeling. I am sorry,” he said. Media reports say the photos which allegedly show him in compromising positions with various celebrities, including Canto-pop star Gillian Chung, actress Cecilia Cheung and former actress Bobo Chan were copied from Chen’s computer when he sent it in for repairs.
Chen admitted taking the photos but said they had been stolen from him. “I admit that most of the photos being circulated on the Internet were taken by me but these photos were very private and have not been shown to people and were never intended to be shown to anyone,” said the star of “Grudge II.”;–”These photos were stolen from me illegally and distributed without my consent. There’s no doubt whoever obtained these photos had been uploading them on the Internet with malicious and deliberate intent,” he said. Chen said he was assisting the police with their investigation. “I have been assisting the police since the first day the photos were published and I will continue to assist them,” he said, thanking the police “for their hard work on this case.”
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| TOKYO
The US military and Japanese police said Thursday they were investigating new allegations of rape by a US serviceman in Okinawa amid uproar after a string of criminal cases. The case was revealed one day after the US military imposed a sweeping curfew on troops and their families in a bid to stem public anger in Japan, a close US ally. A Filipina woman reported to police that she was raped by a member of the US Army in Okinawa, the southern island which is home to half of the more than 40,000 US troops in Japan, officials said. The incident allegedly occurred at a hotel in the city of Okinawa on February 18, a local police officer said. The Filipina woman was injured and is receiving medical treatment at a hospital, the officer said. “We are investigating the case carefully,” the police officer said, adding that the soldier was in US military custody. The officer declined to specify the extent of the woman’s injuries;-”The US Army takes this matter very seriously,” Army spokeswoman Dottie Vick said. “Army authorities are investigating and will continue to fully cooperate with the Okinawa prefectural police.” US troops are stationed in Japan under a security treaty with the country, which has been constitutionally pacifist since World War II. Okinawa, which was under US occupation until 1972, is a key hub due to its proximity to the Taiwan Strait;-The alleged rape was the latest case this month to damage the image of US forces in Japan. Okinawa police on February 11 arrested a US Marine on allegations he raped a 14-year-old local girl in his car. |
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| NEW YORK
A former dentist charged with stealing body parts from more than 1,000 corpses appeared in court in New York Wednesday, in a ghoulish case compared by prosecutors to “a cheap horror movie.” Michael Mastromarino stands charged with harvesting organs, body parts and tissue taken from the bodies of people who never consented to be donors, including that of veteran BBC broadcaster Alistair Cooke. Mastromarino, 44, who was led handcuffed into court, was said by his lawyer to be ready to plead guilty under the terms of a deal with prosecutors that would see him facing 18 to 54 years in jail instead of a life term. “My client is ready, willing and able to take a plea that was offered by the district attorney’s office three weeks ago,” Mastromarino’s lawyer Mario Gallucci told reporters. “He is still willing to do that and wants to do that.”;-Prosecutor Josh Hanshaft said that while the deal was still on the table, “if it doesn’t work out, we are going to have to go to trial.” Judge Albert Tomei ordered the case to be adjourned until February 27, after Gallucci said that prosecutors had asked for more time to consider the feelings of the families of the victims in the case;-Mastromarino, who was charged in 2006 along with three other defendants, allegedly made millions of dollars selling the unscreened body tissue. === |
HONOLULU, Hawaii
- A US Naval vessel hit a rogue spy satellite with a lone missile strike into space that appeared to have succeeded in destroying its tank of highly toxic fuel, defence officials said Wednesday. A network of radars and satellites designed for the US missile defense system confirmed that the successful interception occurred some 247 kilometers =133 nautical miles over the Pacific Ocean.
A senior Pentagon official said the missile appeared to have struck the targetted fuel tank containing hydrazine, which could have leaked potentially lethal toxic gas over a wide area if it had survived re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere;-”All indications are that the mission was a complete success. The missile appears to have destroyed the fuel tank. We will need some time to confirm the extent of destruction, but it looks good,” the official said. The operation raised concerns that the United States was trying to test an anti-satellite weapon, amid rising global tensions about the militarisation of space.
China responded swiftly, calling on Washington to provide more information and warning of potential international consequences. “China is continuing to closely follow the possible harm caused by the US action to outer space security and relevant countries,” foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said. China caused an international outcry when it shot down one of its own weather satellites on January 11, 2007 in what was widely seen as an anti-satellite test;-US Defense Secretary Robert Gates gave the go-ahead for the missile strike as he flew from Washington to Honolulu, a base for the three Aegis warships involved in the intercept attempt.
The USS Lake Erie, a guided missile cruiser, fired a single modified tactical SM-3 missile that hit the schoolbus-sized satellite which was travelling at more than 7,000 miles 11,265 kilometers per hour, the Pentagon said.
The objective was to hit a tank containing 1,000 pounds of hydrazine fuel. Satellite debris will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere immediately because of the relatively low altitude at which the satellite was intercepted, and most will burn up on re-entry within two days, the Pentagon said. But it could take up to 40 days for all the debris to re-enter.
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| MANILA
The Philippine military has learned its lesson from past uprisings and will not be joining any effort to unseat President Gloria Arroyo, the chief of staff said Thursday. General Hermogenes Esperon’s announcement came amid a growing clamour by various groups for Arroyo’s ouster following allegations that her husband and a key ally were implicated in a bribes scandal. “The military must remain apolitical and must not be the one trying to solve the political problems of the country,” he said. Opposition groups have been calling for an effort similar to the 1986 popular revolt that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos and the 2001 uprising that unseated scandal-ridden Joseph Estrada. The past week has seen two major rallies protesting over the controversial national broadband deal with Chinese company ZTE Corp in which massive bribes were alleged to have been offered;-The contract has since been cancelled by Arroyo. The next rally is scheduled for February 25, the anniversary of the start of the 1986 People-Power revolt that toppled Marcos. Esperon said the present situation could not be compared to 1986 or 2001 when the military played a pivotal role in unseating the presidents. Esperon said the accusations against Arroyo were being investigated by the legislature and executive bodies and that the matter could even be taken to court without involving the army;-He said the military would not intervene in planned street protests against Arroyo as long as they remained within the bounds of the law but if they turned violent, the armed forces would respond to any request by the police for help. Arroyo has weathered at least two attempted mutinies by military factions and three impeachments since coming to power seven years ago. |
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SINGAPORE
Hong Kong journalist Ching Cheong, who was freed from a Chinese prison this month, contemplated suicide during the darkest days of his detention, he told the Singapore newspaper he works for Thursday. He survived through reading classic Chinese philosophical texts and self-help books that his family had brought him, the Straits Times reported.
Ching, 58, said his most difficult moments in jail came in the early months after his arrest in April 2005 when he had no contact with his family or his employers. Ching was held on suspicion of spying for Taiwan and was sentenced to five years in jail last year during a one-day trial. “My body clock was turned upside down and ,the investigators,applied mental stress so you voluntarily succumbed to them,” he said in his first interview since his unexpected release from prison on February 5. “I began to lose confidence, lose hope, and had low self-esteem. When you are in such a situation, the downward spiral begins to kick in and the end result is to commit suicide,” said Ching, the chief China correspondent for the Straits Times.
Asked if he came close to suicide, Ching replied: “Yes, when you have to dismiss everything you’ve long held precious to you.”
He said he pulled through by reading Chinese philosophical texts, which impressed on him that the things he did were “good for the people and good for the country”;-Ching also said his family kept the death of his 82-year-old father in 2006 a secret from him. On learning of his father’s death after his release he said: “I just couldn’t accept this story. I cried, I kneeled down and it was really a hard time for me.”
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SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia
Roger Federer won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award for 2008 here on Monday.
The Swiss star won three out of four Grand Slam tournaments in 2007, at Wimbledon and the US and Australian Opens, and was the losing finalist in the French Open;-He also won the season-ending Masters in Shanghai and finished the year World No 1 for the fourth time in a row.
At 26, he has won 12 Grand Slam titles, two shy of the record held by the retired Pete Sampras.
It was also the fourth straight year he has taken the Laureus world award, the first man to do so.
“I am just happy that the jury didn’t think that three is enough,” said Federer.”We get a lot of awards during the year. It might be national, it might be regional, but the Laureus is the one that goes worldwide.
Referring to his loss to Novak Djokovic in the semifinal of the Australian Open last month, Federer said: “There are many up-and-coming youngsters in the game and it was about time they won something.
“They proved it at the Australian Open with two very young players in the final ;Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, but I hope I can keep my ground for some time to come.”
“Three to go Grand Slams and to win the French Open which is next would be great.”
The World Sportswoman of the Year award went to Belgium’s Justine Henin who won two Grand Slam tournaments in 2007 at the French and US Opens and finished the year by lifting the WTA Tour Championships in Madrid.It was the first time she has won the Laureus award succeeding Russian pole-vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva.
The World team award went to South Africa’s rugby union team who defeated England 15-6 in the World Cup final final at the Stade de France, Paris in October after going through the tournament unbeaten.
There were awards also for two British favourites in Lewis Hamilton and Paula Radcliffe.
The 22-year-old Hamilton won the World Breakthrough of the Year award for leading the Formula One championship in his rookie season for much of the way, only losing out to Kimi Raikkonen in the closing Brazil Grand Prix.He won four Grands Prix, the most ever in a debut season.
Radcliffe took the Comeback of the Year award for winning the gruelling New York marathon after taking two years out of the sport to have a baby.
The other main awards went to Dutch wheelchair tennis player Esther Vergeer as World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability and US skateboarder Shaun White as World Action Sportsperson of the Year.
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CHONGQING, China
Han Duan scored twice as hosts China struggled past South Korea with a 3-2 comeback victory on the first day of the East Asian women’s championship here Monday.
It was sweet revenge for China who bowed 2-0 to South Korea in the inaugural women’s sub-continental cup in 2005.
China and Japan stood on top of the table of the four-nation round robin with three points each. Japan stunned Asian number one North Korea 3-2 earlier Monday;-Han scored in a goalmouth scramble after a free kick on the stroke of the half-time to put the hosts up 1-0 before roaring home supporters at the Yongchuan Stadium.
But Park Hee-Young banged in a cross from Cha Yun-Hee with his right foot on a counterattack on the hour mark;-Park scored another from inside the box seven minutes later as the visitors surged ahead to a 2-1 lead.
Xu Yuan came close to equalise on 70 minutes as she dribbled in to face South Korean goalkeeper Kim Jung-Mi one-on-one. But the kick went straight into Kim’s gloves.
Han struck again with a 79-minute equaliser.
Xu’s attacking effort paid off when she headed in a rebound off the bar three minutes before stoppage time.
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SINGAPORE
Singapore is banking on its small size and its reputation for being safe and efficient to help it win the right to host the inaugural Youth Olympics in 2010.
A decision will be made by the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland on Thursday, with Moscow the only other city in contention after Athens, Bangkok, and Turin were eliminated;-The Games, primarily aimed at encouraging youngsters to get involved in sport and spend less time in front of computer and television screens, will see 3,500 athletes aged between 14 and 18 competing in 26 sports.
It is Singapore’s first bid to host a multi-disciplinary sporting event of this magnitude and officials are confident they have done enough to convince the Olympic powerbrokers to hand the Games to Southeast Asia.
“We offer the IOC the opportunity to create a new legacy, by showing how a small city-state can also be part of the exciting Olympic movement,” said Vivian Balakrishnan, Singaporean Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports.The Youth Olympics ,, the brainchild of IOC chief Jacques Rogge – will feature traditional sports such as athletics and swimming but also some innovative ones such as beach wrestling and BMX bike riding.
But it is not only about winning medals.
Rogge says the Games must also act to educate youth on the perils of doping, to respect Olympic values, and to promote healthy lifestyles.
Singapore believes winning the right to host the event would leave a lasting legacy for Southeast Asia, “heralding a new era for aspiring athletes and sports fans in the region.”
President of the Singapore National Olympic Council Teo Chee Hean said the nation had plenty working in its favour.
“Singapore offers a safe and secure environment for the 5,000 athletes and officials who are expected to attend the inaugural Youth Olympic Games,” he said.
“We are also well known for our efficiency to organise big events given short lead time. Hence, the IOC can be assured that the first Youth Olympic Games, if held in Singapore, will be an event the world will be proud of.”
In its evaluation report, Singapore was praised for the “unified and focused vision by all stakeholders” and “innovative and dynamic culture and education programmes.”
Also in its favour is Rogge’s preference for the winner to be a city that is unlikely ever to host a senior Olympics.
Moscow hosted the Summer Games in 1980 while the Black Sea resort of Sochi will stage the 2014 Winter Olympics.
But the Russian capital has “existing competition venues and vast experience in hosting large events,” noted the IOC report.
Singapore is proposing 24 venues, with four being built as temporary facilities, including one large cluster of 13 in its Marina-Kallang area.
The Youth Olympic Village would be located at a new 423 million dollar student residential complex at the National University of Singapore, slated for completion months before the event.
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