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Asia Beat: 19th Feb 2009
JAKARTA, Indonesia BANGKOK, Thailand SINGAPORE HANOI, Vietnam KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia R&B superstar Rihanna delayed a planned concert in Malaysia, following reports that she accused boyfriend and fellow performer Chris Brown of assault. Rihanna, a Grammy award winner, was due to perform in the capital Kuala Lumpur on Feb, 13 as part of her Good Girl Gone Bad world tour. Rihanna's management said a replacement date will be announced within two weeks. Rihanna's Kuala Lumpur leg has come under fire from hardline Islamists, who claim her performances were unsuitable for local audiences. Five children have been killed after a shoot out between Taliban insurgents and Australian soldiers in Afghanistan, the Australian Defence Force said. The incident happened in Uruzgan province, where Australia's special forces were clearing a number of houses in the hunt for insurgents. Australia has around 1,100 troops in Afghanistan, based mainly in the southern Uruzgan province where the Taliban has a strong presence. SEOUL, S.Korea HONG KONG COLOMBO, Sri Lanka The Sri Lankan military says at least 32,000 people have fled the war zone in the Indian Ocean island's north-east, where troops aim to deal a death blow to separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and end a 25-year-old civil war. The war zone has been sealed off to journalists and most aid workers. Humanitarian agencies estimate about 250,000 people are trapped there.
Police in East Java province have closed a clinic run by a nine-year-old child believed to possess healing powers, after four people died while queueing for treatment. Two patients died while lining up with thousands at the house of Muhammad Ponari, who has been called "child witch doctor" by locals, in Jombang district, said police officer Muhammad Indra. Two other patients died last week in a stampede, he said.
Thai police arrested two Colombian nationals and have issued warrants for three more who allegedly formed a burglary gang that preyed on wealthy housing estates. The gang reportedly preyed on well-to-do housing estates in Bangkok and neighbouring provinces, driving past security guards on the pretence of visiting Thai friends. "Sometimes, security guards are lenient when seeing foreigners," a police official said. "But now they had better be strict."
Facing a record number of litterers in a city which is regarded as one of the cleanest in the world, the Singapore government will implement heavier fines for smokers dropping cigarette butts or car drivers leaving parking coupons on the street. Beginning April 1, first-time offenders will pay $250 for failing to dispose small items in litter bins. Repeat offenders would face even harsher penalties. Besides having to pick up rubbish in public, they could face fines up to $6,200.
Vietnamese police plan to shut down a popular website run by a Vietnamese-American entrepreneur for violating rules on copyright and political content. The search portal, timnhanh. com, belongs to VON, a company owned by Paul Nguyen Hung. The newspaper Hanoi Security quoted police sources as saying the website had hosted pornography as well as "misleading information" about the Vietnamese Communist Party and government policies.
KABUL, Afghanistan
North Korea has apparently started assembling its longest-range missile that could be ready for launch late this month, a South Korean news report said. Chosun Ilbo newspaper, quoting an unidentified South Korean government official, said the first and second stages of the Taepodong-2 missile had been transported to the launch site at Musudan-ri on the northeast coast. At maximum range the missile could theoretically target Alaska.
GUWAHATI, India
Police in Assam are in a quandary over a mysterious "stone man" claiming his sixth victim — a pavement dweller — in less than two months in the state's main city of Guwahati. The killings come as a thriller based on the unsolved serial killings of pavement dwellers in Mumbai in 1983 hit the screens. The attacks are almost the same — the attacker targets the victim before dawn, bludgeoning him to death with a stone-like object.
A passenger arriving at Hong Kong International Airport from Thailand was arrested with 46 rare animals including tortoises and hedgehogs in his luggage, officials said. The Hong Kong resident was caught with two highly endangered Angonoka tortoises, 21 hedgehogs and 23 sugar gliders — small marsupials from Australia which are popular as pets. It is not known why the animals were being smuggled into Hong Kong.
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