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International News
Olympic Beijing faces challenge to kick smoking
***
From The Asian Reporter, V18, #15 (April 8, 2008), page 2.
Two wives divorce man at the same time
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — When Roslan Ngah took a second wife, he might have wondered if she would get along with his first. He need not have worried. The two women got along so well they decided to leave him at the same time. Faced with their united stand, Roslan, a 44-year-old Malaysian Muslim, divorced his two wives, ages 46 and 35, in an Islamic Shariah Court in northeastern Terengganu state. According to Islamic law, a woman can submit a request to leave her husband, but the pronouncement of divorce must come from the man or a court. Islam allows a man to have four wives. Salwa Mansor, the second wife’s lawyer, said the wives cited irreconcilable differences and other complaints. The Star daily quoted Roslan as saying he was aware his two wives had become close over the years. "They are like good friends, but I never imagined that both of them had collectively decided to divorce me," he said. "I never expected our marriages to end in this manner." Roslan has four children with his first wife and two with his second. He reportedly said he would marry again, "God willing."
Man, denied beer, threatens to blow up airplane in China
BEIJING (AP) — A state media report says a man who threatened to blow up a passenger plane after he was refused a beer has been detained in eastern China. At press time, the official Xinhua News Agency said the man, surnamed Wo, had been detained for 10 days in the eastern city of Hangzhou after his alleged threat aboard a China Eastern Airlines flight from the southern city of Guangzhou caused passengers to panic. The report says no dangerous materials were found following a police check of the plane.
Glass coffin with body of monk stolen from Myanmar
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — A group of armed men stole the body of one of Myanmar’s most revered Buddhist monks, whose corpse has been preserved in a glass coffin since he died more than four years ago. Officials said the coffin containing the body of Sayadaw Bhaddanta Vinaya, better known as Thamanya Sayadaw, was stolen from the monastery in eastern Myanmar where he had preached. The officials, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to release information, said at least nine armed men wearing camouflage clothing carried out the theft. They said they had no idea who they were or why they took the body. Thamanya Sayadaw — the abbot of Thamanya mountain — was a highly revered monk who attracted thousands of followers to his temple daily before he died in November 2003 at the age of 93. Many people continued to pay their respects to his remains after his death. Bodies of revered monks are sometimes preserved and displayed in glass coffins for worship.
Suspected rat found in food shipped from Snohomish
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A suspected rat was found in frozen vegetables imported from the United States, prompting South Korea’s food protection agency to order a recall and an investigation, an official said. The suspected rat was found in mixed vegetables processed by Columbia Foods Inc. of Snohomish, Wash., said Choi Soon-gon, deputy director of food management at the Korea Food and Drug Administration. The frozen vegetables were sold at four of Costco’s six stores in South Korea, company officials said. Costco, an Issaquah, Wash.-based warehouse club operator, confirmed that it reported the case to the food agency two days after receiving a complaint from a South Korean customer. The announcement came a week after a suspected rat’s head was found in a popular South Korean snack food produced by its Chinese factory.
Woman accused of practicing witchcraft, beaten
PATNA, India (AP) — A woman accused of practicing witchcraft in eastern India was tied to a tree and beaten by enraged villagers, police said. Lalpari Devi was attacked in a village on the outskirts of Patna, the capital of Bihar state, local police official Nishant Tiwary told The Associated Press. Tiwary said Devi claimed to be a faith healer and was treating a mentally ill woman in the village. When the woman attempted to commit suicide, Devi was attacked by angry villagers, Tiwary said. He said Devi was tied to a tree with rope and repeatedly beaten. Her hair was then cut off and she was paraded through the village, Tiwary said. A video of the attack was aired by New Delhi Television. Ram Ayodhya Rai, the mentally ill woman’s husband, was arrested and charged with assault, Tiwari said. He added that police have started an investigation to find out how many other villagers were involved. Devi is being investigated for fraud, Tiwary said. Rural areas in India remain deeply superstitious, despite the country’s economic progress in recent years. Many people believe in black magic, and dozens of people are beaten or killed every year for practicing witchcraft.
Muslims protest anti-Islam film by Dutch lawmaker
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — At a protest in the Indonesian capital, hardline Muslims called for the death of a Dutch legislator for producing a film critical of their faith. Scores of police stood guard as 40 demonstrators from the Islamic Defenders Front — a small group that has occasionally staged violent protests against Western targets in the past — rallied outside the Dutch embassy. "Kill Geert Wilders," the filmmaker, read one banner held by protesters, who threw a few empty plastic bottles and a couple of eggs at the compound before dispersing. A spokesman for the Islamic Defenders Front said he had yet to see the film, but nevertheless called on the government to sever all diplomatic links with the Netherlands over it. Wilders’ 17-minute film intersperses scenes of recent terror attacks with verses from the Quran, Islam’s holy book, and speeches from Islamic extremists.