MANILA: Communist insurgents extorted 26m pesos ($634,000) from politicians in the mid-term election, the army said yesterday. But spokesman Major Ramon Zagala said the figure was far short of the 500m pesos they had targeted, citing intelligence reports. The New People’s Army has in the past used elections to raise funds by demanding that politicians pay them to campaign without being harassed. The rebels were not able to collect as much as they planned due to increased military activity.
Japan PM to visit Myanmar
Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Myanmar for three days from tomorrow, becoming the first Japanese leader to visit Myanmar in 36 years, the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said yesterday. Abe will meet President Thein Sein. Suga said the visit aimed to strengthen relations maintained for a long time due to Japan’s economic aid.
Indonesia mine toll hits 28
TIMIKA: Rescuers have recovered seven more bodies from a collapsed mine tunnel in eastern Indonesia, its US operator said yesterday, taking the final toll to 28. The rescue team “recovered and identified the last of the remains of the buried workers early this morning,” the Indonesian subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan said. Thirty-eight workers were trapped on May 14 when part of the tunnel caved in at Freeport’s Grasberg gold and copper mine in the mountains of remote Papua province.
N-reactor atop active fault
TOKYO: Japan’s nuclear watchdog said yesterday that one reactor was sitting directly above an active tectonic fault, effectively ruling out a restart forever. The Nuclear Regulation Authority said it had approved a report from experts which found a crack in the Earth’s crust lying underneath the reactor at a plant in Tsuruga, western Japan, was active. “There is a need for us to take the report seriously,” Chairman Shunichi Tanaka said.
Tribals protest
global forum
KUCHING: About 300 Borneo tribespeople staged a protest at a world hydroelectric industry meeting in Malaysia yesterday to denounce dams they say were destroying forests and native ways. Officials in the state of Sarawak have for years been accused of ramming through controversial dams, and opponents have criticised the International Hydropower Association’s decision to meet in the state. Shouting “No more mega-dams,” and with signs saying “No forced resettlement,” protesters demonstrated outside the meeting venue in the Sarawak capital Kuching. Organisers said most of the protesters had travelled for days from the jungly state’s rugged interior.
Croc shocks beachgoers
JAKARTA: Hundreds of sunbathers fled a popular Indonesian beach in panic when a four-metre crocodile laid down next to them to soak up some rays, an official said. Crowds were thronging the beach at Balikpapan on Borneo island at the weekend when the 500kg reptile crawled ashore. “It was spotted sunbathing near the lifeguard post,” local coastguard Ari Triyanto said. AGENCIES
