Wood's ex-wife breaks silence

NEW YORK - THE now ex-wife of Tiger Woods has broken the silence she maintained through the torrid xxx scandal that engulfed their marriage, saying she has been through 'hell.'

Elin Nordegren spoke to People magazine in an interview published on Wednesday, two days after she and Woods issued a statement confirming their divorce, which had been widely anticipated for months after his public confession of infidelity.

'I've been through hell,' the Swedish-born former nanny told the publication. 'It's hard to think you have this life, and then all of a sudden - was it a lie? You're struggling because it wasn't real. But I survived, it was hard, but it didn't kill me.'

Nordegren, 30, who met Woods at the age of 21 while minding children for a Swedish golfer but is now studying psychology, said she never suspected the affairs that Woods, reputed to be the world's wealthiest sports star, admitted to and publicly apologized for in February.

'I'm so embarrassed that I never suspected - not a one. For the last three and a half years, when all this was going on, I was home a lot more with pregnancies, then the children and my school,' she said.

When asked about his ex-wife's comments, Woods told reporters on Wednesday after playing a golf event in New Jersey that he 'wished her the best in everything.' 'It's a sad time in our lives. And we're looking forward to - in our lives and how we can help our kids the best way we possibly can. And that's the most important thing,' he said. -- REUTERS

54 survive, 42 dead in crash

Rescuers stand around the wreckage of a crashed passenger plane in Yichun, north-east of China's Heilongjiang Province, in this photo distributed by China's official Xinhua News Agency. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

BEIJING - A CHINESE airliner smashed into two pieces while trying to land in heavy fog, leaving at least 42 people dead but 54 survivors in the country's first major air disaster in nearly six years.

The Henan Airlines domestic flight was carrying 96 people when it slammed into the ground on landing in the north-east city of Yichun in remote Heilongjiang province late on Tuesday, state media said.

Forty-two people were killed, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC), which reportedly had highlighted past technical problems with the plane involved - an ERJ-190 jet made by Brazilian company Embraer.

On Wednesday, rescuers were combing through the smouldering wreckage while the survivors - mainly from the disembodied plane's front cabin - were being treated in four local hospitals, the Xinhua news agency said.

The plane's captain was among the survivors, but he had severe facial injuries and was unable to talk, Xinhua said.

At Yichun's fog-shrouded airport of Lindu, located in a forest about nine kilometres outside the city, rescuers were transferring victims' bodies wrapped in silver bags to funeral homes for identification, it said. -- AFP

Petition delivered to Istana

The petition was presented by a group of 12 of Yong's family members and supporters. Police officers from the Istana Security Unit received the petition outside the Istana's Cavenagh Road entrance. -- ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG

A PETITION with close to 110,000 signatures was delivered to the Istana on Tuesday morning, calling on President S R Nathan to spare the life of convicted Malaysian drug trafficker Yong Vui Kong.

It was presented by a group of 12 of Yong's family members and supporters. Police officers from the Istana Security Unit received the petition outside the Istana's Cavenagh Road entrance.

The group, which included the Member of Parliament for Yong's constituency in Sabah, met at Plaza Singapura at 9am.

Most wore T-shirts with the words Give Life a Second Chance, the slogan for the Save Vui Kong Campaign.

At 10am, they walked to the Istana's Cavenagh Road entrance, carrying a box, files and bundles of paper bearing the 109,346 signatures.

These had been gathered over the past two months on the streets of Yong's home state of Sabah, as well as in Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and online.

Mexico's newest icon: 22-year-old Miss Universe

By OSKAR GARCIA, Associated Press Writer

From flags to Facebook, 22-year-old Jimena Navarrete has quickly made it clear what she plans to promote as the world's newest Miss Universe — her home country of Mexico.

"I want the whole world to know about my country and my people," the Guadalajara native said after beating 82 competitors for global bragging rights at the pageant in Las Vegas.

"I imagine that they're all going crazy in Mexico right now," she said through an interpreter. "I'm extremely proud and I'm sure they're very proud, too."

She donned a flowing red dress, strutted confidently in a violet bikini, and said onstage that the Internet is indispensable and requires parents to impart family values.

The model-turned pageant queen then posed for pictures with a Mexican flag and Mexico's last Miss Universe as congratulations from her countrymen came pouring in.

"Her triumph is a source of pride and satisfaction for all Mexicans, who see in her the fruits of perseverance," Mexican President Felipe Calderon said in a statement. Immediately after her win, Calderon said on Twitter that her victory would help Mexico's image as a country.

"We won, long live Mexico!" Navarrete said on her fan page on Facebook, spurring 478 "likes" and 218 comments in about one hour.

She was cheered by Spanish-speaking reporters clamoring to talk with her after the pageant, and twice answered questions about Arizona's recent immigration law.

"Every country has the right to impose and enact their laws," she said, wearing her new sash and sparkling tiara. "But I tell you that all the Mexicans and the Latins that are living here in the United States are hardworking people — people who want to improve on their quality of life."

The Miss Universe pageant is known for grabbing headlines — and Navarrete appears ready to make her mark.

She's Mexico's second Miss Universe. Lupita Jones — Navarrete's national pageant director — won in 1991. Navarrete has been modeling since she was 15 and came to Miss Universe after winning for Jalisco, then Mexico, in the country's Nuestra Belleza pageant.

Navarrete replaces Miss Universe 2009 Stefania Fernandez of Venezuela. She also spoiled a bid by Miss Venezuela Marelisa Gibson from giving the South American country a third consecutive victory. Neither Gibson nor Miss USA Rima Fakih made the top 15 finalists.

With fans in some 190 countries watching on television and keeping tabs on social networks, Navarrete and her competitors introduced themselves while wearing over-the-top national costumes. They then danced in silver and black dresses for the show's opening number before the last 15 finalists were announced.

The final 15 walked in swimsuits while Cirque du Soleil musicians played Elvis Presley songs including "Viva Las Vegas." The last 10 impressed in their gowns while John Legend and the Roots played a soulful medley including "Save Room."

By the end of the show, seven of the top 10 trending topics on Twitter had to do with the pageant, its contestants, its judges or owner Donald Trump. The mogul co-owns the pageant with TV network NBC.

The show was without any major gaffes, except for Miss Philippines' answer when asked what her biggest mistake in life was and how she fixed it.

"In my 22 years of existence, I can say there is nothing major," Venus Raj said.

Before the pageant, Raj was rated among the top contestants in an online poll on the pageant's website. She finished in fifth place.

Asked by Olympic gold-medal figure skater Evan Lysacek how she felt about unsupervised Internet use, Navarrete said the Internet is important.

"I do believe that Internet is an indispensable, necessary tool for the present time," she said through an interpreter. "We must be sure to teach them the values that we learned as a family."

Lysacek was one of this year's nine celebrity judges. The others were actresses Jane Seymour and Chynna Phillips; actors Chazz Palminteri and William Baldwin; magician Criss Angel; MSNBC anchor Tamron Hall; drummer Sheila E.; and supermodel Niki Taylor.

Navarrete won a package of prizes including an undisclosed salary, a luxury New York apartment with living expenses, a one-year scholarship to the New York Film Academy with housing after her reign, plus jewelry, clothes and shoes fit for a beauty champion.

Campbell won the Miss Congeniality Universe award. Miss Thailand Fonthip Watcharatrakul won Miss Photogenic Universe and a second award for having the best national costume.

First runner-up was Miss Jamaica Yendi Phillipps, while second runner-up was Miss Australia Jesinta Campbell.

Fakih, a 24-year-old Lebanese immigrant from Dearborn, Mich., spurred celebrations among Arab-Americans when she won Miss USA. Pageant records aren't detailed enough to show whether Fakih is the first Arab-American, Muslim or immigrant to win Miss USA.

Miss USA has not been named Miss Universe since Brook Lee won the title in 1997.

___

Associated Press writer Olga Ramirez in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Stuck in a jam for 9 days

Since Aug 14, thousands of trucks bound for Beijing on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway have been caught in a massive jam that stretches over 100km. -- PHOTO: CHINAPHOTOPRESS

BEIJING - IT HAS been nine days since the highway jam began and it is still showing no signs of letting up.

Maintenance construction on a separate highway is the major cause of the congestion, said Sina.com, forcing drivers to the Beijing-Tibet Expressway. The congestion is expected to last for almost a month as construction on the National Expressway 110 is only due for completion on Sept 13.

However, this scene is nothing new for many drivers. In a similar scene this July, traffic was also reduced to a crawl for nearly one month.

Drivers stuck on the highway kill time by playing cards or just wait idly by. But spirits are still being kept up with some drivers joking, 'concerts should be held at each congested area every weekend, to alleviate drivers' homesickness'.

The jam has brought some smiles as well, with nearby residents profiting by overcharging drivers for food. About 400 traffic police officers have been sent to maintain order and to prevent further accidents on the highway, said Sina.com.

'Pentagon used dirty tricks'

This photo shows WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in Stockholm Sweden. Mr Assange believes the Pentagon could be behind a rape allegation against him that was later dropped. -- PHOTO: AP

STOCKHOLM - WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange said in an interview published on Sunday he believed the Pentagon could be behind a rape allegation against him that was swiftly dropped by Swedish authorities.

His comments came as prosecutors justified their treatment of the 39-year-old Australian, whose whistleblowing website is embroiled in a row with Washington over the publication of secret Afghan war documents. The Aftonbladet newspaper quoted Mr Assange as saying he did not know who was 'hiding behind' the rape claim, which prompted prosecutors to issue a warrant for his arrest on Friday but which was cancelled the following day.

'But we have been warned that for instance the Pentagon will use dirty tricks to destroy us. I have furthermore been warned about set-up sex traps,' he said, in a translation of comments published in Swedish.

The former computer hacker described the allegations as 'shocking' and said he had 'never, neither in Sweden nor in any other country, had sex with someone in a way which wasn't completely voluntary on both sides.' Mr Assange told Aftonbladet - for which he last week agreed to write a regular column - that his enemies would still use the claims to damage WikiLeaks despite the lifting of the warrant.

The website is set to publish 15,000 more secret papers about the war in Afghanistan in coming weeks, having recently released nearly 77,000 papers and sparking charges that it had endangered the lives of informants and others. 'I know from experience that WikiLeaks' enemies continue to trumpet things even after they have been denied,' Mr Assange said. He refused to give more details about the two women whose claims sparked the furore, saying that it would impinge on their privacy. Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said any allegation of dirty tricks was 'absurd'.

Sweden's prosecution service said on Saturday that Mr Assange was now 'not suspected of rape' and was no longer wanted for questioning on the allegation, but added that an investigation into a separate molestation charge remained open. -- AFP

Malaysian, Jailed for sexual grooming

Singapore: A STOREKEEPER, 27, who repeatedly propositioned two secondary school students for sex, has become the first person to be jailed for sexual grooming.

Loh Kuat Fung was jailed a year on Friday on each charge but the sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

However, the Malaysian was jailed an additional six months for allowing one of the girls, then aged 15, to consume alcohol in a hotel room he had rented after they got to know each other in 2008.

The other girl was only 13 when Loh tried to hit on her.

Calling the offences 'very serious' as his victims were 'very vulnerable', District Judge Sarjit Singh ordered the 18-month jail term to start immediately.

For sexual grooming, Loh could be jailed for up to three years and/or fined up to $10,000.

The law, which took effect in February 2008, makes it an offence for a person above the age of 21 to 'intentionally meet or travel to meet a minor with the intention of committing a sexual offence with the minor'.

A district court heard that the storekeeper first got to know the older girl through social networking website Friendster in 2008. Harassed by persistent requests for sex, the teenager introduced a 13-year-old friend to Loh so that he would leave her alone in September that year.

Obama family 'easy to please'

The White House's executive chef Cristeta Comerford speaks to AFP during a visit to Hong Kong. -- PHOTO: AFP

HONG KONG - SERVING meals for US President Barack Obama and his family is not as tough a job as outsiders like to think, according to White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford.

'The president and his family are very open to all different types of food. It's very easy to please them,' said Ms Comerford, who emigrated to the United States from the Philippines in the 1980s, and is on a visit to Hong Kong. 'It's such a blessing to have that.'

Mr Obama's family love trying seafood such as Maryland blue crabs, and a wide variety of international cuisines, including Chinese dim sum and Vietnamese dishes, she said.

Ms Comerford was appointed to head the White House's kitchen 'cabinet' by former first lady Laura Bush in 2005, making her the first female and the first person of ethnic minority origin to hold the position.

Together with other chefs serving heads of states around the world including French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Ms Comerford was invited to Hong Kong by a hotel group this week to sample local cuisine. The group will also visit Macau and Beijing.

In addition to leading a team of seven full-time chefs for the White House, the executive chef took on an additional task under the Obama administration: tending to the White House Garden. -- AFP

Russia defends nuclear plant

Russia has been building the plant in since the mid-90s but the project has been marred by a series of delays and the issue is hugely delicate amid the standoff over Iran's nuclear programme. -- PHOTO: AFP

SOCHI (Russia) - RUSSIA on Wednesday defended the nuclear power plant it is building for Iran in the southern city of Bushehr, days ahead of a ceremony to mark the formal launch of the controversial facility.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the plant as an 'anchor' that would keep Iran firmly fixed to peaceful use of nuclear power.

'It is a most important anchor which keeps Iran within the regime of non-proliferation,' he told reporters on the sidelines of a regional summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. 'It is fully protected from any proliferation risks whatsoever. This idea is shared by all the leaders of Western countries,' he added.

The charging of the first nuclear fuel at the plant on Saturday is to be marked at a ceremony in Bushehr including the head of Russia's nuclear agency, Sergei Kiriyenko.

Russia has been building the plant in since the mid-90s but the project has been marred by a series of delays and the issue is hugely delicate amid the standoff over Iran's nuclear programme.

Russian officials have emphasised that it would still take some time for the 1,000 MW capacity power plant to start significant work, with the facility operating at minimal power of one percent after 3-4 months. -- AFP

Obama's ratings at new low

WASHINGTON - PRESIDENT Barack Obama earned his lowest marks ever on his handling of the economy in a new Associated Press-GfK poll, which also found that an overwhelming majority of Americans now describe America's financial outlook as poor.

A frustrated electorate could take it out on the party in power - Mr Obama's Democrats - in the November congressional elections. Eleven weeks before the Nov 2 balloting, just 41 per cent of those surveyed approve of the president's performance on the economy, down from 44 per cent in April, while 56 per cent disapprove. And 61 per cent say the economy has gotten worse or stayed the same on Mr Obama's watch.

Still, three-quarters also say it's unrealistic to expect noticeable economic improvements in the first 18 months of the president's term. And Mr Obama's overall approval rating was unaffected; it remained at 49 per cent, in part because most Americans still like him personally.

Americans' dim view of the economy grew even more pessimistic this summer as the nation's unemployment rate stubbornly hovered near 10 per cent. That's been a drag on both Mr Obama and Democrats, who control Congress.

Viewpoints like those have Democrats on edge as they try to hang onto comfortable majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate in a political environment made ever more challenging by economic woes. Republicans are trying to convince Americans that the Republicans can create the jobs that Mr Obama hasn't delivered. Mr Obama and his Democrats are pleading for the frustrated public to give them more time to prove that their economic fixes will work.

'The truth is, it's going to take a few years to fully dig ourselves out of this recession. It's going to take time to bring back 8 million jobs,' the president said on Tuesday while campaigning for Democratic candidates in Seattle. 'Anybody who tells you otherwise is just looking for your vote.' Democrats are keenly aware that they face strong headwinds; 60 per cent of people say the country's headed in the wrong direction. -- AP

US bankruptcies top 400k

NEW YORK - US BANKRUPTCY filings have reached the highest level since 2005, government data released on Tuesday show, as the economy slows and the unemployment rate hovers just below double digits.

There were 422,061 bankruptcy filings between April and June, according to the Administrative Office of the US courts, up 9 per cent from 388,148 in the prior three-month period, and up 11 per cent from 381,073 a year earlier.

For the year ended June 30, there were 1.57 million bankruptcies, up 20 per cent from 1.31 million a year earlier. Consumer bankruptcies rose 21 per cent to 1.51 million, and business bankruptcies rose 9 per cent to 59,608.

Quarterly filings surpassed 400,000 for the first time since a record 667,431 bankruptcies were begun in the fourth quarter of 2005, when Congress overhauled federal bankruptcy laws and made it harder for people and businesses to file.

'We know the causes of bankruptcy are principally job losses and health care, with the overlay of the foreclosure crisis,' said Deborah Thorne, an associate professor of sociology at Ohio University. 'It feels very unsettled, and I'm not surprised the numbers are going up. Until we get our feet on the ground, provide decent-paying jobs, and do something with the housing crisis, bankruptcies will continue to go up'.

Last Tuesday, the US Federal Reserve said high unemployment, reflected in July's 9.5 per cent rate, as well as modest income growth, falling home prices and tight credit amid a contraction in bank lending were factors contributing to a slowdown in economic growth. -- REUTERS

'Porn behind baby dumping'

KUALA LUMPUR - WIDESPREAD access to pornography and weakened family ties have led to an increase in baby dumping in the past five years, according to Federal CID director Comm Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin.

'Youth today can easily have access to such material online, even through their mobile phones.'Parents also need to guide and educate their children on sexuality,' he said yesterday at Bukit Aman.

Commissioner Bakri also urged the public to work closely with the police in identifying such cases. He said sometimes neighbours or people in the community knew about such pregnancies but were not forthcoming.

He said police records showed 65 babies were dumped or abandoned up to August - bringing the total number of babies dumped or abandoned since 2005 to 472.

Of the total dumped or abandoned, more than half or 258 were found dead. 'We do not take this lightly and will investigate such cases thoroughly. For the record we have so far arrested 21 people and have charged six of them resulting in two of them being convicted.

'We investigate baby dumping cases under section 302 of the Penal Code for murder or Section 307 for attempted murder. But, the final decision rests with the Attorney-General Chambers,' he added.

'Sextortion' on the rise

Attorney and online child safety advocate, Parry Aftab sits in her office in Wyckoff, New Jersey. Aftab and others say that teens who text nude cell phone photos of themselves or show off their bodies on the internet are being increasingly extorted by pornographers who track them down in real life. -- PHOTO: AP

INDIANAPOLIS - THE nightmare began with a party: three teenage girls with a webcam, visiting an Internet chatroom and yielding to requests to flash their breasts.

A week later, one of the girls, a 17-year-old from Indiana, started getting threatening e-mails. A stranger said he had captured her image on the webcam and would post the pictures to her MySpace friends unless she posed for more explicit pictures and videos for him. On at least two occasions, the teen did what her blackmailer demanded. Finally, police and federal authorities became involved and indicted a 19-year-old Maryland man in June on charges of sexual exploitation.

Federal prosecutors and child safety advocates say they're seeing an upswing in such cases of online sexual extortion. They say teens who text nude cell phone photos of themselves or show off their bodies on the Internet are being contacted by pornographers who threaten to expose their behavior to friends and family unless they pose for more explicit porn, creating a vicious cycle of exploitation.

One federal affidavit includes a special term for the crime: 'sextortion.' No one currently tracks the number of cases involving online sexual extortion in state and federal courts, but prosecutors and others point toward several recent high-profile examples victimising teens in a dozen states:

- In Alabama, Jonathan Vance, 24, of Auburn was sentenced to 18 years in prison in April after he admitted sending threatening e-mails on Facebook and MySpace extorting nude photos from more than 50 young women in Alabama, Pennsylvania and Missouri.

- In Wisconsin, Anthony Stancl, 18, received 15 years in prison in February after prosecutors said he posed as a girl on Facebook to trick male high school classmates into sending him nude cell phone photos, which he then used to extort them for sex.

- A 31-year-old California man was arrested in June on extortion charges after authorities said he hacked into more than 200 computers and threatened to expose nude photos he found unless their owners posed for more sexually explicit videos. Forty-four of the victims were juveniles, authorities said. Federal prosecutors said he was even able to remotely activate some victims' webcams without their knowledge and record them undressing or having sex.

The cases have prompted law enforcement officials and advocates to caution teens about their activities. Privacy is nonexistent on the Internet, and once indiscretions appear online, they are virtually impossible to take back. A nude photo sent to a boyfriend's cell phone can easily be circulated through cell phone contacts and wind up on websites that post sexting photos. Once there, it's available for anyone who wants to trace it back to the person who made it. -- AP

Barack Obama backs Ground Zero mosque

President Barack Obama has offered strong support for plans to build a mosque and Muslim community centre near the Ground Zero site in New York where Islamic terrorists destroyed the World Trade Centre.

Mr Obama made his first public remarks on the proposals on Friday night after weeks avoiding comment on a controversial issue that has dominated headlines.

At a dinner celebrating the holy month of Ramadan, he declared "as a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country".

In remarks prepared for the annual White House sunset meal breaking the fast, he said: "I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground."

But, he continued, "this is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are."

Robert Gibbs, his press secretary, said last week that the president did not want to "get involved in local decision-making" as controversy grew when New York city authorities removed the last planning hurdle to the project.

But Obama aides said the White House simply did not want to become involved while the city was delivering its verdict on the proposed Muslim complex two blocks from the site of the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the Twin Towers.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a strong supporters of the community centre scheme, arguing that it reflects the American principles of religious freedom and choice that were attacked by the 9/11 terrorists.

But the plans have provoked a national uproar over Islam and freedom of religion amid campaigning for crucial mid-term c ongressional elections in November.

Saran Palin, the former Republican vice-presidential candidate, has led the objections. She called the project "an unnecessary provocation" and urged "peace-seeking Muslims" to reject it. To the outrage of some liberal Jewish groups, the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish organization, has also opposed the centre.

Rick Lazio, the Republican candidate for New York governor, said: "With over 100 mosques in New York City, this is not an issue of religion, but one of safety and security."

Mr Obama's intervention will put him at the centre of one of America's most sensitive political and cultural debates.

Justin Bieber Calls Kim Kardashian 'Extremely Hot'

Hollywood's newest BFFs? Justin Bieber and Kim Kardashian.

After spending time together at a White House dinner and getting wet and wild for a fashion shoot, the teen singer says he and the reality star are keeping in constant touch even with their busy schedules.

"I have her on [BlackBerry Messenger] and we, like, talk all the time," the 16-year-old told Access Hollywood Wednesday before performing at a Nashville charity concert.

Calling their The Graduate-themed Elle spread "cool," Bieber says he knows just how lucky he is to have gotten the chance to work with Kardashian.

"She's really beautiful so that was … I mean, any 16-year-old would want to do a photo shoot with her," he says.

But there's more to the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star, 29, than just her looks. According to Bieber, "Beyond just being, like, extremely hot, she's actually, you know, a really nice person."

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Fifa to discuss goal line tech

SINGAPORE - THE controversial issue of goal-line technology will be discussed at a meeting of the International Football Association Board in October, Fifa president Sepp Blatter said on Wednesday.

During the World Cup in South Africa, Mr Blatter (pix) indicated it would be tabled at a meeting of football's rulers in Wales in July, but that never happened.

'At this meeting (in October), we will bring the point of goal-line technology. It is now on the agenda,' he said in Singapore where he is attending the Youth Olympic Games.

Goal-line technology was forced back onto Fifa's agenda after England's Frank Lampard had a goal disallowed in South Africa, despite replays showing the ball clearly crossed the line.

Fifa have previously rebuffed all demands to use video technology to resolve contentious refereeing decisions, despite it being successfully implemented in other sports such as tennis, cricket and rugby union.

Their rationale has been that it would disrupt the free-flowing movement of the game. But with international pressure growing, Mr Blatter has softened his stance, and said on Wednesday that the technology could be allowed providing it was reliable. -- AFP

Bashir arrested

JAKARTA (Indonesia) - RADICAL Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, once imprisoned for his links to the terror group behind the Bali bombings, was arrested on Monday for alleged involvement with a new militant network.

His lawyer, Muhammad Ali, said the arrest took place on Monday morning in West Java's Ciamis district.

Bashir is best known as the founder and spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, the Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group responsible for the 2002 bombings on Indonesia's resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, many of them foreign tourists.

He spent several years in prison for his involvement with the group, but was released in 2006. He was arrested on Monday for alleged involvement with a new terror cell in Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh, the lawyer said.

Authorities discovered the new group in February and said it was allegedly planning to assassinate the president and carry out Mumbai-style attacks targeting foreigners.

Dozens of suspects linked to that cell, which called itself Al-Qaeda in Aceh, have been arrested or killed in recent months. Rumours have circulated for weeks that Bashir, a fiery preacher known for propagating hatred against foreigners, was next on the list. -- AP

Donald Trump sued for fraud

NEW YORK - DONALD Trump and the promoters of his Trump SoHo hotel-condominium were sued by buyers who accused them of fraudulently touting out-sized sales figures to encourage them to buy units and inflate the project's financial health.

The lawsuit by 15 plaintiffs was filed on late Monday in Manhattan federal court, less than four months after the 46-storey building opened and three months after the offering plan went effective, allowing closings to begin.

Trump SoHo is a venture between the Trump Organization, which manages the building, and Bayrock Group and Sapir Organization, which formed its sponsor Bayrock/Sapir Organization. The smallest units start at $1.2 million (S$1.62 million).

The complaint said the defendants in sales pitches and to the media during the first 18 months of marketing advertised that the building was '30, 40, 50, 60 per cent or more sold.' Instead, when the offering plan went effective, buyers learned that just 62 of the 391 units, or 16 per cent, had been sold, the complaint said. A minimum of 15 per cent was needed for the plan to go effective.

In a separate statement, Donald Trump said the building has 'done exceedingly well' since its opening. 'This case is simply a matter of buyers' remorse,' he said, referring to the lawsuit. Other defendants include Trump's children Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.

Trump SoHo is unusual in that owners are limited to staying in their units no more than 120 days a year and no more than 29 consecutive days in any 36-day period. Units are rented to hotel guests when owners are away. -- REUTERS

Over 70m US adults obese

WASHINGTON - MORE than 72 million US adults, or 26.7 per cent, are obese, up 1 percentage point in two years, the US government reported on Tuesday.

Obesity has become 'a major public health threat' and is steadily worsening, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported. 'We need intensive, comprehensive and ongoing efforts to address obesity,' CDC director Dr Thomas Frieden said in a statement.

'If we don't more people will get sick and die from obesity-related conditions such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of death.'

The CDC examined data from the national Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance System, which surveys 400,000 people and asks about height and weight, among other things. Looking state-by-state, the CDC found that 30 per cent of adults in nine states are now obese. In 2000, no states reported obesity rates of 30 per cent or more.

Height and weight are used to calculate body mass index or BMI, the medically accepted way to measure obesity. A BMI of 25 or more makes someone overweight and obesity begins at a BMI of 30. A 1.625m tall person who weighs 79kg or more or a 1.8m tall person who weighs 95kg or more has a BMI of 30, and is considered obese. The survey found 2.4 million more people admitted to being obese in 2009 than in 2007, a 1.1 percentage point increase. And the CDC said this is almost certainly an underestimate, as people often say they are taller and weigh less than they actually do.

'Recent estimates of the annual medical costs of obesity are as high as US$147 billion (S$198.4 billion). On average, persons who are obese have medical costs that are US$1,429 more than persons of normal weight,' the report reads. Blacks were the most likely to be obese, with 36.8 per cent of US black adults having a BMI of 30 or more - more than 41 per cent of black women. More than 30 per cent of Hispanic adults were obese. -- REUTERS

Ex-Interpol head jailed 15 years

Jackie Selebi (pic) was convicted in July after a nation beset by crime heard months of testimony about its top cop going on designer shopping sprees with a convicted drug smuggler. -- PHOTO: AP

JOHANNESBURG (South Africa) - SOUTH Africa's former national police chief has been sentenced to 15 years in prison on corruption charges.

Jackie Selebi was convicted in July after a nation beset by crime heard months of testimony about its top cop going on designer shopping sprees with a convicted drug smuggler.

The judge called Selebi an 'embarrassment to the position' at his sentencing on Tuesday.

Selebi argued he was targeted by enemies who wanted to punish him for his criticism of an elite and now defunct crime-fighting unit.

The case against Selebi, a one-time president of Interpol, has been a chief exhibit in a national debate over whether corruption and political meddling is undermining the fight against crime. -- AP