News Briefs (August - September 2007)

Friday, August 24, 2007

Robbery Suspects Arrested in Mae Sot

Four members of a gang suspected of robbing Burmese migrant workers, Thais and foreigners have been arrested in the Thai border town of Mae Sot in Tak Province.

A Mae Sot police officer told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the four, two Burmese and two Thai, will face trial. They are believed to have committed 20 robberies in August, police said. If convicted, they could receive up to 10 years in prison.

Deputy Chief of KNU Health Department Dies

The deputy chief of the Karen National Union Health and Welfare Department, Dr Po Thaw Da, died at age 70 of heart failure and pneumonary oedema disease on Tuesday at Mae Sot General Hospital.

The funeral service was held on Thursday at Mae Sot District in Tak Province.

Po Thaw Da began work with the KNU in 1991 as secretary of the Health and Welfare Department. He was named deputy chief in 2001.

Po Thaw Da finished high school at the National Christian High School in Taunggyi in Shan State, Burma, and he graduated MBBS at the Medical University of Rangoon in 1996.

He also worked with the Back Pack Health Worker Team, the National Health and Education Committee, the Burma Medical Association and other social groups promoting children's education among Burmese migrant workers.

Malaysian Paper Apologizes for Picture of Jesus Holding Cigarette

A newspaper catering to Malaysia's ethnic Indians published a front-page apology Thursday after causing an outrage by printing an image of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette. S M Periasamy, general manager of the Tamil-language Makkal Osai, said the daily published the controversial photo by mistake. "The graphic artist, whom we have already suspended, didn't see the cigarette," Periasamy told The Associated Press. "It was a mistake." He said the artist downloaded a picture of Jesus from the Internet for use along with a quote from the Bible on the paper's front page on Tuesday. But the artist overlooked the fact that the picture had been altered to insert a cigarette in one hand and another object—a can or a book—in the other, he said. Kuala Lumpur archbishop, Murphy Pakiam, who earlier criticized the picture as a "desecration," accepted the newspaper's apology. However, the Malaysian Indian Congress, a party in Malaysia's ruling coalition, filed a police report and called on the government to close the paper, which has generally been critical of the MIC. "It's a very serious issue. For certain things you can apologize, but for this kind of sensitive issue, the editor should be sacked and the paper closed," T. Mohan, a senior party official, told the AP. Ethnic Indians comprise 10 percent of Malaysia's 26 million people, and are mostly Hindus with a sprinkling of Christians and Muslims. (AP)

Deadly Puffer Fish Sold as Salmon Kills 15, Sickens 115

Unscrupulous vendors in Thailand have been selling meat of the deadly puffer fish disguised as salmon, causing the deaths of more than 15 people over the past three years, a doctor said Thursday. Although banned since 2002, puffer fish continues to be sold in large quantities at local markets and restaurants, said Narin Hiransuthikul of Bangkok's Chulalonkorn University Hospital. "Some sellers dye the meat of puffer fish and make it look like salmon which is very dangerous," Narin said. Narin said over the past three years more than 15 people have died and about 115 were hospitalized from eating the fish. The ovaries, liver and intestines of the puffer fish contain tetrodotoxin, a poison so potent that the US Food and Drug Administration says it can "produce rapid and violent death." The fish is called fugu in Japan, where it is consumed by thrill-seeking Japanese gourmets for whom the risk of poisoning adds piquancy. Every year, there are reports of people dying or falling sick in Asia from eating puffer fish. Eating the fish can cause paralysis, vomiting, heart failure and death. (AP)

Two Killed, Dozens of Houses Burned in E Timor Unrest

Two people were killed in East Timor on Thursday in fresh violence following the appointment of a new government earlier this month, the United Nations said. Dozens of houses were set on fire and hundreds of young men clashed with machetes, steel darts and bows, just east of the capital Dili, UN and Timorese police said. There were no details about the deaths in the central Ermera district, a UN statement said.