Asian news briefs

HONG KONG: A Pakistani man who tried to sneak into Hong Kong in a suitcase carried by another traveller has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, newspapers reported yesterday. 

Raja Kamran, 24, pleaded guilty on Monday to charges of entering Hong Kong without permission and violating a deportation order, the English-language daily South China Morning Post reported. – AP 

 

JAKARTA: President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday cancelled a planned trip to central Indonesia because of security concerns triggered by protests around the country over higher fuel and utility prices. 

Protesters took to the streets in Jakarta and other cities yesterday in a second week of demonstrations sparked by a announcement that rates for fuel, telephone service and electricity would be raised by between 6% and 22%. – AP 

Another perspective from The Jakarta Post, a partner of Asia News Network. 

SINGAPORE: Singapore has called off a search for a missing sailor, 10 days after the worst accident in the history of the city-state’s navy killed at least three others, the government said yesterday. 

The missing sailor, 2nd. Sgt. Chua Bee Lin, and three other servicewoman whose bodies have been recovered were sleeping in the rear section of a patrol boat when it was sheared off in a collision with a Dutch cargo ship on Jan 3 near Pulau Batu Puteh – AP  

Another perspective from The Straits Times, a partner of Asia News Network.