World Scene

Indonesia president shows his inner pop star with new album

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (pictured) has taken a break from battling rampant corruption and mutinous coalition partners to compose another album of romantic pop songs.

"Ku Yakin Sampai Di Sana" (I'm Certain I'll Get There) was released on Sunday and features some of Indonesia's best-known singers and musicians.

Like the 60-year-old former general's previous two albums, "Ku Yakin" deals with themes such as love, loyalty and patriotism.

"In my spare time from fulfilling the people's mandate as president, I like to express my feelings in works of art," the president commonly known as SBY writes on the album cover, which features an image of children running with the Indonesian flag.

"The songs were written from the belief that nothing can change the fate of a nation except the people themselves, and the conviction of a noble purpose."

"Indonesian Idol" talent show winners Vidi Adiano, Rio Febrian and Joy Tobing were among the stars who recorded the president's songs and performed at Sunday's launch, which Yudhoyono did not attend.

"The president communicates his feelings through music. In this album, he wants people to have big dreams and work hard towards achieving them," presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said yesterday.

"His songs are about life. While traveling in the car, he will observe things around him and then jot down the lyrics and read them out."

Yudhoyono's debut release was "Rinduku Padamu" (My Longing for You) in 2007, which was followed by "Evolusi" (Evolution) in 2009.

Bus-riding cat dies in traffic accident in London

A cat which became famous in Britain for riding on the buses around the southern English city of Plymouth has died after being run over, media reported.

Casper, a 12-year-old black and white cat, used to wait with commuters at a bus stop outside his home and then hop on to the number 3 bus to find a seat to curl up on.

The cat was so well-known on the service that drivers knew at which stop to let him off.

Casper's death was announced on a notice put up at his bus stop by his owner, the BBC and local newspapers reported.

"Many local people knew Casper, who loved everyone -- he also enjoyed the bus journeys," it said.

Alexander the Great's gold ring snatched a second time

Organizers of the "Antiquities Theft in Israel" exhibition could not have chosen a more fitting name for their display in Jerusalem.

Burglars last week broke into the Ashdod Museum where hundreds of artifacts recovered from the black-market were on show and snatched several valuable items, including a silver ring belonging to Alexander the Great and gold earrings.

The Israel Antiquities Authority said the popular exhibition had been running for four years.

Surprise visitor won't be joining Medvedev family

An unemployed construction worker alarmed Kremlin guards when he tried to barge past them for what he said was a meeting with the Russian president to become his son-in-law, a popular daily reported recently.

He was promptly informed that Dmitry Medvedev only has a single teenage son and was then taken to a psychiatric hospital , Komsomolskaya Pravda said. The native of Russia's volatile Muslim Dagestan region, 35, whose name was only given as Bakhtiyar, was seeking to improve his fortunes by marrying into Medvedev's family after he lost his construction job during the financial crisis, the paper said.

AFP-Reuters

(China Daily 01/26/2010 page10)