Free Republic

Having travelled solo to 193 countries in the world, YouTuber The Krazy Koala, or KK for short, declared Singapore "the best country to live in". The Singapore Permanent Resident (PR), who hails from the US, has been living here for the past seven years, and it sounds like she's not leaving anytime soon. In a chat with fellow content creator Max Chernov, shared on YouTube on Monday (April 22), KK spoke about her adventures around the world and why she ranks Singapore high on her list of countries. "As a traveller who has been to 193 countries, this is the...

One woman and two men received 100 strokes of the rattan as dozens of spectators cheered on in Lhokseumawe, near Indonesia's Banda Aceh province The woman begged the officer to stop as he brutally hit her A woman cried as she was publicly whipped by a masked sharia officer for having pre-marital sex with her boyfriend in Indonesia's Banda Aceh province. The young woman, 22, is seen wincing in pain and begs the officer to stop as she received 100 strokes of the cane while dozens of spectators watched along the sidelines.

Two German men have been sentenced to three strokes of a cane and nine months in jail in Singapore for vandalism and trespassing. Andreas Von Knorre and Elton Hinz pleaded guilty to entering a train depot and spraying graffiti on a train. Singapore has strict laws on vandalism, and has caned and jailed foreigners in the past for the offence. These include a Swiss national in 2010 and US teenager Michael Fay whose 1994 caning sparked global controversy. Von Knorre, 22, and Hinz, 21, had flown into Singapore from Australia in November last year and vandalised a train during their...

Sharia police in Aceh, the only Indonesian province to practise the Islamic law, caned a homeless “punk” couple nine times Friday after they were caught having pre-marital sex in public. Around 100 people in the town of Langsa watched and cheered when Shariah police in green-and-black hoods caned the 21-year-old woman and her 23-year--old boyfriend, along with 11 others convicted of gambling. “Those kids are punks. They were caught having sex by the public and were arrested by Shariah police,” Langsa prosecutor’s office head Putra Masduri said. Masduri said the couple were often seen loitering on the streets dressed as...

SINGAPORE (AP) -- A former Florida State University football player may become the first American in 16 years to be caned in Singapore after he overstayed his visa, his lawyer said Thursday. Kamari Charlton, who was a reserve tight end for Florida State from 1992 to 1996, was arrested Sept. 1 when he attempted to leave the city-state 169 days after his 90-day social visit pass expired, attorney M. Ravi said. Charlton, who was born in the Bahamas and owns a construction company there, was in Singapore while his wife received medical care for pregnancy complications, Ravi said. It was...

A woman who was raped by an alleged sorcerer in Saudi Arabia is appealing for executing her rapist who was sentenced to six months in jail. In a report from the eastern province of Qatif on Sunday, Saudi newspapers said the woman told court that she went to the man’s house and stripped off her clothes because she was under his magic spell. The court sentenced the unidentified rapist to six months in prison and 50 lashes with the whip after it could not find evidence of rape. “The man told court he had a relationship with the woman, who...

SINGAPORE : Swiss national Oliver Fricker has been sentenced to five months jail and three strokes of the cane. The 32-year-old IT consultant pleaded guilty to trespassing into the SMRT Changi Depot and spray-painting two train carriages. A third vandalism charge for cutting the depot's fence was taken into consideration. Fricker committed the offences between May 16 and 17 with an alleged accomplice, identified as Dane Alexander Lloyd, a Briton who has since left Singapore. The court was told Lloyd allegedly masterminded the plan, and had corresponded with a spray paint supplier before his arrival in Singapore on May 15....

A MUSLIM model sentenced to caning for drinking beer in Malaysia said on Thursday she had been summoned for punishment this week by a local religious authority. Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 33, was sentenced last year under Islamic law to six lashes and a fine by a religious court in the moderate Muslim-majority country... An appeals panel upheld the ruling despite the avalanche of criticism, including the government saying the sentence was "too harsh", although it is not clear what punishment she may now receive. Kartika, whose case has fuelled a debate over rising "Islamisation" of the multi-ethnic country, was...

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (AP) - A judge in Malaysia has upheld a court verdict to cane a Muslim woman for drinking beer, news reports said Monday, re-igniting a controversy over Islamic justice in this moderate Muslim-majority country. The Star newspaper's Web site and national news agency Bernama said the chief Shariah judge of Pahang state ruled that a Shariah High Court's verdict against Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, was correct and should stay. If the punishment is carried out, Kartika would become the first Muslim woman to be caned in Malaysia, where about 60 percent of the 28 million people...

Malaysia's prime minister has urged a Muslim woman sentenced to be caned for drinking beer, to appeal her sentence. Najib Razak said that a formal appeal against her sentence would probably get Kartika Dewi Shukarno a sympathetic hearing from Islamic authorities. "Kartika should appeal instead of being too quick in asking for punishment," Najib Razak told reporters in Putrajaya, Malaysia's administrative capital. He added that the authorities were "sensitive to the implication of the punishment". However, speaking by phone to Al Jazeera from her home in Malaysia's Pahang state, Kartika told Al Jazeera she had no intention of appealing because...

A Muslim part-time model will become the first woman to be caned in Malaysia after pleading guilty to drinking beer, a prosecutor said today. An Islamic court ordered that Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, be lashed six times with a rattan cane after she was caught drinking alcohol in a raid on a hotel night club in eastern Pahang state last year. Prosecutor Saiful Idham Sahimi said Kartika will be the first woman to be caned under Islamic law after she chose not to appeal the sentence. He said: 'This is the first case in Malaysia. ... It is a...

A Thai prostitute escaped caning for drug dealing in Singapore after a doctor established that the accused, who was identified in a passport as a man, had undergone a sex change, the Straits Times reported on Friday.

WINTER PARK, Fla. (AP) -- The young man who was caned in Singapore four years ago for allegedly vandalizing cars has been arrested in Florida on drug charges. Michael Fay, 22, was arrested at his apartment Tuesday by a deputy responding to neighbors' complaints about loud music. Fay, a student at Valencia Community College, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and less than 20 grams of marijuana. He was released Wednesday after posting $500 bond. ``I'm not going to lie to anybody. It was my mistake. I was smoking marijuana,'' Fay said later. In May 1994, Fay was flogged...

WINTER PARK, Fla. (AP) -- The young man who was caned in Singapore four years ago for allegedly vandalizing cars has been arrested in Florida on drug charges. Michael Fay, 22, was arrested at his apartment Tuesday by a deputy responding to neighbors' complaints about loud music. Fay, a student at Valencia Community College, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and less than 20 grams of marijuana. He was released Wednesday after posting $500 bond. ``I'm not going to lie to anybody. It was my mistake. I was smoking marijuana,'' Fay said later. In May 1994, Fay was flogged...

N.Y.C. Morgue Manager Pleads Guilty Felix Velazquez, 55, pleaded guilty to one count of petit larceny in exchange for a sentence of 15 days of community service and a $1,000 fine. The coffins, which usually sell for $3,000 to $5,000 retail, were donated by manufacturers for families of victims of the World Trade Center terrorist attack but weren't needed. The charities sent them to Bellevue Hospital Center for use there. Velazquez stole the wooden and metal caskets from Bellevue and sold them for $150 to $300 each, prosecutors said.