MEDIUM INTENSITY EARTHQUAKE SHAKES SW MEXICO

MEXICO CITY: A medium intensity earthquake struck southwestern Mexico early Monday morning, scaring residents already shaken by a powerful quake two days earlier, though there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The US Geological Survey said its magnitude was 5.9 and it struck at a depth of 40.2 kilometers (25 miles), some 32 kilometers (20 miles) northeast of the town of Santa Catarina Mechoacan in Oaxaca state. The country’s Civil Protection agency tweeted that “so far, no impact has been reported.” President Enrique Peña Nieto tweeted that the agency was in contact with local authorities. A 7.2-magnitude quake shook the same region on Friday evening. No one was killed by the seismic event but a helicopter carrying politicians to near the epicenter later crashed, killing 14 people on the ground. Memories are also still fresh of two earthquakes last September that killed a combined 465 people. Mexico sits at a spot where five tectonic plates come together, making it particularly vulnerable to earthquakes.

INDONESIANS ARRESTED FOR SHOOTING AN ORANGUTAN SOME 130 TIMES

JAKARTA: Four Indonesian men have been arrested over the killing of an orangutan shot some 130 times with an air rifle, police said on Monday, in the latest fatal attack on a critically endangered species. The suspects, farmers from the island of Borneo, admitted killing the animal, saying it ruined their crops at a pineapple and palm oil plantation, according to authorities. East Kutai district Police Chief Teddy Ristiawan said that the suspects wanted to scare the orangutan but instead killed it. The suspects, who were arrested last week, will be charged with killing a protected animal and face up to five years’ jail and a maximum fine of about $7,400. Ristiawan said a fifth suspect, a 13-year-old boy, was arrested but later released because he was a minor. Villagers in Borneo’s East Kutai district discovered the male orangutan’s corpse riddled with pellets two weeks ago. Its mutilated body also showed signs of a machete wounds.

MALDIVES COURT SUSPENDS REBEL MPS AHEAD OF KEY VOTE

MALÉ, Maldives: The Maldives’ top court has suspended 12 pro-opposition legislators before a crucial parliamentary vote Monday, emboldening President Abdulla Yameen as he clings to power in the troubled islands. The Supreme Court decision late Sunday reverses its original order to reinstate the MPs, who had defected from the ruling party. It comes as parliament prepares to ratify a state of emergency declared by Yameen that plunged the Maldives into crisis. The court had ruled on February 1 that the 12 defectors be reinstalled as legislators, reducing the president’s party to minority rule. This latest back flip by the Supreme Court restores Yameen’s majority in the 85-member legislature. The three-judge bench said it was suspending the February 1 order to reinstate the politicians following an appeal by the attorney general. It is the second back flip by the Supreme Court since Yameen ordered the arrest of the Chief Justice and another supreme court judge just two weeks ago as he declared a state of emergency.

CAMBODIA COURT DROPS PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES AGAINST FOREIGNERS

PHNOM PENH: A Cambodian court has dropped pornography charges against nine of the 10 foreigners arrested last month at a pool party in the tourist town of Siem Reap, an official said on Monday. The group was detained for around two weeks on charges of producing pornographic materials to promote the event at a private villa in the city flanking Cambodia’s famous Angkor Wat temple ruins. Police, who broke up the party on January 25, initially accused the foreigners of “singing and dancing pornographically.” Court Spokesman Yin Srang told Agence France-Presse that the court dropped the charges against the nine foreigners released on bail and said that only one British national will face trial. Their lawyer Ouch Sopheaktra said the Briton was held because he was accused of renting the villa and organizing the pool party. All 10 defendants—five Britons, two Canadians, a Norwegian, a New Zealander and a Dutch national—had denied the allegations, saying that they were wearing “sexy” clothing but had not produced pornography, according to their lawyer.