Saturday, September 12, 2009 TOKYO: A tourist has spent eight years travelling across 37 countries with the equivalent of $2, relying on his bicycle for transport.Keiichi Iwasaki, 36, left his Japanese home in 2001 with just 160 Yen ($2) in his pocket after becoming bored with his air-conditioning job, the UK's Telegraph reports. After cycling the country for a year he decided to extend his journey to South Korea and, eventually, 25 other countries. During his trip Mr Iwasaki was attacked by a rabid dog in Tibet, robbed by pirates and was even arrested in India. He cycled over 45,000 kilometres during his marathon adventure and become the first Japanese man to climb Mount Everest from sea level without using any transportation. Mr Iwasaki said he raised funds from performing tricks, and only his “strong will” has kept him on his bike. He chose to avoid air travel and opted for cycling or ferries for transport in order to soak up the atmosphere. ''I didn't want to use aeroplanes because I wanted to see and feel everything with my own skin. With bicycle, I can always feel the air and atmosphere of the place.'' Mr Iwasaki is in Switzerland and hopes to climb Mount Blanc, Europe’s highest peak, before travelling to Africa and the US over the next five years. He plans to write a book about his adventure.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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