Around Asia: Iwo Jima, Salman Rushdie and Thaksin Shinawatra

Tamil Nadu, India - Officials in southern India are investigating claims that a couple, who are both doctors, let their 15-year-old son perform surgery to get into Guinness World Records as the world's youngest surgeon.

Iwo Jima, Japan - Clint Eastwood's pair of films about the famous battle on the Pacific island of Iwo Jima have spurred former residents to change the name of the island to Iwo To.

Islamabad, Pakistan - In response to a British knighthood for author Salman Rushdie, a group of hardline Pakistani Muslim clerics say they have bestowed a religious title on Osama bin Laden. The Pakistan Ulema Council gave bin Laden the title “Saifullah”, or "Sword of Allah", in response to the knighthood awarded to Rushdie last week for services to literature.

Jerusalem, Israel - Israel cancelled the East Jerusalem residence permits of a record number of Palestinians in 2006, effectively expelling them from the city, the human rights groups B'Tselem said Sunday.

Beijing, China - China's state media reported Sunday the release of seven Chinese hostages briefly kidnapped in Pakistan, but failed to mention that they were seized from an alleged brothel.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Malaysia has accused a European Union envoy of meddling in its affairs after he criticised Kuala Lumpur's affirmative action plan favouring majority ethnic Malays.

Elsewhere - Thaksin Shinawatra, the deposed prime minister of Thailand, has successfully bought over Manchester United City for £81.6 million, or $162 million. It is his third attempt to purchase an English Premier League team, following aborted interest in Liverpool and Fulham.

Image from chandler_vandergrift: A few months after massive demonstrations overthrew Thaksin, his supporters are now on the streets demanding that the Thai junta give way.