■ Singapore
Cat cull draws protests
Animal-protection groups and pet lovers yesterday protested the government's drive to kill stray cats estimated to number 80,000. Lynn Yee, president of the Cat Welfare Society, appealed for reconsideration of "such extreme measures." The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said Friday that a campaign to cull stray cats is being mounted island-wide as part of a program "to clean up the environment and improve public hygiene" in the wake of the outbreak of SARS. AVA said it is concentrating on housing estates, food centers, markets and areas "affected by cat nuisance problems."
■ Thailand
Teen condoms criticized
A new brand of scented condoms aimed at teenagers is raising a stink in Thailand, a report said on yesterday. The Sweet Teen condoms, which come in lime, cola and mixed fruit varieties and are being advertised with the slogan "teen confidence," are a symbol of moral decay, a sociologist was quoted as saying. "Our society has decayed to the very core," Sompong Jitradab, a social scientist at Chulalongkorn University told The Nation newspaper. "When there's nothing we can do to stop teens from having sex, we produce condoms for them." "The demand is already there. We're helping to solve social problems," the suppliers' spokesman said.
■ New zealand
How to use a chainsaw
High school students are earning qualifications in how to use chainsaws, gamble at casinos and handle guns, a newspaper reported yesterday. More than 100 students passed qualifications in the use of chainsaws last year, and one passed in the rules and procedures for craps, a dice game popular in casinos, Wellington's Dominion Post reported. It said the qualifications were awarded as part of a new National Certificate of Educational Achievement, under which schools can teach a wide range of subjects designed to help students get jobs when they leave.
■ Vietnam
Lightning strike injures 51
Lightning struck a house in northern Vietnam, injuring 51 people who were inside watching a popular television show. The victims, mostly students aged 8 to 17, were taken to local hospitals in Lang Son province following Thursday's incident. Four adults suffered burns, while 10 children were treated for dizziness and headaches, said Hoang Van Thinh of the People's Committee of Binh Trung village, 170km northeast of Hanoi. The village is not wired for electricity, but one house is powered by a 0.5-kilowatt power generator run by stream water. The lightning struck the generator and ran in on the 14-inch television set everyone was gathered around, Thinh said.
■ Singapore
Marshals keep planes safe
Armed marshals will be deployed on Singapore Airlines and Silkair flights in the next few months to thwart would-be hijackers. With suicide attacks deemed more likely, security experts told The Straits Times that undercover agents need to be trained in unarmed combat and need to carry stun guns that fire darts to immobilize terrorists or fire special bullets that fragment on impact and wouldn't puncture a plane's fuselage. The special agents are likely to be deployed only on selected flights because SIA and its subsidiary, SilkAir, operate more than 400 a week.
■ Canada
More farms quarantined
Investigators placed four more farms under quarantine, including three involving feed production, in a widening search for the cause of North America's first case of mad cow disease in a decade. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said 13 farms were now under quarantine -- eight in Alberta, where the recent case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy was found; two in Saskatchewan to the east; and three in British Columbia to the west. The farms quarantined in British Colombia were feed suppliers, said Brian Evans, the agency's chief veterinary officer.
■ United States,
Bear 1, man zero
A North Jersey man tangled with a bear Friday afternoon and wound up in the hospital, the West Milford Police Department said. Rob Skrypek, 35, was bitten on the hand, forearm, upper arm and head and was scratched on the back as he tried to defend his Labrador retriever from a bear that had wandered into his yard with her cub, the police said. "He jumped on the bear's back and gave it a chokehold," a police dispatcher said. The bear then threw Skrypek off, bit and scratched him and ran into the woods. Skrypek was in good condition Friday night at a local hospital.
■ Venezuela
Chavez agrees to accord
After six months of bitter negotiations, President Hugo Chavez and his adversaries have agreed to sign an accord that would lead to a referendum on his rule, officials on both sides said Friday. The agreement, brokered late Thursday by the Organization of American States in Caracas, calls on both sides to spurn violence. It is likely to lead to a referendum this year after a new electoral board is chosen to oversee the vote. The pact, to be signed Wednesday, does not provide a complete framework for how a referendum would be held.
■ United States
Jackson near bankruptcy
Michael Jackson, who amassed a half-billion-dollar fortune over the past 20 years, is saddled with debt and teetering near bankruptcy, his former financial advisers say in a lawsuit. The lawsuit claims Jackson's extravagant spending has created "a ticking financial time bomb waiting to explode at any moment." Union Finance and Investment of South Korea filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming Jackson owes the firm US$12 million in fees and expenses, plus interest. However, Brian Oxman, a Jackson family attorney, said he does not believe the singer is near bankruptcy.
■ Sweden
Police arrest `Jackass'
A star of the MTV television show Jackass was arrested in Sweden after admitting he swallowed a condom filled with marijuana, police said Friday. Stephen Glover -- known as Steve-O on the now defunct series on the American cable channel -- was arrested Thursday after police raided his hotel room in Stockholm. Glover's lawyer, Jason Berk, said the arrest was the result of a misunderstanding "and a failure to differentiate between the person and his art."
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was