■Japan
Dead whale upsets shipping
Japanese coast guards scrambled a patrol boat to the mouth of Tokyo Bay yesterday to warn ships to steer clear of a 10m-long dead sperm whale drifting in the crowded seaway. The whale was first spotted by a fishing dinghy midday on Wednesday and the patrol boat was dispatched early yesterday. At midday, it was located some six kilometers off the Pacific coast town of Tateyama, 75km southeast of Tokyo. The area is near a bottleneck in the bay where on average 620 ships pass every day to and from such ports as Tokyo, Yokohama, Kawasaki and Chiba.
■ China
Respirators of little help
Artificial respirators have saved the lives of only two SARS sufferers in Beijing because doctors and nurses do not know how to use them properly, state media reported yesterday. It was not until this week that the city's second patient recovered from SARS with the help of a respirator, the Beijing Times said. Patients often feel extremely uncomfortable while being treated with respirators because medical staff do not always fit them properly, it said. Some patients have died after tearing away the tube in desperation, according to the paper. "Once we've got used to using the respirator, it may be too late for the patient," said a doctor at Beijing's Ditan Hospital. In Beijing, 118 people have died from SARS, while 2,522 have been infected.
■ Indonesia
Soldiers kill German tourists
Indonesian soldiers have shot dead a German who was travelling on a tourist visa in conflict-hit Aceh province and have injured his female German companion, the military said yesterday. Top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed concern and ordered a speedy investigation of the incident. A man identified as Luther Hendrik Albert, 54, was shot dead and his companion Elizabeth Margaret, 49, was shot in the knee after troops opened fire on them in the west of the province on Wednesday, the military said.
■ Indonesia
Bali suspect admits role
A Bali bombing suspect admitted in court yesterday that he bought the bomb-making materials used in last year's attack that killed more than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists. Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, a 40-year-old mechanic, is charged with planning and carrying out a terrorist attack under recently approved anti-terror laws. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death. Two witnesses from a shop in Surabaya, east Java, testified that Amrozi bought as much as two tonnes of potassium chlorate dating back to 2000. The last batch, a witness said, was loaded into a minivan that authorities said was used in the attack.
■ Japan
Sexteganarian steals bicycle
A 66-year-old man who allegedly stole a bicycle, then pedaled it on a three-week, 150km-long getaway has been arrested, police said yesterday. Yasuji Sugimura was finally stopped when an officer noticed the homeless man trundling down a national highway on a spotless, silver-colored girls-style bicycle bundled with paper bags full of old clothes. According to police, the man was intending to ride to Nagoya, when he was stopped about 100km short of the goal on Wednesday and arrested. Terada said it was unclear why Sugimura was bent on bicycling to Japan's fourth largest city.
■United States
Ganja guru goes free
Showing unexpected leniency, a judge sentenced "ganja guru" Ed Rosenthal on Wednesday to a day in jail for growing marijuana in violation of federal law because the pot advocate believed its cultivation was allowed under California law. US District Judge Charles Breyer said he gave the light sentence because of the "extraordinary circumstances" of the case, referring to the fact that growing marijuana for medical purposes is legal under a voter-approved California law. The government recommended a sentence of six-and-a-half years behind bars, but Rosenthal was allowed to go free as he had already served a day in prison.
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