■Malaysia
Smoke blankets region
As gray clouds of pollution blanketed parts of Malaysia, authorities yesterday said they would take legal action against companies that lit fires to clear plantation land. Seasonal burning in parts of Malaysia and neighboring Indonesia have sent smoke drifting across the region, cutting visibility and raising health concerns. Thursday was the worst day so far, with two air quality monitoring stations -- both near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's largest city -- reporting unhealthy pollution levels, officials said. The government said it would crack down on plantation owners who lit open fires to clear land for next season's crops.
■ China
Bank seeks `smart sperm'
China's first "smart sperm" bank, which accepts only highly educated donors, says it has 400 women on a waiting list for fertilization. Now it needs donors. Four years after it was set up, the center, set up in 1999, says it has fewer than 20. "The creation of the center in the southwestern city of Chengdu set off a debate in the Chinese press over its focus on the sperm of highly educated men. "Potential donors are usually busy men," Huang said. "They have little time to spend on this."
■ China
Navy reshuffles after accident
Several high-ranking Chinese naval leaders have been dismissed in the wake of a submarine accident in which 70 sailors perished, official sources said yesterday. The navy of the People's Liberation Army will now be commanded by Zhang Dingfa (張定發), previously a joint commander, Chinese media said. Zhang replaces Shi Yunsheng (石雲生), 63, according to several newspaper reports quoting Xinhua press agency. Hu Yanlin (胡顏林) also replaces Yang Huaiqing (楊懷慶) as the navy's political commissar, the reports said. The changes were approved by the central committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the agency said, without offering a reason for the reshuffle.
■ Thailand
Woman admits to rape lie
A Hong Kong tourist who claimed she was gang-raped in front of the Thai Parliament building has admitted making up the rape story because she wanted public attention, police said yesterday. So Leong-ying, who was arrested on Thursday at the Thai beach resort of Pattaya, faces criminal charges for filing false complaints to police. "We spent long hours questioning So. Finally she admitted she made up the story," said an investigator.
■ Indonesia
Durian-flavored condoms
Durian-flavored condoms went on sale for the first time this week in Jakarta drug stores, pharmacies and street stalls as a new gimmick in the fight the spread of HIV/AIDS, the country's leading condom producer said yesterday. "We've sold about 150,000 in the first week, which isn't bad for a new product," DKT Indonesia director Christopher Purdy said. An estimated 80,000 new HIV cases are expected this year primarily among intravenous drug users and sex workers and their clients.
■United States
DNA tests set mother free
Thinking they had caught a French fugitive who had kidnapped her two children from their father, authorities held a mother in a Miami jail for six nights until DNA tests proved them wrong. When officers brandishing guns ran toward her car, Nona Cason thought they were after somebody else. Instead, they arrested Cason, accused her of being fugitive Nadine Tretiakoff, and seized her children. Cason spent the next six nights in jail. Finally, the state ordered a DNA test. The results eviscerated any possibility of a blood link between Fourcade and Cason's two children. She was subsequently released.
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