World news quick take

■Bangladesh
Navy finds ferry wreck
A Bangladeshi navy ship yesterday located the wreckage of a river ferry that capsized in choppy waters last week as authorities confirmed that more than 500 people died in the disaster. The navy used sonar to find the M V Nasreen 37m under the turbulent Meghna River, where the triple-deck ferry sank with about 750 people on board, said Mohammed Nuruzzaman, a government relief official. Authorities said more than 500 people perished in the July 8 ferry disaster and 220 survived. A total of 182 bodies have so far been found and another about 350, whose bodies have yet to be found, are assumed to have died, rescue officials said.

■ The Philippines
Marcos cash released
The Philippine Supreme Court yesterday awarded US$650 million in Swiss bank deposits, which had belonged to the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, to the government, a court spokesman said. "There is a ruling. This has been promulgated, that the Swiss deposits in escrow in the PNB [Philippine National Bank] have been forfeited in favor of government," Supreme Court spokesman Ismael Khan said. The funds now deposited in the PNB, were the only ones ever discovered from the huge fortune allegedly looted by Marcos during his 20-year reign, which ended when he was ousted in a bloodless uprising in 1986.

■ Australia
Hanson weeps in court
Pauline Hanson, the former leader of Australia's right-wing One Nation Party, wept as she entered a courtroom yesterday to face trial for election fraud -- a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a possible ban on running again for office. Hanson burst onto Australia's political scene in 1996 with her attacks on Asian immigration and Aboriginal welfare payments, sparking outrage abroad and controversy at home. Hanson and party co-founder David Ettridge both face charges of fraudulently registering One Nation in 1997. Hanson is also accused of falsely claiming almost 500,000 Australian dollars (US$330,000) in public electoral funds.

■ Australia
Fires bring catastrophe
Bushfires over the past year have caused the country's worst ever environmental disaster, a parliamentary inquiry heard on Monday. The smoke released during the southern summer was equivalent to a year's vehicle emissions, the inquiry heard. "This wasn't just another bushfire. This was the worst environmental disaster in the written history of this nation," said Kate Carnell of the National Association of Forest Industries. Reviving the 3 million hectares affected by the fires would use an eighth of the water in the Murray-Darling basin, Australia's biggest river system.

■ Thailand
Public against prostitution
Despite a reputation for tolerance, most Thais are against proposals to legalize prostitution, according to a poll by a Bangkok university. The poll, published on Ramkhamhaeng University's Web site at the weekend, found that 81.3 percent opposed proposals to allow sex to be legally sold in the country. Of the 1,467 people questioned, 55 percent disagreed with claims that legalizing the sex industry would reduce corruption and bribe taking. Many thought tentative government proposals were tantamount to promoting immoral behavior in the mainly Buddhist nation, the university, one of Thailand's largest state institutions, said.

■United Kingdom
First kiss tells all
The first kiss tells the person being kissed virtually everything he or she needs to know about the loving capabilities of their potential partner, according to a survey by a group that organizes speed dating events in Britain. Sloppy kissers are seen as inexperienced and over-eager, aggressive kissers are likely to be selfish lovers, while those who avoid using their tongue will be shy and intimate in bed, according to the research conducted for Chemistry, which arranges events at which singles can get to know others quickly. Just over eight out of 10 single people questioned in the poll thought the first kiss told what a longer term relationship would be like. The survey of 2,000 men and women across Britain discovered nine out of 10 would refuse to date someone if they were a bad kisser, while one in three would save kissing until the second date.

■ United States
Jazz saxophonist Carter dies
Jazz pioneer Benny Carter, a man regarded as one of the greatest saxophone players in history, has died at 95 at a Los Angeles hospital, news reports said Monday. News of his death on Saturday, which came after Carter was hospitalized with bronchitis, triggered a torrent of tributes. The Harlem-born Carter was a pioneer of the big band sound, which defined jazz in the 1930s. He also is credited with breaking down racial barriers for black musicians and was one of the first African-Americans to be credited for his work on film and television soundtracks. Carter was a self-taught musician who left school at 15 to take up a musical career.

■ Switzerland
Renting cheesemakers a hit
Lovers of fine cheeses are being given the chance to hire their own cheesemaker -- a brown-and-white cow living on a Swiss mountain. Dairy farmer Paul Wyler is offering his cows for rent on the Internet, with all the cheese they produce going to the "owner." "We have already had dozens of inquiries from people who want to rent one of our cows," Wyler told Monday's edition of the Lausanne daily Le Matin. Cows cost SF380 (US$276) for the summer, and Wyler looks after the animals and makes cheese from their milk.

■ Turkey
US, Turkey express regret
The US and Turkey expressed regret yesterday over the capture of 11 Turkish special forces soldiers in northern Iraq. A US-Turkish committee had been set up last week to investigate the surprise July 4 raid, when US troops detained the Turkish soldiers in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah. The Turks offered the US tea, in line with Turkish traditions, but the US soldiers took handcuffed the Turks, hooded them and flew them to Baghdad for interrogation. They were released more than two days later. US officials alleged the Turkish special forces were planning to assassinate an Iraqi Kurdish official, but the US military failed to submit any convincing evidence. Turkey denied any such plot.

■ United States
Roberts prays for courts
Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson urged his nationwide audience to pray for God to remove three justices from the Supreme Court so they could be replaced by conservatives. "We ask for miracles in regard to the Supreme Court," Robertson said Monday on the Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club. Robertson has launched a 21-day "prayer offensive" directed at the Supreme Court in the wake of its 6-3 June vote that decriminalized sodomy.

Agencies