World News Quick Take

■ South Korea
Subway terrorist sentenced
A man charged with starting a subway fire in South Korea that killed 198 people was sentenced to life in prison yesterday. Kim Dae-han, 56, was accused of starting the Feb. 18 blaze by igniting a carton filled with gasoline inside a subway train in Daegu, South Korea's third-largest city. The Daegu District Court convicted him yesterday of arson and homicide. Prosecutors had asked for the death penalty, but the court gave Kim a life sentence, saying he was repentant and appeared to have been mentally unstable when he committed the crime.

■ The Philippines
Abductee escapes
A woman abducted by Muslim extremists in the Philippines escaped after almost four months in captivity, police said yesterday. Marine products trader Gertudes Tan eluded her captors -- guerillas from the brutal Abu Sayyaf group -- on Tuesday in Maimbung town on Jolo island, about 950km southwest of Manila. She walked for about an hour to a highway and took a passenger jeep to downtown Jolo, Chief Superintendent Acmad Omar said. "There was no fighting, but apparently her captors were feeling the pressure of our massive manhunt and decided that they are better off without her," Omar said.

■ The Philippines
Taiwanese man kidnapped
Police said yesterday they have arrested a senior police officer and three other men allegedly involved in kidnapping a 66-year-old Taiwanese businessman. Central Luzon regional police chief Vidal Querol said the four men seized Wang Teng-fa on Tuesday morning from his farm in a village outside Magalang town, in Pampanga province north of Manila. The men, led by Chief Inspector Orlando Melchor, then called Wang's wife demanding 300,000 pesos (US$5,504) for his release, Querol said. The police, who were secretly informed about the kidnapping, nabbed the alleged kidnappers when the ransom payoff was made later that day.

■ Hong Kong
Students hard on women
Most Hong Kong students say women encourage harassment by dressing in a sexy way and a majority think women exaggerate the problem, according to a survey yesterday. However, more than one in seven female students who responded to the survey said they had been improperly touched by fellow students, and 1.7 percent complained of unwanted kisses. Fifty-three percent said they did nothing about the incidents. An increasing number of both male and female students said they believe sexual harassment is a problem invented by women's liberation activists, and that harassment is a legitimate expression of women's admiration for men, the study found.

■ Pakistan
Bhutto considers appeal
Self-exiled former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and her imprisoned husband were considering an appeal yesterday against a six-month suspended prison sentence for laundering US$11 million dollars through Swiss bank accounts. The couple's attorney, Farooq Hameed Naek, denounced Swiss investigating magistrate Daniel Devaud's ruling as "illogical, unreasonable." He said Devaud had gone beyond his legal powers in imposing the sentence -- which included a US$50,000 fine for each defendant. Devaud also ordered the couple to return the money to Pakistan.

■ United States
Woman dumps baby
An Indonesian woman who gave birth in a factory bathroom, then put her baby in a trash bin and went back to her job packaging chocolate, was sentenced to six to 12 years in prison. Prosecutors in Philadelphia said Liem Swat Nio kept her pregnancy a secret and intended for her newborn to die when she abandoned him in the restroom in 2001. She was convicted in May of attempted murder. The child survived after co-workers saw Liem bleeding and called the police and fire emergency number. Firefighters found the baby face-down under a pile of bloody paper towels.

■ Italy
Officer's accident suspect
The paramilitary police officer who shot and killed a young protester during the violent clashes at the G8 meeting in Genoa two years ago was in hospital last night suffering from severe multiple injuries, after a road accident which his lawyer described as "very suspicious." Mario Placanica, 25, was acquitted of murder in May following a lengthy investigation into the incident in Genoa in July 2001. The judge decided he had acted in legitimate self-defense. Placanica, an officer of the Carabinieri, was driving home from lunch with friends when his car left the road and hit a tree. He threw himself from the vehicle before impact, but suffered numerous fractures and three crushed vertebrae.

■ United States
Millions unite against crime
Millions of Americans gathered across the nation on Tuesday night for the annual "National Night Out Against Crime" in a bid to show unity against criminals. It was the 20th year for the US event, in which police and citizens gather for street festivals, neighborhood parties and picnics. In Fort Worth, Texas, thousands gathered for the festivities despite sweltering temperatures reaching over 40?C. The chief sponsor of the annual event is the National Association of Town Watch, which has members in more than 10,000 major American cities and towns. Its goal is to get communities to work together to reduce crime in their neighborhoods and forge better cooperation with local police.

■ United Kingdom
Official apoligizes for remark
One of Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesmen apologized on Tuesday for comparing the late British weapons expert David Kelly with the fictional daydreamer Walter Mitty. In a statement, spokesman Tom Kelly said he had made a mistake by drawing the comparison during an off-the-record chat with journalists, but denied he was trying to discredit the respected former UN arms inspector. The apology was yet another humiliating setback for Blair's office, as controversy over the way the prime minister and his Downing Street team led Britain into war against Iraq refused to go away.

■ United States
Airports must boost security
Authorities have warned airport security screeners to carefully examine cameras, laptop computers, cellphones and other electronic devices after learning terrorists might use them to hide bombs, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Tuesday. The move is part of increased security measures taken in the wake of specific intelligence reports indicating al-Qaeda and other groups were planning to hijack US airliners in a repeat of deadly Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.