■ New ZealandLandslides follow quake
One of New Zealand's top tourist attractions, the World Heritage-listed Fiordland National Park, has been hit by more than 200 landslides following last week's 7.1 magnitude earthquake, geologists said yesterday. Spread over a 75-kilometer radius, many of the land and rock slides stripped bush and soil cover from the park's mountainous slopes, leaving bare rock faces, said scientists from the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences. Geologists recorded at least seven major summit-to-valley floor slides covering vertical distances of up to 1,500m. The park, on New Zealand's South Island, has World Heritage Park status based on its pristine temperate rainforest. Hundreds of thousands of tourists flock there each year to walk trails, climb peaks and cruise its lakes and ocean fiords.
■ Nepal
Maoists attack policemen
Seven policemen, three Maoists and one civilian were killed, while at least 10 policemen are missing, in renewed Maoist attacks over a period of 12 hours, media reports said yesterday. The independent Kantipur FM radio reported yesterday morning that Maoists stormed a police post at a village in Siraha district, about 180km southeast of the capital Kathmandu, late Tuesday night. The Maoists killed at least three of the 10 police manning the post, while the whereabouts of the remaining seven is unknown, the radio report said.
■ Thailand
Women on offensive
Thai women's groups have reacted angrily to a court ruling in which a self-confessed wife-killer received a suspended two-year jail sentence for his crime. The Court of Appeals upheld on Tuesday a ruling from the Criminal Court that Pipat Lueprasitkul, 45, a former university lecturer, had unintentionally killed his wife, Wanee, in a jealous rage. He was convicted of kicking, punching and hitting his wife with a golf club at their Bangkok home on July 17, 2001. She died the next day in hospital. The court upheld the lower court's ruling that Pipat had committed manslaughter because he believed his wife had been unfaithful.
■ Hong Kong
Flu patients isolated
Twenty-four patients isolated
A public hospital quarantined 24 patients after seven of its health workers developed flu-like symptoms, although none have tested positive for SARS, officials said yesterday. Five nurses and two health-care assistants working in Ward E3 at the Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital in suburban Tai Po developed symptoms such as coughs, sore throats and fevers on Friday. Five of the health workers have returned to work while two were on sick leave. None of them required hospital treatment. The 24 patients have been barred from leaving since Monday and are being monitored for SARS after some developed mild fevers and coughs.
■ Malaysia
Star orangutans killed
Malaysian police have arrested three men in connection with the harpooning to death of three captive orangutans at a luxury hotel on Borneo island, a newspaper reported yesterday. The Star quoted the police chief of Malaysia's Sabah state, Ramli Yusuff, as saying officers had arrested three men whom he said had been unhappy with management at the Shangri-La Rasa Ria Hotel, where the apes were kept as a tourist attraction.
■ CanadaDon't smile for the camera
Canada has banned the public from smiling or frowning for passport photos, the foreign affairs ministry announced Tuesday. Canadians must send a photo with "a neutral expression" -- that means no laughing, smiles, frowning and the mouth must be closed. The new measure came into force on Aug. 15, but a ministry spokeswoman said the public announcement could not be made because of a huge power cut which hit Ontario and the northeastern US at that time. The ministry admitted that the photo order had caused some controversy but said it had become necessary because of a recommendation by the International Civil Aviation Organization, and to make it easier to recognize passport holders.
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