■ ChinaSpace launch set for Oct. 15
China's first manned space flight is provisionally planned for Oct. 15 and will be shown live on television, an official with CCTV said yesterday, but a mission spokesman dismissed the comment as hearsay. "The provisional plan is for Oct. 15," said the TV official, who declined to give his name. "The relevant department announced that it would be launched in mid-October. We have plans to cover the launch of Shenzhou V live," he said, referring to the spacecraft. "But the exact time has not been fixed yet." China is aiming to become the third country to send a man into space after the former Soviet Union and the US.
■ Japan
Call for talks to resume
Japan and South Korea said yesterday that six-way talks aimed at solving the North Korean nuclear crisis must resume despite Pyongyang's objections to Tokyo's participation. "North Korea has been saying various things. Rather than being provoked by that, we must continue negotiations based on the six-way talks," Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, according to a Japanese official. Roh agreed it was important to continue the talks, the official said of the meeting on the sidelines of a summit of Southeast Asian leaders.
■ Australia
Lottery won by mistake
An Australian woman who has played the same lottery numbers for the past 31 years became a millionaire yesterday by selecting the winning numbers by mistake. The woman, aged in her 60s and married, said she did not believe the lotto official who called her with the good news that she had scooped A$1 million (US$695,000). Knowing the picks she has played since 1972 by heart, the woman automatically thought her numbers had not come up. "I did not believe him and went and checked my numbers carefully, only to see that I had all the winning ones," she said. Despite her lavish winnings she said re-carpeting her house was her priority while she also pledged to remain loyal to her employer.
■ China
Boy steals police car
A 9-year-old schoolboy chased pedestrians in a stolen police car in northern China, driving along the pavement with the flashing light on, a news report said yesterday. The boy used the loud speaker on the roof of the car to shout "Out of the way or I'll hit you" as he sped through the streets of Shenyang in Liaoning Province, according to the Hong Kong edition of the China Daily. Pedestrians and stall holders were sent scurrying for cover by the schoolboy, who was the son of a local court official who was drunk and asleep in the back of the police car last Sunday, the newspaper said.
■ Thailand
Fire destroys police records
A fire in an annex to Thailand's parliament yesterday destroyed police documents about the unexplained death of a former legislator, police said. About 2,000 pages of documents from the investigation into the 1999 death of Hangthong Thammawattana -- including autopsy reports and interrogation records -- were destroyed, said police Colonel Pratchai Chaichansukkij. No injuries were reported in the fire, which police say could have been caused by arson. The loss of documents would delay the investigation but not stop it because "it's common practice for police to have copies," Pratchai said.
■ GermanyHusbands get creche
German women fed up with their partners' grumbling on weekend shopping trips can now dump them at a special kindergarten for men offering beer and entertainment. The women are issued a receipt for their partners when they hand them in and can pick them up again when they return. The men are given a name badge on arrival and for 10 euros (US$11.80) they get two beers, a hot meal, televised football and games. Alexander Stein, manager of the Nox Bar in Hamburg, said the idea for the Saturday afternoon men's creche came from a female customer who thought it would be a good way of getting rid of her husband so she could shop in peace.
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