■ China
Bride fit to be wed
A bride wore a bikini when she married her fitness instructor boyfriend in eastern China as a reminder of how she looked when he first saw her, a news report said yesterday. Xu Fei also performed a workout routine for guests at her marriage to Wang Xiaohu, according to the Hong Kong edition of the China Daily.The couple met in a local gym in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, where Wang is an instructor and Xu goes to keep in shape, the newspaper said.
■ China
Temptress cons lonely men
A middle-aged temptress has been arrested for swindling 360 lonely men out of their money in central China, a news report said yesterday. Mother-of-five Pei Yumei used four forged identity cards and a variety of assumed names to place advertisements seeking a middle aged or elderly husband in newspapers in Puyang, Henan Province. Pei then told sob stories to her suitors to swindle them out of money and goods before dumping them, according to the Hong Kong edition of the China Daily. She was arrested after a three-year campaign of trickery during which police believe she may have swindled many more men who are reluctant to come forward and tell their stories, the newspaper said.
■ Australia
Killer wants makeup
One of Australia's most notorious convicted killers is launching a legal battle for the right to wear makeup while he serves his life sentence, enraging the family of one of his victims. Paul Denyer, 31, was jailed for a minimum 30-year term for murdering three young women in Melbourne over seven weeks in 1993. He is launching an appeal with the Victoria state Civil and Administrative Tribunal against a refusal by Barwon Prison authorities to let him buy and wear makeup. "The fact that he has demonstrated his hatred of women and now he wants to be one, I find that pretty disgusting," said Victoria state Corrections Minister Andre Haermeyer, who vowed to fight to have Denyer's appeal denied.
■ Australia
Sheep's return opposed
Thousands of Australian sheep stranded in the Gulf for seven weeks were to head back home yesterday but Australian farmers and animal rights activists have vowed not to let them land because of disease fears. Agriculture Minister Warren Truss said the more than 50,000 sheep on the MV Cormo Express were due to leave Kuwait yesterday and would be quarantined on arrival in Australia. But all of Australia's farm groups backed animal rights activists to demand the sheep be slaughtered at sea because of fears they could threaten the A$26 billion (US$18 billion) a year farm export trade by bringing foot-and-mouth disease into the country.
■ North Korea
Pyongyang rebuffs Seoul
North Korea curtly rebuffed South Korean efforts yesterday to prod the communist North to be more helpful in solving a nuclear crisis an said the solution of the year-old dispute was up to the US. South Korean media pool reports from inter-Korean ministerial talks in Pyongyang said the chief North Korean delegate quickly shut down discussion of the nuclear issue that has heightened tension in Asia for the past year. "We have already revealed our principled position on the nuclear question to the whole world," North Korean senior Cabinet councillor Kim Ryong-song said.
■ United States
Judge wants sources named
A US federal judge has ordered five reporters, including two from The New York Times, to disclose the confidential sources they used in preparing articles about Lee Wen-ho (李文和), the former scientist at the nuclear weapons laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The judge ruled that First Amendment protections that shield journalists from government interference were outweighed by the need of Lee's lawyers to provide evidence of government leaks in their suit against the government. Lee was indicted on 59 felony counts in 1999, but after he spent nearly nine months in solitary confinement, no evidence of espionage emerged. He was released after pleading guilty to one felony count of mishandling nuclear weapons data.
■ Iraq
UN set to vote on resolution
The US called a vote for yesterday on a resolution aimed at getting UN approval of its occupation and reconstruction of Iraq after rejecting proposals by key countries to add a timetable for self-rule. The measure is virtually assured of the minimum nine votes needed for adoption in the 15-member UN Security Council. But it is unclear whether France, Germany, Russia, China and Syria will support the draft or abstain, thereby lessening the impact of the resolution. On Tuesday, France, Russia and Germany submitted six amendments. But they dropped previous crucial demands that the UN play a central role in Iraq's reconstruction and that a provisional Iraqi government take office within five months.
■ Germany
Dog gives Hitler salute
A German who trained his dog to raise his right paw in a Hitler salute is to appear in court today, German prosecutors said last night. The black mongrel sheepdog, called Adolf, is alleged to have performed the trick at his master's request in front of two policemen in March last year. The officers were called in to question the man -- identified only as 54-year-old Roland T -- after he raised his own right arm in a Hitler salute. While the policemen were investigating, the owner turned to his dog and said: "Adolf, sit. Make the greeting." The man is also accused of wearing a T-shirt with a picture of the Nazi dictator on several occasions, and of shouting Nazi slogans.
■ Azerbaijan
Voters head to the polls
Azerbaijanis were voting yesterday in an election that could create a family dynasty, as President Geidar Aliev's son seeks to succeed his 80-year-old father. Ilham Aliev leads a field of eight candidates in the election, standing alone for the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party after his father pulled out of the race less than two weeks ago for health reasons. Nearly 4.4 million people are registered to vote in this oil-rich former Soviet republic on the shore of the Caspian Sea.
■ Russia
Jaywalking now a sin
Violating traffic rules is now a sin, according to Orthodox clergy in Russia's Urals region, Rossia television reported yesterday. The state-run station showed a black-bearded priest, resplendent in gold cloth and brandishing a heavy cross, sternly telling parishioners Heaven would frown on them if they crossed the road when the light was red. The message is a response to a police appeal to bring down road accidents, particularly those caused by elderly pedestrians.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was