■ Australia
Cat busts pot-growing owner
An Australian woman has her cat to blame for landing in court for growing commercial quantities of cannabis in her Sydney apartment, news reports said yesterday. Miffed at being left alone for the weekend the cat miaowed so plaintively that neighbors called in animal rights group RSPCA, who in turn called in the police. Rhonda McIntyre, an unemployed gardener, pleaded guilty to cultivating cannabis plants worth close to A$100,000 (US$71,000). McIntyre, 49, faces a jail term of up to two years or a stiff fine, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
■ China
Foot-binder in hospital
A 17-year-old girl in northern China has been hospitalized after trying to make her feet smaller by using the traditional practice of foot-binding, a news report said yesterday. The teenager was taken to hospital by her mother after wrapping her feet in bandages so tightly they began to bleed, the South China Morning Post reported. She attempted foot-binding because she was self-conscious about her height and her unusually large feet, according to the newspaper. The practice of foot-binding -- keeping women's feet petite by wrapping them up so tightly that the bones break -- was common across China in the last century.
■ South Korea
Nuclear talks predicted
South Korea said yesterday it was "very likely" that a fresh round of six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program would be held before the end of the year, echoing a similar prediction from China a day earlier. "The views among the countries concerned are moving in that direction. Barring any unexpected development, I think it is very likely that the next round will take place by the end of the year," South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan said in a news briefing. The first round of talks, held in Beijing in August, brought together the US, China, the two Koreas, Japan and Russia. That meeting ended without an agreement on when to meet again.
■ Indonesia
Bombing trial starts
The first suspect charged in connection with the Aug. 5 bombing of the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta went on trial yesterday, facing the death penalty for allegedly storing explosive materials used in the attack. Sardona Siliwangi was charged with violating recently passed anti-terror laws, said state prosecutor Sudihardjo. He was put on trial in Bengkulu on Sumatra island, where he was arrested two months before the Marriot blast, which killed 12 people and wounded 150. He faces a maximum death penalty if found guilty. Siliwangi was arrested in June in Bengkulu along with five other suspected militants over a bank robbery. Police later accused him of storing explosive materials that were used in the Marriott bombing.
■ Singapore
Teen prankster sentenced
A 15-year-old boy was sentenced to hundreds of hours of community service for pretending to be Singapore's education minister in an e-mail to his principal that demanded the expulsion of two fellow students, a newspaper reported yesterday. The student was caught after he mistakenly forwarded the message to the minister he was impersonating, former Education Minister Teo Chee Hean, The Straits Times reported. A magistrate court on Tuesday sentenced the boy to 240 hours of community service and ordered his parents to pay a US$2,880 bond
■ United States<
Syria sanctions approved
The Senate joined the House in endorsing diplomatic and economic sanctions against Syria on Tuesday, to go into effect unless that nation meets a series of conditions, including halting movement across its border of people and equipment destined for attacks on Americans in Iraq. The measure, approved 89 to 4, also calls on Syria to stop supporting terrorism and close the Syrian offices of terror groups, withdraw forces from Lebanon and cease any development of medium- and long-range missiles or chemical and biological weapons. "We don't want to go to war with Syria," said Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, an author of the measure. "We just want to say in a truthful way, `These are things you've been doing wrong. Please meet these markers.'"
■ Carribean
At least eight dead in strike
At least seven civilians and one police officer were killed Tuesday in a 24-hour general strike, as protesters clashed with troops in the Dominican Republic, organizers said. A number of protesters who were demanding lower gasoline prices, better state hospitals, and an end to foreign debt payments and IMF agreements were shot by armed forces in different areas of the nation. And police officer Nelson Batista died of gunshot wounds, according to sources at the capital's Francisco Moscoso Puello hospital where he had been rushed for treatment.
■ Colombia
Police chief resigns
The general who commands the Colombian National Police, the 110,000-member force that works closely with US officials to combat drug trafficking, resigned Tuesday in the wake of corruption scandals that had embarrassed President Alvaro Uribe's government. Uribe, a close ally in the George W. Bush administration's war on drugs, accepted the resignation of General Teodoro Campo after revelations surfaced that policemen in Medellin were using police money for lavish dinners, high-priced chocolates, watches and expensive whiskey.
■ Iraq
Uday's old Rolls finds role
Police officers will be able to enjoy luxurious wedding rides in the metallic pink Rolls-Royce of former president Saddam Hussein's flamboyant son Uday, an official said on Tuesday. Deputy Interior Minister General Ibrahim Ahmad has offered the car to police officers and ministry officials when they marry, said Colonel Adnan Abdul Rahman, a ministry spokesman. The move was meant to honor their work, he said. "Three days ago, we caught a gang trying to sell the Rolls-Royce that had been taken during the looting" which accompanied the April 9 fall of Saddam's regime, said Abdul Rahman.
■ Germany
Schroeder's office wins
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's new office -- which critics liken to a giant washing machine -- scooped Germany's most prestigious architectural prize on Tuesday night. The vast glass and concrete chancellery in Berlin was named Germany's most outstanding new building of the past two years, despite complaints from Schroeder that it was "too big" and that passersby could see into his lavatory. However a jury described its design as "brave" and "expressive." "It isn't just another lousy office block," said Peter Conradi, president of Germany's federal chamber of architects.
■ Isreal
Baby formula probed
The German maker of a baby food formula at the heart of an Israeli investigation into the deaths of two babies said on Tuesday that its soy-based product was deficient in a key vitamin needed to maintain infant health. Humana said in a statement that its kosher Remedia Super Soya 1 product did not contain the amount of vitamin B1, also known as thiamin, advertised. Israeli police have launched an investigation into suspicions the product caused a B-1 vitamin deficiency that led to acute health problems in at least nine babies. Two have died. Humana said it was cooperating with the investigation and planned to take internal action as well.
■ Germany
Nuclear waste arrives
A convoy of trucks loaded with 12 containers of radioactive waste arrived early yesterday at a dump in Gorleben, ending a journey from a French reprocessing plant that was marked by frequent protests. The shipment completed a trouble-free 18km final stretch from Dannenberg's rail terminal to Gorleben before dawn. Police had earlier cleared the route after more than 800 demonstrators gathered on the road to attempt a blockade. Activists argue that neither the waste containers nor the Gorleben site are safe.
■ Saudi Arabia
Bombers remain at large
Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef denied reports that authorities had detained suspects in a suicide car bombing that killed at least 17 people in the capital. Saudi security officials earlier said that possible suspects were being held in connection with Saturday's bombing. Others were being questioned about the activities of militants in the kingdom, the officials said. Also Tuesday, a purported al-Qaeda operative reportedly made the first claim of responsibility for the attack on the housing compound. Saudi and US officials had already blamed the attack on al-Qaeda.
■ Iran
Iran shrugs off nuclear spat
Iran glossed over embarrassing revelations on Tuesday that it had lied to UN inspectors about its nuclear program. The state media and government officials quoted the UN nuclear watchdog as saying that Tehran had recently displayed a more cooperative attitude. "The failures attributed to Iran are insignificant and are at the level of gram and microgram of nuclear materials," Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on state television. Iran's theocratic leadership long resisted revealing details of its nuclear activities, but the clerical establishment last month chose to reveal its nuclear secrets to avoid sanctions from the UN security council.
■ United Nations
Pfizer fights blindness
In a major boost to a UN campaign to eradicate an eye infection that causes blindness, Pfizer announced that it will provide a free antibiotic to treat about 90 percent of the 150 million people afflicted. The International Trachoma Initiative said it is "enthusiastic" that the medicine will enable it to achieve the goal set by the World Health Organization of eliminating the disease by 2020. Over the last five years, the Pfizer has provided 8 million doses of the antibiotic Zithromax to
treat sufferers in nine impoverished countries in Africa and Asia.
The pitch is a classic: A young celebrity with no climbing experience spends a year in hard training and scales Mount Everest, succeeding against some — if not all — odds. French YouTuber Ines Benazzouz, known as Inoxtag, brought the story to life with a two-hour-plus documentary about his year preparing for the ultimate challenge. The film, titled Kaizen, proved a smash hit on its release last weekend. Young fans queued around the block to get into a preview screening in Paris, with Inoxtag’s management on Monday saying the film had smashed the box office record for a special cinema
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
CARTEL ARRESTS: The president said that a US government operation to arrest two cartel members made it jointly responsible for the unrest in the state’s capital Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday blamed the US in part for a surge in cartel violence in the northern state of Sinaloa that has left at least 30 people dead in the past week. Two warring factions of the Sinaloa cartel have clashed in the state capital of Culiacan in what appears to be a fight for power after two of its leaders were arrested in the US in late July. Teams of gunmen have shot at each other and the security forces. Meanwhile, dead bodies continued to be found across the city. On one busy street corner, cars drove
‘DISAPPEARED COMPLETELY’: The melting of thousands of glaciers is a major threat to people in the landlocked region that already suffers from a water shortage Near a wooden hut high up in the Kyrgyz mountains, scientist Gulbara Omorova walked to a pile of gray rocks, reminiscing how the same spot was a glacier just a few years ago. At an altitude of 4,000m, the 35-year-old researcher is surrounded by the giant peaks of the towering Tian Shan range that also stretches into China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The area is home to thousands of glaciers that are melting at an alarming rate in Central Asia, already hard-hit by climate change. A glaciologist, Omarova is recording that process — worried about the future. She hiked six hours to get to