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World News Quick Take

■ Hong Kong
Beijing monitors polls
Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong (曾慶紅) has dispatched officials to Hong Kong to monitor Sunday's district election and take the political pulse of the city after massive anti-government protests in July. "Zeng wants to find out if all the measures that the central government has taken since the protests have had any impact on the political mood of the territory," said a pro-Beijing politician, who declined to be identified. The grassroots district council is traditionally dominated by pro-Beijing forces and elections are decidedly low-key affairs. But this year's poll has taken on added significance as pro-democracy forces have pushed political issues high on the agenda, pledging to fight for more voting rights if they are returned.

■ Hong Kong
Sex and cigar trial starts
A senior Hong Kong police officer has gone on trial accused of accepting expensive cigars and free sex from prostitutes, a news report said yesterday. Senior Superintendent Sin Kam-wah, 46, was allegedly arrested carrying a box of cigars worth US$400 as he checked out of a luxury hotel after sex with a prostitute. The cigars and sex were provided for Sin by businesswoman Lam Cheung-ip, 43, who runs a chain of karaoke bars and entertainment venues where prostitutes work, according to the South China Morning Post.

■ Australia
Hardened cons softened up
Some of Australia's most violent criminals, including murderers, are to be taught "non-criminal thinking" in an attempt to subdue their violent behavior. Up to 70 hardened criminals in jails in the state of New South Wales (NSW) will participate in the nine-month programme involving psychologists, alcohol and drug workers, educators and prison staff, said NSW Justice Minister John Hatzistergos. The course involves criminals admitting to their violent behavior and taking responsibility for it, learning anger management and non-criminal thinking, empathizing with victims, and learning to break their lifestyle cycle of crime.

■ Japan
Snap-happy driver stopped
A Japanese bullet train driver is being investigated for snapping pictures from his cellphone and emailing them to his girlfriend while on the job, the train company said yesterday. The train driver repeatedly emailed shots from late 2001 to September this year, a habit which was brought to the attention of Central Japan Railway Co Monday by the woman's husband, reports said. The 42-year old male driver ignored company rules that said drivers of the high-speed shinkansen trains must switch off their mobile phones while working, a railway spokesman said.

■ Malaysia
Chopstick removed from eye
A Malaysian man who sought treatment for swelling in his eye had a shock when doctors found a 6cm length of chopstick embedded just beneath his brain, reports said yesterday. The chopstick, which ran from under his right eye through his nose and to the back of his left eye, was believed to have been lodged five years ago during an attack by strangers, The Star quoted doctors at the Ipoh hospital as saying. Ng Keng Choon, 30, a parking attendant, was lucky to be alive as the chopstick missed his brain by a mere 0.5cm, said the doctors, who successfully removed the broken-off piece of wood in an hour-long operation.
■ United States
Bush still popular
The public's view of Presi-dent George W. Bush's job performance has dropped in a number of areas, although he remains personally popular, according to a new poll. Bush's overall job approval was at 50 percent in the CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll released on Monday, with 47 percent disapproving of his job performance. His approval has ranged from 50 percent to the mid-50s, depending on the poll. An ABC News-Washington Post poll released on Monday placed his job approval at 57 percent with 39 percent disapproving. When asked if they approve of him per-sonally, two-thirds said they approve. An equal number said Bush cared about the needs of people like them as those who said he does not. Two-thirds said he's a strong and decisive leader, but people are divided sharply over backing him for another term.

■ Germany
Schroeder wins party vote
The Social Democrats re-elected Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as their leader on Monday after a speech in which he tried to soothe a party unsettled by his plans to trim benefits and job protection, but the result showed a drop in his sup-port. Schroeder told more than 500 delegates at a party conference that his reforms are "bitterly necessary" -- a message he has been trying to ram home since March. Schroeder, who ran unop-posed, was comfortably re-elected as party chairman by 80.8 percent of delegates in the leadership vote, held every two years. However, that compared with 88.6 percent in 2001.

■ United kingdom
Ban on feeding pigeons
London Mayor Ken Living-stone showed his hawkish side on Monday by banning pigeon feeding in Trafalgar Square, animal rights' cam-paigners said. Members of the Pigeon Action Group protested against a new by-law prohibiting feeding pigeons in the famous square. Livingstone said the square's recent renovation had more than quadrupled the number of visitors, turning it into a world landmark which should be kept clean. The square's remaining 200 pigeons were fed once a day, his office said. But protesters said the birds, which used to num-ber 4,000, have been reduced to under-nourished wrecks. There is now a ?50 penalty for feeding pigeons.

■ Albania
Murder suspect flees court
An Albanian on trial for murder staged a daring escape from a Tirana court-house on Monday after obtaining a gun apparently left for him in a toilet by friends. Dritan Dajti, 32, used the weapon to threaten police and others in the courtroom where he was being tried, then left the building and sped away on a waiting motorcycle, court officials said. Six police officers in charge of se-curing Dajti were arrested, and a manhunt for him is underway, police said.

■ United States
Boy shot in Brooklyn
An eight-year-old boy walking home with his father and two siblings was killed on Monday when he was caught in a barrage of gunfire in front of his apart-ment building in Brooklyn, the police said. A 23-year-old man who may have been the target of the shooting was also killed. At least three men are being sought in connection with the shootings. The boy's father rushed them inside their building after hearing the gunfire, only to discover his son had been wounded. He then called 911.

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