■ China
Japan's Iraq plan criticized
An editorial in the China Daily yesterday urged Japan to rethink its plan to send troops to Iraq. The paper said there was no way of telling if Japan's Self-Defense Force (SDF), being sent to help in humanitarian and reconstruction efforts, would get bogged down in combat. Japan's Cabinet on Tuesday approved a plan to dispatch troops to Iraq, a landmark decision setting the stage for what is likely to be the nation's biggest and most dangerous overseas military mission since World War II. "The dispatch of SDF personnel is banned under the peace principles of the Japanese constitution," the China Daily said.
■ South Korea
Samsung accused of bribes
An investigation into illegal campaign contributions widened yesterday with allegations that the nation's largest conglomerate, Samsung, funneled 15.2 billion won (US$13.2 million) to the race of an opposition presidential candidate last year. Prosecutors investigating how much money big businesses gave to candidates ahead of last December's presidential poll alleged Samsung illegally provided the funds to Lee Hoi-chang's unsuccessful campaign, with most of the money coming in the form of neat bundles of bonds.
■ China
Police abuse highlighted
Some 460 people died and 117 were seriously injured due to abuse of power and dereliction of duty by law enforcement officials in the first 10 months of the year, state press reported yesterday. Judicial authorities investigated 1,841 such cases at the county level or above that resulted in economic losses amounting to 650 million yuan (US$78.3 million), the China Youth Daily reported. The number of cases of abuse of power and dereliction of duty by law enforcement officials exceeded that for the same period last year, the paper said without elaborating.
■ Australia
Cops nab their own
Red-faced Australian police investigating two men in Ku Klux Klan hoods who sped past a police camera at twice the legal speed limit making rude gestures admitted yesterday that the offenders were senior constables. West Australian state police confirmed an internal investigation was underway into incident at Bunbury, 180km south of Perth, which a senior officer described as "an embarrassment to this organization." A police camera snapped the pair in August 2001 as they travelled at almost 130kph in a 60kph zone. The car's registration was obscured by a sign bearing an expletive. It turns out the pair had used an unmarked police car and were on duty at the time. "I'd say that the chances of keeping their jobs is very slim at this time," police commander Daryl Balchin said.
■ Australia
Ambassador in hot water
Zimbabwe's ambassador to Australia was hauled before foreign affairs officials yesterday to explain why she accused Prime Minister John Howard of acting like a dictator in the row over the African nation's exclusion from the Commonwealth, officials said. Zimbabwean High Commissioner Florence Chitauro was unrepentant about the remarks after the meeting in Canberra, saying she was defending President Robert Mugabe. "I said I'm here to protect the head of state I represent and the country," she told ABC radio. "The president of Zimbabwe has been called all sorts of names, and I am here to make sure that I take a position."
■ United States
`Sex bracelets' cause stir
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