■ ChinaSexuality park opens
China's largest adult-only sexuality museum and combined natural theme park opened in Guangdong Province, boasting such attractions as "penis-like" rocks and "vagina-like" caves, state press reported yesterday. The 2,400m2 sex museum is located not far from Hong Kong on Danxia Mountain near Shaoguan City, and is believed to be the biggest such museum in China, Xinhua news agency said. "Danxia Mountain is well-known for its special red physiognomy and called `a naked park' for its penis-like big stone, vagina-like cave, rocks shaped like breasts and naked `sleeping beauty,'" the report said of the park. The mountain was listed on Feb. 13 as one of the "28 world geo-parks" by the United Nations cultural arm UNESCO, the report said.
■ Australia
Getting tough on kiddie porn
Australia proposed new laws yesterday to crack down on child porn on the Internet, including 15-year sentences for pedophiles who use the Web to prey on children. The new legislation would "provide an avenue to prosecute Internet child pornography offenders Australia-wide under Commonwealth law," Communications Minister Daryl Williams and Justice Minister Chris Ellison said in a statement. As well as mandating 15-year prison terms for those who procure children for sex over the Internet, the planned legislation imposes 10-year sentences for those convicted of accessing, transmitting or making child pornography available on the Internet.
■ Afghanistan
Sweep nets Taliban
Three Taliban commanders have been arrested in a US-led sweep of southeastern Afghanistan aimed at crushing members of the former regime and their al-Qaeda allies, an Afghan army officer said yesterday. At least 12 Taliban fighters have been killed in the week-old offensive, which US officials hope will snare al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Rebels fired rockets into the eastern city of Jalalabad yesterday wounding two people, a Pakistan-based news agency said. The three Taliban commanders were arrested on Friday in a raid on a house in Zabul province, said General Fateh Khan, an Afghan army officer based in the southeast of the country.
■ Australia
Presley discusses marriage
Lisa Marie Presley has told an Australian talk show that she saw things she "couldn't do anything about" during her brief marriage to Michael Jackson, who has been charged with child molestation. In an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corp's respected Enough Rope talk show, to be aired tonight, Presley said she felt powerless during her 1994-1996 marriage to the self-styled King of Pop, but refused to elaborate. Excerpts of the interview were released yesterday. Presley said she felt "powerless in a lot of ways, in terms of ... realizing that I was part of a machine, and seeing things going on that I couldn't do anything about," she said.
■ Australia
Police issue terror warning
The federal police chief said yesterday the country likely will be targeted by terrorists sometime in the future. "I don't think anyone has been hiding the fact that we do believe, ultimately, that one day whether it be in one month's time, one year's time or 10 years' time, something will happen [in Australia] and no one can guarantee it won't," Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said.
■ Vatican cityPope says remember roots
Pope John Paul II, on the eve of becoming history's third-longest serving pontiff, urged young Europeans on Saturday to protect the continent's "Christian heritage" as the EU enlarges. The 83-year old Polish pope, in a live video linkup with 2,000 students of 10 countries who will enter the EU on May 1, said the great universities of Europe had instilled Christian spiritual values through the centuries. "It is vital that this rich heritage is not lost," he said. The pope, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, spoke in a relatively strong voice to cheers and flag-waving.
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