■ South KoreaGoh to quit post
Prime Minister Goh Kun, who is running the nation as acting president, will resign his post after the fate of impeached President Roh Moo-hyun is determined, a newspaper reported yesterday. "Once I have completed the duties of managing a fair parliamentary election and the impeachment situation is wrapped up, I'll move on from the prime minister post," Goh said, according to Maeil Business Newspaper. "My plans to move on from the prime minister post are unwavering." The paper quoted Goh as saying he plans to study after resigning. Goh's office declined to confirm the report. The 65-year-old Goh, who has held key posts in six successive governments, has been running the country as acting president since parliament impeached Roh on March 12 on charges of illegal electioneering and incompetence.
■ China
Sex education needed
Lack of sex education is being blamed on a rising rate of teenage pregnancies in parts of China, state press reported yesterday. Statistics from southwest Chongqing municipality show unwanted pregnancies among teenagers is increasing by an average of 6.8 percent every year. They show unmarried girls now making up one-third of those seeking abortions, a 13 percent rise from 1998, the Shanghai Daily reported. The jump is largely attributable to the lack of sex education, said Zeng Qingliang, vice-president of the Chongqing Municipal Association of Sexuality. "Those young children have no idea about how to protect themselves from such problems," Zeng said.
■ Malaysia
Couple charged for affection
A Malaysian couple caught by enforcement officers holding hands in a public park have been charged in court with indecent behavior, local media said yesterday. Ooi Kean Tong, 22, was charged Wednesday for allegedly hugging and kissing his girlfriend Siow Ai Wei, 20, in a Kuala Lumpur park, the New Straits Times reported. Ooi pleaded not guilty. If found guilty, he could face a maximum fine of 2,000 ringgit (US$526) or a year in jail or both. The case provoked a public outcry at the time when the couple said they were only holding hands and alleged that they were issued a summons because they had refused to bribe the officers, who were charged with corruption in January.
■ Australia
Brothers convicted of rape
Four Muslim brothers convicted in a gang rape were sentenced yesterday to prison terms ranging from 10 to 22 years, and one of them stood up in court to proclaim the group's innocence and accuse the police of religious persecution. The Supreme Court of New South Wales last year found the four men guilty on nine counts each of aggravated sexual assault, after two teenage girls said they had been repeatedly raped at the brothers' suburban Sydney home on July 28, 2002. The court has referred to the brothers only by their initials during proceedings because two of them were under 18 when the crimes were committed. Justice Brian Sully sentenced 25-year-old MSK -- who he described as the ringleader -- and 17-year-old MMK to 22 years each behind bars. Their 23-year-old brother MAK received 16 years, and 19-year-old MRK got 10 years. After the sentences were read out yesterday, MRK put his head in his hands and wept.
■ Saudi ArabiaGroup claims responsibility
A Saudi militant group claimed responsibility for Wednesday's suicide bombing that targeted a building housing security forces in the capital Riyadh, killing at least four people and wounding 148 others. A statement by a group calling itself Al Haramain Brigades, published by at least two Islamist Web sites, said the attack targeted special security and anti-terrorism units in the kingdom. Al Haramain, which refers to Islam's two holiest sites in the Saudi cities of Mecca and Medina, has previously claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in December on a Saudi security officer's car and has vowed to kill any others battling militants.
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