■ IndonesiaArrests in train heist

Police said yesterday they have arrested nine people suspected of robbing valuables and cash from a carriage-load of train passengers in what officials said was the largest heist ever carried out in Indonesia. The thieves threw one passenger off the train for resisting the robbery Thursday. He was taken to a hospital and treated for minor injuries. "It's the most number of passengers robbed in one single incident. It's bad," said police Captain Iwan Ridwan Saleh, adding the value of goods stolen was uncertain. The train was traveling from Jakarta to Kroya in Central Java province.

■ China

Prison in Falun Gong case

A court in southern China has sentenced a Hong Kong follower of Falun Gong to three years in prison for distributing leaflets about the persecution of the group in China, a spokeswoman for the group said yesterday. Fu Xueying, who is in her late 20s, was sentenced April 30 by secret trial in the Chinese border city of Shenzhen, where she was caught handing out information about China's crackdown on Falun Gong, group spokeswoman Carol Chan said. Beijing banned Falun Gong as an "evil cult" in 1999, but it is allowed to practice freely in Hong Kong, a former British colony that enjoys freedom of speech under Chinese rule. Falun Gong says at least 949 followers have died in Chinese custody and many thousands more have been detained.

■ Hong Kong

Painter dies

Renowned traditional Chinese artist Yang Shen-sum, a master of the Lingnan school of painting, died in Hong Kong at age 92, police said yesterday. Yang, who is based in Canada, was found unconscious in bed by his wife early Saturday morning. A newspaper reported he died of a suspected heart attack. Yang was born in 1913 in Taishan, Guangdong Province, the report said. He moved to Hong Kong in 1930 and briefly pursued art studies in Kyoto, according to the report. Yang moved to Canada in 1988 and was in Hong Kong on a visit when he died.

■ Hong Kong

Dolphin on the mend

Hong Kong veterinarians are nursing a rare dolphin back to health after it was mysteriously washed up on an isolated beach in poor health, reports said yesterday. The 2.1m-long, 10-year old mammal was being treated for serious unspecified illnesses, according to reports in Hong Kong's newspapers. Experts at Ocean Park told the South China Morning Post they were unsure why the dolphin had been stranded but said it was severely underweight. It is being treated with antibiotics. Scientists are baffled how the single dolphin got here. Rough-tooth dolphins usually live in tight family groups and are rarely seen in Hong Kong's waters.

■ Australia

Fishing leads to killing

A dispute over fishing lures between two of Australia's best-known amateur anglers ended with one of them shot in the chest and the other taking his own life with the same weapon. The pair were competing in an international fishing competition in Sydney when an argument erupted into violence, the Sun Herald newspaper reported yesterday. Joe Priest, 50, is believed to have shot John Knol, 43, with a pistol which he then used to commit suicide. "I can't understand it," the event organizer was quoted as saying. "Why would he even bring a gun to an event like this?"

■ RussiaMissiles found next to road

More than 200 anti-aircraft missiles have been found alongside a major highway in Russia's Far East, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported yesterday quoting military officials. There was no immediate explanation as to how the missiles, which fit a 57mm launcher, ended up at a fork of a busy highway close to the town of Nakhodka. The missiles, found late on Saturday, have been taken to a nearby military base and an investigation into the incident has been launched, the news agency reported. Sappers were due to examine the area where the missiles were found later yesterday, it said.