■ MalaysiaEntire state quarantined
Malaysia has declared an entire state to be under quarantine following the spread of the deadly bird flu virus at alarming rates, officials said yesterday. The quarantine, which is expected to last for 19 days, bans the movement of all poultry and birds across the borders of the northeastern Kelantan state, said Agriculture Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. Fears that the deadly avian influenza was spreading outside isolated quarantine areas in the state were sparked when three new outbreaks were detected over the weekend. One of the areas was located outside the quarantine zone of the first village hit by the virus.
■ Japan
Police pursue al-Qaeda links
A Bosnian man convicted on terrorism-related charges lived briefly in Japan between 1999 and 2000 with a Frenchman who had suspected links to al-Qaeda, police said yesterday. The discovery is the second time this year that Japanese authorities have found indications of suspected terrorists infiltrating Japan in recent years. The man, whom officials refused to identify, lived in Japan for 10 months before being expelled for overstaying his visa in Feb. 2000, a National Police Agency spokesman said on condition of anonymity.
■ Nepal
Firms reopen after threat
Nepal's top firms re-opened for business yesterday, some for the first time in more than a month, after a trade union linked to Maoist rebels withdrew threats against them. The All Nepal Federation of Trade Unions had demanded that 12 of the country's leading firms close down last month, accusing them of unfair labor practices, a threat that was extended to another 35 firms last week. The trade union withdrew the threat against the firms late on Wednesday after the government agreed to free two of its jailed leaders and provide information about 22 others it says are missing, a mediator said.
■ Hong Kong
Mercy killer gets two years
The Hong Kong son who admitted pushing his wheelchair-bound father into the sea to end his suffering was sentenced yesterday to two years in jail for manslaughter. Judge Clare-Marie Beeson said euthanasia was not acceptable and the courts had a duty to protect the elderly and feeble. Yam Yuen-ming, 47, took his 84-year-old father Yam Wong out of the elderly home where he was living last September and pushed him off a pier on the busy Victoria Harbor waterfront in Tsim Sha Shui. Before pushing him in, he strapped him down and used plastic cuffs and ribbons to tie his arms and legs to keep him in the wheelchair underwater.
■ China
Cat man's house raided
A thriving "rent-a-tiger" business has come to an abrupt end in China after officials raided a private home and discovered that the owner had secretly reared seven of them, state media said yesterday. Bo Baokun, a resident of a village near the northeastern city of Shenyang, bought two tigers in 1993 and soon saw his sharp-toothed pets multiply as the young couple had five cubs, the Beijing Morning Post reported. He rented out several of the tigers to local safari parks, but eventually allowed two of the tigers to return to live in metal cages at his home. Neighbors grew increasingly jittery about living at such proximity with potential man-eaters and asked Bo to get rid of the animals, it said. Bo refused, forcing the neighbors to alert the authorities.
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