■ The Philippines
Rebel leader assassinated
A leader of a breakaway communist rebel group in the Philippines has been assassinated apparently by his estranged comrades, police said yesterday. Arturo Tabara, a former member of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) central committee, was shot dead late Sunday at a parking lot of a shopping mall in Manila. Deputy Director Avelino Razon, Manila police chief, said Tabara was accompanied by his daughter's boyfriend, who was also killed in the attack. CPP spokesman Gregorio Rosal said it was possible that the New People's Army (NPA), the armed wing of the mainstream communist party, was behind the killing.
■ Hong Kong
Big Brother is watching
Anybody answering the call of nature in Hong Kong's back alleys should be on alert: Big Brother may be watching. Authorities have installed closed-circuit TV cameras in five locations, and Home Affairs Department spokeswoman Cindy Yu said yesterday the surveillance has led to the prosecution of 29 people over the past two months for hygiene offenses. They included six men caught relieving themselves and other people apprehended washing dishes and dumping trash in areas that are off limits, the South China Morning Post reported yesterday.
■ Malaysia
Children were pushed
A Malaysian woman facing financial problems backed off from a suicide bid after pushing her two children off the 17th floor of an apartment building, reports said yesterday. The 34-year-old divorcee had brought her two children to the apartment block where she pushed them off the edge after saying she could no longer care for them due to financial setbacks. However, her two children -- a 12-year old girl and 11-year old boy -- survived the fall when they landed on the hood of a car parked below, the New Straits Times daily reported. The woman told police she had planned to jump after pushing her children off, but had cold feet and ran away instead. The suspect will be charged with causing grievous harm.
■ China
No SMS contests on TV
China has ordered TV networks not to run unauthorized contests using mobile phone text messaging, after a state-run station held a lottery to guess the death toll from the school siege tragedy in Beslan, Russia. Official media yesterday carried a notice from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, ordering broadcasters to get permission to run games soliciting listener participation through SMS, or short-message service. News programs are banned from such activities, and other programs may not use them with "political or sensitive topics," it said.
■ China
Beijing drops begging ban
The nation's capital has abandoned plans to set up special "no-begging zones" after it found out there was no legal basis for such a move, state media reported yesterday. "There are no laws banning begging in China. Marking no-begging zones is not in accordance with Chinese law," said Li Wei, deputy secretary-general of the local government. Beijing officials for months had toyed with the idea of creating designated beggar-free zones, such as Tiananmen Square or near hospitals and military barracks. Proponents argued the beggars "pollutes the urban environment," gives Beijing a bad image and blocks traffic, official news agency Xinhua said.
■ Canada
Problems found in subs
Four second-hand submarines bought from Britain by the Canadian navy in 1998 were found to have serious problems that have delayed their going into service, including leaks in their exhaust valves, The Times reported yesterday. One of the vessels even had "a dent the size of a large pizza," the daily said, and the on-board temperature soared to 65?C during tests in the Panama Canal, arousing fears about her capacity to cruise in the warm waters of the Middle East. A spokesman for BAE Systems, the British company that supervised the overhaul of the submarines, said major work on them was inevitable.
■ Greece
Coast guard turns back ship
The Greek coast guard yesterday turned back 80 illegal immigrants after a fishing boat had sent a distress signal and reached a safe bay south of Crete with the help of the coast guard, according to national Greek Radio. Officials stated that the boat was not at risk of sinking as was initially reported and that the boat had been escorted back to international waters. The illegals on board were from the Near East and North Africa and had left Egypt three days ago, according to the coast guard.
■ Chechnya
Russian troops kill five
Russian troops clashed with rebels in southern Chechnya, killing five of them, including a Turkish citizen, a federal spokesman said yesterday. The insurgents were spotted late Sunday near the village of Serzhen-Yurt, some 35km southeast of the Chechen capital, Grozny, said a spokesman for federal troops in Chechnya, Major-General Ilya Shabalkin. In remarks broadcast by Russian television stations, Shabalkin said that one of the five militants killed in the ensuing battle had passport identifying him as Turkish citizen Umac Hasan, 24.
■ United Kingdom
Thames a health hazard
Concern about the risks of pumping raw sewage into the river Thames increased on Sunday, as new tests showed that even modest discharges raise the amount of bacteria in the water to potentially dangerous levels. Scientific analysis of water was commissioned by The Guardian newspaper from two stretches of the river in west London, following moderate rainfall and a subsequent but unexceptional release of untreated sewage. It showed the level of harmful bacteria leapt way beyond levels considered safe under European regulations. The finding intensified calls for the UK government to sanction a ¥1.5 billion, 35km interceptor tunnel, to update London's sewers and stop the outflow of untreated waste into the Thames.
■ United States
Beans point to Bush win
Judging by the bean vote, US President George W. Bush could be on his way to a second term. A Tennessee company that has been in the chili business for more than 100 years is selling satirically packaged cans of beans for in honor of Bush and Senator John Kerry ahead of Nov. 2 elections. Every online order draws a vote, and the Republicans were ahead 2,402-2,316 as of Friday. For Republicans, a grinning cartoon elephant graces Vietti's "Conservative Republican Texas Chili Beans" on a label promising "Dubya would love!" them. The counterpoint is a smiling donkey on Vietti's "Liberal Democrat Boston Baked Beans," described as "liberally spiced Boston beans married to a rich ketchup-based sauce."
■ Saudi Arabia
Militants hunted in Riyadh
Saudi security forces, battling a wave of al-Qaeda attacks in the world's biggest oil exporter, clashed with suspected militants in the capital Riyadh on Sunday. Police arrested one suspect after the shootout in the southern Shifa district, which broke out with the occupants of a car after it tried to speed away from a patrol, an Interior Ministry security spokesman told the Saudi Press Agency. No policemen or bystanders were hurt, the spokesman said. The shootout in Riyadh came hours after a Frenchman who worked for French defense electronics firm Thales was shot dead in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah.
■ United States
330kph ticket raises doubts
People across the country are shaking their heads over the kid ticketed for allegedly riding his motorcycle at 330 kph, doubting he went that fast. Ever since a Minnesota Highway Patrol pilot clocked Samuel Armstrong Tilley going 400m in 4.39 seconds on Sept. 18, people in chat rooms, garages and biker bars have been buzzing about the alleged feat on scenic Highway 61 near Wabasha. David Edwards, editor-in-chief of Cycle World magazine, is among many who doubt Tilley's bike could have gone so fast. ``More likely, the cop with the stopwatch had an itchy trigger finger,'' he told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis. He said Tilley's bike would have needed an add-on turbo charger. State Patrol pilot Al Loney, a 27-year veteran, and his superiors stand by their report.
■ Germany
Social Dems trail opposition
Germany's governing Social Democrats emerged from local elections in the country's most populous state trailing well behind the conservative opposition, projections showed, but party leaders were relieved that they avoided major new losses. Sunday's vote for councils and mayors in North Rhine-Westphalia, a traditional stronghold of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's party, was this year's last electoral test. Amid widespread anger over Schroeder's drive to trim the welfare state, his party has been battered in a string of state elections over recent months.
■ France
Raffarin wins Senate seat
Although his party suffered a setback, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin won a seat in French Senate elections, a post that could be a useful fallback if persistent murmurs prove true that his days as government chief are numbered. Raffarin, who has consistently fared poorly in popularity polls as prime minister, won in his home district of Vienne in western France. Sunday's indirect election replenished one-third of France's 321-seat Senate and added 10 new seats as part of reforms to usher in a younger group of lawmakers.
■ Switzerland
Humongous fungus found
Swiss scientists have discovered what they believe is Europe's biggest fungus, stretching wide under an Alpine forest. The Honey Mushroom -- also known by its Latin species name Armillaria ostoyae -- was found lurking in the Engadine national park in the eastern Swiss Alps, said the Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research. Spanning 35 hectares, the fungus is believed to be 1,000 years old, the institute added. In terms of size, the Swiss fungus is beaten hands down by another Honey Mushroom growing in the US. Found in the Malheur National Forest, in eastern Oregon, that fungus covers 890 hectares -- making it the largest living organism ever discovered.
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