■ ChinaN Koreans still in embassy
More than 40 North Koreans were holed up inside the Canadian embassy in Beijing for a third day Friday after Canada refused China's demand to hand them over. The men, women and children who scaled an embassy fence using ladders on Wednesday could face a lengthy wait for an end to the stand-off as China goes into a week-long holiday, a mission spokesman said. Canada had earlier rejected China's request to hand over the group, who "will remain in the compound for the time being", according to foreign ministry spokeswoman Kimberly Phillips in Montreal. Forty-four men, women and children scaled a 3m fence surrounding the Canadian embassy on Wednesday in an apparent attempt to secure political asylum.
■ Hong Kong
Drug gang kingpin arrested
Customs officials have arrested the alleged kingpin of an international drug syndicate suspected of operating one of the world's biggest drug-manufacturing laboratories, officials and newspapers said yesterday. The 29-year-old man -- believed to be involved in a drug ring recently smashed in Cebu, the Philippines -- was arrested Wednesday night as he tried to flee Hong Kong to neighboring Macau, customs officials said in a statement. The arrest came after Philippines authorities raided the drug lab in Cebu and seized HK$180 million (US$23.10 million) worth of the party drug "ice" and drug-making chemicals, officials said.
■ Nauru
Nauru parliament dismissed
Nauru's President Ludwig Scotty has dismissed the parliament and declared a state of emergency, sparking a constitutional crisis in the tiny South Pacific island nation, its parliamentary speaker said yesterday. Speaker Russell Kun told reporters by telephone from Nauru that he had been ordered by Scotty to vacate his office immediately. Scotty addressed the nation Thursday night, saying he had no choice but to declare a state of emergency and dissolve parliament because the country's budget had lapsed.
■ Hong Kong
Yeoh denies being engaged
Former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh has denied she's engaged to Ferrari racing team boss Jean Todt, a newspaper said on Thursday, following another report that quoted him to the contrary. Yeoh was surprised when asked whether she had agreed to marry Todt, but said they have a happy, stable relationship, according to the Chinese-language Oriental Daily News. "No!" Yeoh said in response to a query about the reported engagement. "I have major responsibilities now and a lot of work to do. With such a good project on hand, I think I have to finish my work first." Yeoh is going to work on the Hollywood film Memoirs of a Geisha.
■ United StatesUS queries detention
US Secretary of State Colin Powell pressed China on Thursday over its detention of a New York Times researcher despite Beijing's warning to Washington not to interfere in the case. Media rights workers applauded Powell and said such high-level attention during a meeting in Washington with Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing could help pressure China to release a journalist known for exposing official corruption. Zhao Yan, a former reporter for the magazine China Reform, was detained this month on suspicion of helping break the sensitive news that leader Jiang Zemin would retire.
■ France
Cocaine found on beach
Up to five tonnes of cocaine seems to have been washed up along the Atlantic beaches of France and Spain, apparently a single shipment dumped overboard by Mexican smugglers. "It's a serious problem. The street price has fallen by over a third, and there's been a big rash of related hospitalizations," said Jean-Michel Delile of the Bordeaux drug research center. The 1kg bricks are shrink-wrapped and have appeared on the French coast between Arcachon and Biarritz, and Spanish beaches as far west as Bilbao. The beach-cocaine was a temptation, a police spokesman said: "People discovered a previously unsuspected passion for strolling along the beach at midnight."
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