■ China
Powder seller convicted
A shopkeeper in eastern China has been jailed for eight years for selling fake baby milk powder in a scandal in which at least
13 babies died, state media reported Wednesday. Chen
Yi was sentenced by the Yingdong district court
of Fuyang city in Anhui province for selling more than 20 bags of fake milk powder to a farmer,
whose grandson died from malnutrition after being
fed the substandard formula. The case was part of a
major scandal in Fuyang city earlier this year in which
at least 13 babies died and
189 were sickened from malnutrition after drinking the fake formula. Xinhua said 20 people involved
in the scandal, which sent shock waves across China, have been convicted so far.
■ China
Fine for copycat novelist
A young Chinese author, whose love stories are adored by teenagers, and
his publisher have been
ordered to pay 200,000 yuan (US$24,170) for plagiarizing another book, Xinhua news agency said yesterday. The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court ruled that Guo Jingming, 21, and the Chunfeng Literature and Art Publishing House, had to stop publishing Falling Blossoms in a Romantic Dream, a story of entangled love between youngsters, because of breach of copyright. Author Zhuang Yu, 25, filed a suit last December, seeking compensation of 500,000 yuan after reading Guo's 2002 bestseller which went on to sell more than 1 million copies.
■ Hong Kong
Police busted over brothel
Four police officers and a former customs official have been convicted for running
a brothel and recruiting prostitutes. The five, ranging in age from 34 to 44, are
due to be sentenced in Hong Kong's District Court on Saturday, the territory's
anti-graft agency said in a statement seen yesterday. The five were convicted on Tuesday. One of the police officers set up the brothel
in February last year, before two of the other officers joined. The remaining policeman and the ex-custom official were involved in recruiting prostitutes, the statement said. One of the policeman didn't show up for the verdict and the judge issued a warrant for his arrest.
■ Malaysia
Postman hoards mail
A disgruntled former postman, who had been
on the run for the past four months, has been arrested for failing to deliver 21,255 letters, newspapers said yesterday. The 27-year-old man told police he was upset with his meager salary and believed he was sending a message to the authorities
by hoarding the letters, the
New Straits Times reported. "Why should I deliver the letters when I am being
paid less than 500 ringgit (US$132)?" he said. The man had been sacked in March for failing to turn up for work.
■ Pakistan
Nuke-capable missile tested
Pakistan test-fired a short-range, nuclear-capable missile yesterday, the second in just over a week despite
a thaw in relations with neighboring India, military officials said. The launch of the Shaheen missile, with a range of 700km, came nine days after Pakistan test-fired a Ghaznavi missile, another short-range, nuclear-capable missile. At the time, officials said they would carry out more tests in the coming days. India tested a missile the following day, in the latest round of tit-for-tat launches by the rivals.
■ Austria
Grocer touts Botox bargains
Besides cheap food, discount grocery chain Plus' ad this week offers bargain Botox treatments, sparking an outcry from critics who charge the campaign is unethical. A page of the Plus advertisement leaflet is devoted to the offer, which promises Botox treatments for 149 euro (US$200) instead of 250 euro (US$335) for the first 100 respondents. Customers are advised to contact Dr. Wolfgang Pirker's office. Austrian doctors can advertise their services, but the ads have to be objective and not ostentatious, and "to leave flyers in a grocery store certainly is ostentatious," said Ernst Chlan, director of the Vienna Medical Association.
RSS