■ China
Envoy wants N Korea fix
A South Korean envoy said yesterday that military pressure or economic sanctions won't stop North Korea's nuclear ambitions, and that a peaceful resolution of the issue must be reached next year in order to avert a crisis. Chung Dong-young, South Korea's unification minister, who also serves as chairman of the standing committee of its National Security Council, was in Beijing for meetings with Chinese officials to discuss efforts to start a new round of six-nation talks on US demands that the North give up its nuclear programs.
■ Japan
Unsafe spray on subway
Tokyo police believe a disinfectant 100 times stronger than is safe for humans was spread deliberately on a subway seat, slightly injuring a passenger and causing a security alert, reports said Tuesday. A woman on Sunday evening said a chemical burned through her clothing to her skin when she sat on a seat on a train going through central Tokyo. The train was quickly evacuated under security precautions adopted after a nerve-gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995. Police suspect the chemical found Sunday was cresol, which in diluted form is used in household cleaners under names such as Lysol, and was deliberately spread on a seat after being mixed with liquid soap.
■ Hong Kong
Fart bomb fun is over
Hong Kong officials are pulling "Fart Bomb" toys from the shelves because the gag gift -- a metallic bag that gives off a stench -- produces a dangerous chemical reaction. The government said the sulfur-acid mixture produced by the toy can cause nausea, headaches and eye irritation. Customs officers have seized 263 "Fart Bombs" and are urging parents to hand in their unused toys to a consumer protection bureau. When the inner bag is broken, the chemicals mix producing hydrogen sulfide and "giving off a disgusting smell," the government said.
■ Hong Kong
Santa saved from drowning
A Santa Claus dummy sparked a full-scale emergency rescue in northern China after it was spotted bobbing in the water beneath a frozen lake. Passers-by called emergency services to report seeing a man in red floating in waters beneath the lake in Shenyang, Liaoning province. Four fire trucks raced to the scene, and a diver was sent into the icy water, only to emerge with a life-size dummy dressed as Santa Claus. The dummy is believed to have come from a shop. Santa Claus figures are increasingly used in China as cites around the nation adopt Western cultural references for Christmas celebrations.
■ Cambodia
Man disinters stepdaughter
A Cambodian man found a bizarre way to pay back his ex-wife for dumping him: he dug up his stepdaughter's body and dropped it off at the house where his former spouse Ou Phuon, 59, had lived with a new man, Klot Toeng, 43, for about 10 years before the woman left him a month ago. The unearthed body was that of 25-year-old Klot Rim -- Klot Toeng's daughter from a previous marriage -- who died and was buried seven months ago. The grave was in Ou Phuon's back yard. Klot Toeng said she left her husband for a new partner because she could no longer bear his violent behavior. He had told other villagers that the body "should be reunited with her mother and not remain buried in my lot."
■ Ukraine
PM warns on Sunday's vote
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych warned that Sunday's presidential revote might not be considered fair because election law reforms aimed at preventing fraud could deprive millions of Ukrainians of their votes. In Yanukovych's eastern stronghold of Donetsk, meanwhile, supporters of the prime minister blocked an orange-draped convoy of opposition protesters from entering the industrial city, refusing to let the backers of his rival -- Viktor Yushchenko -- continue their campaign to rally support. With four days to go until the Dec. 26 court-ordered rerun, tensions are running high in this ex-Soviet republic of 48 million, located between the expanding European Union and a reinvigorated Russia.
■ France
Hostage release cheered
Two French reporters held hostage for four months in Iraq were expected home yesterday, a day after their release to French authorities provoked joyous scenes across their home country. France's upper house of parliament erupted with applause when Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin announced to senators with "a profound joy" that the militant Islamic Army in Iraq had freed Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot. "It's the best Christmas present we could get," said Chesnot's brother, Thierry, adding that the men were in good health. "Until now, our life was murky. I didn't stop crying -- and my husband, too," Malbrunot's mother, Andree, told reporters.
■ Sudan
Charity quits Darfur
The charity Save the Children said on Tuesday that it was withdrawing from Sudan's Darfur region, because the worsening security situation made work too dangerous for its 350 staff. Four Save the Children workers have been killed in Darfur recently, including two last week whose vehicle was fired on in an attack blamed on rebels. The decision by one of the largest aid operations in Darfur came as peace talks were suspended on Tuesday and violence escalated.
■ United Kingdom
Blunkett's career in doubt
Former UK home secretary David Blunkett's political career was left in doubt on Tuesday night after an official inquiry failed to clear him of wrongdoing over the fast-tracking of a residence visa for his former lover's nanny. Prime Minister Tony Blair's office said the report by Sir Alan Budd, a former UK Treasury official, "draws a line under the issue" and that the integrity of Blair's most combative ally is still intact. Opposition politicians denounced the report as fresh evidence of "grubby government" and demanded a judicial inquiry.
■ Congo
UN gets tough on Congo
The UN said it will send peacekeepers to separate warring Congo army factions, warning that the UN troops will repulse any attempt to cross the new buffer zone. A human rights group claimed that 180,000 civilians have now fled their homes in Congo's east, where renegade soldiers have been fighting government loyalist troops. Citing its mandate to protect civilians, the 11,000-strong UN peacekeeping force said Tuesday it was setting up a 10km no-go cordon between the forces north of Kanyabayonga, the eastern Congo town where fighting since Dec. 12 has centered.
■ Cuba
Dissidents launch magazine
Moderate dissidents launched a new magazine titled Consensus, saying it was necessary to present a broader spectrum of opinions than those offered in Cuba's state-run media. The idea is to create a space "where people with positive projects for our country can be published," said activist Reinaldo Escobar, in charge of news for the magazine. Escobar was joined by other opponents of Fidel Castro's government, including Manuel Cuesta Morua, a well-known Cuban intellectual, and Eloy Gutierrez-Menoyo, a former exile. Consensus was introduced in the head-quarters of a state-owned construction company, which is unusual for a dissident activity. Government opponents generally don't hold public gatherings, especially not in state-controlled offices.
■ United States
No death dip on key dates
The common perception that terminally ill people can hang on to life through important religious or personal days is more romance than reality, researchers reported yesterday. In a study of some 300,000 deaths from cancer in Ohio from 1989 to 2000, Dr. Donn Young and Erinn Hade of Ohio State University found no significant difference in death rates before and after Christmas, Thanksgiving or people's birthdays. Women even showed a slight tendency to succumb just before their birthdays. The researchers used information from death certificates of the 1,269,474 people in Ohio who died during the 11 years they studied.
■ United States
Bush protests planned
Opposition groups plan to hold a huge protest during President George W. Bush's inauguration next month, as he is sworn in to a second four-year term. DC Resistance Media, which includes organizations opposing the Iraq war and Bush's economic policies, said on Tuesday it hoped to mobilize "tens of thousands of people" in downtown Washington to protest Bush's re-election during the Jan. 20 inauguration. "The common message: Bush is illegitimate and corrupt," said Shahid Buttar, of DC Resistance Media.
■ United States
Snoop Dogg files suit
Rap singer Snoop Dogg has sued a woman and her attorneys for extortion, alleging they demanded US$5 million to keep silent about an alleged assault against her, according to a lawsuit. The lawsuit said Snoop Dogg -- whose real name is Calvin Broadus -- was not involved in the alleged assault at a performance last year. The defendant was listed only as "Jane Doe" to protect her privacy, Snoop Dogg's publicist said on Tuesday. The lawsuit alleged that the woman and her attorneys threatened to sell details of the alleged assault to a book publisher and The National Enquirer if Snoop Dogg did not pay US$5 million.
■ United States
Smallest baby ever lauded
A premature infant believed to be the smallest baby ever to survive was called "a great blessing" by her mother, who is preparing to take the little girl and her twin sister home from the hospital. The baby, named Rumaisa, weighed 8.6 ounces -- less than a can of soda -- when she was delivered by Caesarean section Sept. 19 at Loyola University Medical Center. That is 1.3 ounces smaller than the previous record holder, who was born at the same the hospital in 1989, according to hospital spokeswoman Sandra Martinez.
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