■ Hong Kong
Police look for sugardaddy
Hong Kong police are searching for a man who handed out HK$1,000 (US$125) notes to passersby on a busy street. The man, soberly dressed and in his 40s, is known to have handed out at least 7,000 dollars in the city's crowded Mongkok district but officers believe he gave over more. "We were alerted by members of the public who came forward and handed in the money -- seven of them spoke to us but we believe the man gave money to many more people," the police spokesman said. The money was not counterfeit and is not believed to have come from the proceeds of crime. "We just want to make sure he did not hand out the money under duress or while impaired by drink or drugs," the spokesman said.
■ Australia
Spermbank taps lawmakers
A leading Australian fertility expert said he has asked state lawmakers to help turn around dwindling sperm bank reserves by publicly signing up as donors. Professor Gab Kovacs, medical director of Victoria state's largest in-vitro fertilization clinic Monash IVF, sent letters to all male state lawmakers aged under 45 to pose the question, "have you ever thought of becoming a sperm donor?" "We hope that if some of the leading role models within our community become donors, others may follow suit," the letter said. Sperm stocks have dwindled; Monash IVF has only 13 sperm donors, with just five new men signing up last year. No lawmaker has yet responded to the letters.
■ Indonesia
Pygmy humans revisited
A growing number of scientists are challenging the sensational discovery last year of a new species of a 1m tall intelligent humans whose 13,000-year-old bones were said to have been found in an Indonesian cave. According to anthropologists, Homo floresiensis is a pygmy version of modern Homo sapiens. Professor Teuku Jacob said he would "compare the living and the dead. It is quite possible that there are pygmy people living in the area who are related to the people found in the cave." Others argue that bones found in the cave may be neither Homo sapiens, nor Homo floresiensis, but Homo habilis, an even older branch of the human family.
■ South Korea
Timing `ripe' for nuke talks
Stalled six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program could resume as soon as US President George W. Bush finishes putting together his new diplomatic team, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said. Conditions were ripe for those talks but not yet for a summit between himself and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Roh said at a news conference. The nuclear talks would bring together the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the US.
■ Vietnam
Fourth avian flu victim dies
An 18-year-old woman has died of bird flu in Vietnam, becoming the country's fourth fatality from the disease in the past fortnight. The woman from the rural southern Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang died in hospital in nearby Can Tho city. Since late 2003, at least 24 people in Vietnam have died after being confirmed to have contracted the H5N1 strain. The real figure is thought to be higher as tests were not carried out on some suspected cases. There are fears that the outbreak could spread before next month's Lunar New Year festivities when the demand for poultry is expected to boom.
■ Germany
Madam donates takings
A German brothel owner has been so moved by the plight of survivors from Asia's tsunami disaster that she is donating part of her takings from clients. "It's not every day you can make a charitable gesture by going to a brothel," said Mercedes Mueller, who is giving five euros (US$6.60) of the 39 euro (US$51) entrance charge clients pay. "It's so terrible what happened there and I wanted to do something," said Mueller, who owns the Happy FKK Club in the western city of Dortmund. Mueller said clients, prostitutes and the public had all responded with great enthusiasm to her gesture, and that about 1,300 euros (US$1,700) had been raised so far.
■ Germany
Binmen trash work of art
To the garbagemen of Frankfurt, they were a mess that needed to be cleared from the streets of their spotless city. The yellow plastic sheets were swiftly scooped up, crushed and burned. But the diligence of the rubbish collectors was little consolation to the city's prestigious art academy, which is now ruing the loss of an important work. Unknown to the binmen, the sheets were part of a city-wide exhibition of modern sculpture by Michael Beutler, a graduate of Frankfurt's Stadel art school. Thirty of the garbagemen are now being sent to modern art classes to try to ensure that the same mistake never happens again.
■ United Kingdom
Strawberry Field closes
Britain's Salvation Army is to close its Strawberry Field children's home in Liverpool, inspiration for The Beatles' hit Strawberry Fields Forever. The Christian charity said it was taking the step due to the changing demands of child welfare.
"It is now preferable for children to be cared for within a foster family or in
a small group home, rather than within large residential institutions," it said in a statement. Strawberry
Field opened in 1936 on Beaconsfield Road in Liverpool, a short distance from John Lennon's childhood home. Lennon was taken by the name and used it for the band's 1967 hit.
■ France
Le Pen remark condemned
The government on Wednesday threatened to prosecute outspoken far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen after he declared in an interview that the Nazi occupation of France during World War II had not been "particularly inhumane." In an interview given to an extremist right-wing paper, Rivarol, on the eve of Europe-wide ceremonies to mark the liberation of Auschwitz, Le Pen made light of the tragic consequences of the German invasion of France. "In France, at least, the German occupation was not particularly inhumane, even if there were a few blunders," he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
■ Georgia
Abkhazia results in
Sergei Bagapsh has won the presidential election in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia, garnering 90.1 percent of the popular vote, with all ballots counted, Central Elections Commission head Batal Batagua said yesterday. "There have been no complaints and statements that could influence the results. There are minor complaints that are not significant," Batagua said. Bagapsh's rival, Yakub Lakoba, the only other candidate, garnered 4.5 percent of the vote, he added. Lakoba said he doubted he would contest the results.
■ United States
Pregnant Right whale dies
The North Atlantic right whale, a highly endangered species, grew more endan-gered this week when a pregnant female was found dead off Nantucket Island, the New England Aquarium said on Wednesday. It was the fourth right whale to die in about six weeks. Only about 325 are known to exist. Right whales are so rare that scientists who track them call them by name. They know them by indivi-dual patterns of skin over-growths, called callosities, which appear on the whales' heads. The dead whale was called Bolo, and an aquarium official said the scientists were particularly distressed by her death because she had given birth to six calves, the most ever recorded for a right whale.
■ United States
Hearing gene identified
Researchers have identified a gene that prevents the regeneration of inner ear cells that are critical to hearing, a discovery experts say is the first step toward finding a way to correct the most common form of deafness among the elderly. In laboratory mouse studies at Massachusetts General Hospital, researchers found that by eliminating the effects of a single gene they could cause inner ear cells vital to hearing to regrow. The regrowth replaces nerve endings, called hair cells, that are often lost to injury or age. The goal, researchers said, is to learn find a way to turn off this gene in the inner ear of humans and allow the regrowth of hair cells, which would lead to recovery of hearing.
■ Mexico
Simpsons' voices protest
The union actors who dub The Simpsons into Spanish are asking their Mexican audience for help as they fight for their livelihoods. A labor dispute could silence the voices that Latin Amer-ican viewers of the US animated comedy have known for 15 years. The Mexico's National Actors Association has accused a Mexican contractor of attempting to hire too many nonunion voices and breaking provisions of a collective bargaining agreement that dictates exclusive use of union labor.
The contractor maintains it has invited National Actors Association members and other actors to continue dubbing the series, but that the union is using strong-arm tactics to hold onto most parts. The company argues it needs the new voices in order to compete. The disagreement is in the hands of government labor arbitrators.
■ United States
1964 murder trial date set
Edgar Ray Killen, a former KKK leader arrested last week for the 1964 murder of three young civil rights workers in Mississippi, will be tried in late March, media reports said on Wednesday. The trial of Killen, 79, starts March 28, a Mississippi court ruled. Killen is free on bail while he awaits trial. The unresolved murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner sparked an out-pouring of support for the civil rights movement. Killen was arrested six days ago.
■ United States
Wrong digit leads to sexline
Oklahoma highway users wishing to call the state about electronic payment passes were mistakenly directed to a sex hotline. Oklahoma Transportation Authority spokeswoman Brigette Berglan said the state's turnpike authority had made an error in a letter sent to 41,000 people. One digit was wrong in the telephone number for callers seeking advice on how to deal with toll gate payments.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not