■ Vietnam
Dead fetus found in woman
Doctors in Vietnam successfully removed a 50-year-old calcified fetus from a 75-year-old woman on Wednesday, the operation's head surgeon said yesterday. Dinh Thi Thu was hospitalized more than a week ago with abdominal pain. Doctors were shocked to discover she was carrying a fetus believed to be 50 years old. Scans revealed the skull, backbone, ribs and limbs to be the size of a normal eight-month-old fetus that appeared to be the result of an ectopic pregnancy. Because it was outside her womb it had not interfered with the woman's ability to give birth to three children in her 30s.
■ New Zealand
Man undone by egg in undies
Border authorities have arrested a New Zealand man who tried to smuggle a bird's egg from Australia by hiding it in his underwear, officials said yesterday. The man arrived at Auckland's airport on Jan. 11 from the Australian city of Melbourne, said Tina Nixon, an official with New Zealand's biosecurity agency. A sniffer dog picked up the scent of the egg, which officials later found in the man's underpants, Nixon said in statement. The alleged smuggler will be charged under New Zealand's biosecurity laws, and if convicted, faces up to five years in prison and a 100,000 New Zealand dollar (US$705,000) fine. The egg is being kept in quarantine facilities until it hatches "to aid the identification of the species," Nixon said.
■ South Korea
Trainees forced to eat feces
South Korean Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung publicly apologized yesterday after army recruits were allegedly forced to eat human excrement at boot camp. A 28-year-old army captain was arrested on Thursday after he was accused of ordering 192 trainees under his command to eat feces as punishment for not flushing toilets. The incident, described by the defense ministry as "outrageous, inhumane behavior," allegedly occurred at a training camp in Nonsan, 200km south of Seoul. It was disclosed after recruits complained to their families who posted protests on the Internet. All adult males must complete 24 months' training in South Korea's military.
■ Macau
Robbery ends in shootout
Police exchanged shots with a gang of armed robbers outside the New Century Hotel casino in the territory, security officials said yesterday. The shootout, which left one man injured, took place when a gang of robbers tried to rob a couple leaving the complex. Police intervened and the robbers attempted to escape by car, leading to a car chase and a shoot-out, a spokesman for the security officials said. One man from Hong Kong was arrested but police are still seeking five other suspects who were involved in the attempted robbery.
■ Germany
Judge warns Blair
British Prime Minister Tony Blair was effectively reprimanded by a British judge sitting at the court martial in Osnabruck, Germany of three soldiers who are alleged to have abused Iraqi looters they captured and held in their camp. Judge advocate Michael Hunter urged the British government not to make any further statements with regard to the case dubbed "Britain's Abu Ghraib,'' after Blair, in the House of Commons in London on Wednesday, mentioned a series of photographs taken from soldiers' cameras depicting the alleged mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners. Hunter added, "I would like to make an appeal that no public statements, if possible, be made with regard to this trial."
■ United Kingdom
Fare-haggling allowed
Passengers who feel London's black cab fares are extortionate will be allowed to haggle with drivers in April. The cabs, already the most expensive of any major city save Tokyo, are to increase their tariffs by an inflation-busting average of 5.6 per cent, under a draft settlement with London's mayor, Ken Livingstone. Under the deal, the Public Carriage Office is changing its rules to designate meter fares as "maximum" prices, after concerns about tariffs following an Office of Fair Trading investigation. As a result, travelers brave enough will have the right to request a lower price at the start of their journey.
■ Poland
Warsaw courrier dies
Jan Nowak-Jezioranski, the Polish soldier who made death-defying trips between Warsaw and London during World War II to carry messages to Poland's government-in-exile, died in Warsaw on Thursday. Nowak-Jezioranski, born May 13, 1913, spent his life fighting for a free Poland, first against the Nazis and then after the communist takeover as an exiled journalist and broadcaster. He was head of the Polish section of Radio Free Europe for 20 years during the Cold War.
■ Belgium
Hookers want dim lights
Antwerp will dim the bright new lights along its waterfront after prostitutes complained they were putting off potential clients. "We had some remarks from the prostitutes that there was too much light, both for them and the clients," City Council spokesman Jorn Verbeeck said. "We are investigating the possibility of lowering the light there." Prostitutes complained to city and police officials that the lights installed last month did not give them enough privacy and hurt business, he said. The port, which tolerates prostitutes in a select few streets near the waterfront, will next week test an electric system to dim the lights, Verbeeck said.
■ United Kingdom
Irish priest defrocked
The Catholic church on Thursday defrocked the Irish-born priest who upset the men's Olympic marathon in Athens last summer by leaping on the front-runner. "I completely reject this decision," Neil Horan, 57, said after the ruling. "I appeal to the much higher court of heaven and the court of Jesus Christ." Horan was given a one-year suspended sentence by a Greek court last September after leaping on Brazilian runner Vanderli de Lima during the marathon, ruining his chances of winning the gold medal. The Roman Catholic priest claimed that he was highlighting the "second coming" of Jesus Christ.
■ United States
Christians issue `gay alert'
Christian Conservative groups have issued a gay alert warning over a children's video starring SpongeBob SquarePants, Barney and a host of other cartoon favorites. The music video is due to be sent to 61,000 US schools in March. The makers -- the nonprofit We Are Family Foundation -- say the video is designed to encourage tolerance and diversity. But at least two Christian activist groups say the innocent cartoon characters are being exploited to promote the acceptance of homosexuality. The video is a remake of the 1979 hit song We Are Family using the voices and images of SpongeBob, Barney, Winnie the Pooh, Bob the Builder, the Rugrats and 100 TV cartoon stars.
■ United States
Kinky judge charged
A former state judge, who allegedly used a sex toy called a penis pump in court, was charged with three felony counts of indecent exposure by Oklahoma authorities. Former Judge Donald Thompson, 58, pleaded not guilty in the Creek County District Court in the town of Sapulpa. If convicted, Thompson could face up to 10 years in prison for each count. Last year, a court reporter who worked for Thompson was fired after she said she saw the judge masturbate and use the penis pump during hearings. Other witnesses claimed they saw Thompson use the pump in court.
■ Brazil
Carnival offers condoms
Brazil, one of the Latin American countries hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic, will hand out a record 11 million condoms to prevent the spread of the disease during its erotically charged Carnival festival when casual sex rises. The "Dress Yourself" campaign is to remind revelers a condom should be part of their outfit, no matter how little they wear to parades and parties renowned for semi-nude, hip-thrusting dancers. Millions flock to cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Recife for the Feb. 4 to Feb. 9 festival. Crammed streets and close contact in tropical heat intensifies sexual relations, health authorities said.
■ United States
Cosby faces complaint
A female acquaintance of comedian Bill Cosby has made an allegation against him that has prompted a police investigation in Pennsylvania, the entertainer's attorney said. Attorney Walter Phillips said authorities in Pennsylvania told him they have begun an investigation. He would not discuss the specifics of the allegation -- which he called "utterly preposterous" -- but said it amounts to, at the most, "inappropriate touching." No charges have been brought against Cosby. Phillips said, "We are hopeful and optimistic that no charges will be brought forward."
■ United States
Oily birds indicate spill
Investigators are testing oil wiped from the coated bodies of birds to try to determine the origin of a mysterious oil spill somewhere along the California coast. More than 1,100 birds have been brought to a bird care center in San Pedro, and a sea lion was taken to a nearby marine mammal center. Possible oil sources include pipes broken in mudslides, natural seepage exacerbated by seismic activity, or even cars and trucks submerged in floods, officials said. Of a total of 1,141 live birds taken to the Los Angeles Oiled Bird Care and Education Center in San Pedro, 366 died or were humanely euthanized. Investigators are intrigued by the timing of the spill, which coincided with heavy rains and mudslides.
The pitch is a classic: A young celebrity with no climbing experience spends a year in hard training and scales Mount Everest, succeeding against some — if not all — odds. French YouTuber Ines Benazzouz, known as Inoxtag, brought the story to life with a two-hour-plus documentary about his year preparing for the ultimate challenge. The film, titled Kaizen, proved a smash hit on its release last weekend. Young fans queued around the block to get into a preview screening in Paris, with Inoxtag’s management on Monday saying the film had smashed the box office record for a special cinema
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
‘DISAPPEARED COMPLETELY’: The melting of thousands of glaciers is a major threat to people in the landlocked region that already suffers from a water shortage Near a wooden hut high up in the Kyrgyz mountains, scientist Gulbara Omorova walked to a pile of gray rocks, reminiscing how the same spot was a glacier just a few years ago. At an altitude of 4,000m, the 35-year-old researcher is surrounded by the giant peaks of the towering Tian Shan range that also stretches into China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The area is home to thousands of glaciers that are melting at an alarming rate in Central Asia, already hard-hit by climate change. A glaciologist, Omarova is recording that process — worried about the future. She hiked six hours to get to
The number of people in Japan aged 100 or older has hit a record high of more than 95,000, almost 90 percent of whom are women, government data showed yesterday. The figures further highlight the slow-burning demographic crisis gripping the world’s fourth-biggest economy as its population ages and shrinks. As of Sept. 1, Japan had 95,119 centenarians, up 2,980 year-on-year, with 83,958 of them women and 11,161 men, the Japanese Ministry of Health said in a statement. On Sunday, separate government data showed that the number of over-65s has hit a record high of 36.25 million, accounting for 29.3 percent of