■ China
Miner deaths reach 210
Another corpse was found yesterday in a coal mine in northeastern China, taking the death toll from the country's worst mining disaster in recent history to 210, state media said. Five miners are still missing after a gas explosion at the state-owned Sujiawan colliery in Fuxin city, Liaoning Province on Monday. At least 29 workers were injured in the blast. Mining accidents and fatalities are an almost daily occurrence in China but their severity is getting worse.
■ Japan
Quake jars Tokyo
A 5.4-magnitude earthquake centered north of Tokyo shook the city early yesterday, jarring buildings, injuring at least 28 people, and temporarily disrupting train service. The 4:46am quake was centered in southern Ibaraki prefecture. The epicenter was 45km below the surface. At least 28 people were injured, including three seriously, in Ibaraki and surrounding prefectures and were treated at hospitals. There was little damage because the quake's epicenter was far enough underground that much of the shock was absorbed, and because buildings in Japan are designed to withstand the shaking. Japan, which rests atop several tectonic plates, is among the most earthquake-prone countries in the world.
■ Cambodia
Commander found guilty
The nation's highest court affirmed yesterday the conviction of a former Khmer Rouge field commander found guilty of murdering three young Western travelers in 1994. Chhouk Rin, whose conviction and life sentence for killing the tourists from Australia, Britain and France was upheld by the Appeals Court in November 2003, had appealed the case to the Supreme Court. Chhouk Rin, 51, has insisted he was not involved in the killings of Australian David Wilson, Frenchman Jean-Michel Braquet and Briton Mark Slater after they were seized by Khmer Rouge guerrillas in a July 1994 attack on a train. Chhouk Rin's lawyer told the court that Chhouk Rin was innocent and shouldn't be prosecuted under Cambodia's criminal law since the government gave him amnesty when he defected from the Khmer Rouge.
■ Australia
Mining permission sought
French nuclear power giant Areva said yesterday it wants to mine uranium in Australia's world heritage-listed Kakadu National Park, sparking environmentalists' outrage. A spokesman for Cogema Australia -- wholly owned by Areva -- said it would revive efforts to mine a deposit in Kakadu over which it holds rights once a five-year ban imposed by the land's traditional Aboriginal owners ends in April. The Northern Territory Environment Center condemned the move, saying the proposed uranium mine was not only in an environmentally-sensitive world heritage-listed park but was also close to the Nourlangie rock, an Aboriginal art site that attracts many visitors.
■ Japan
Coffee may prevent cancer
A study of more than 90,000 Japanese found that people who drank coffee daily or nearly every day had half the risk of liver cancer as those who never drank coffee. A research team of the National Cancer Center in Tokyo found that the protective effect occurred in people who drank one to two cups of coffee a day and increased at three to four cups. A separate study reported in the same journal reported a 52 percent decline in rectal cancer among people who regularly drank two or more cups of decaffeinated coffee.
■ France
Diana crash site scrutinized
A team of British detectives prowled through the Paris tunnel where Princess Diana died in a 1997 car crash, using high-tech equipment to search for new clues. More than a dozen British police officers moved into the Pont D'Alma tunnel for the late-night Tuesday probe that included a laser scan of the site. The information was destined for coroner inquests of Diana and her companion Dodi al Fayed. The photographs and measurements "will be used to create a 3-D computer model of the scene, using new technology which was not available in 1997," said a statement from London's Metropolitan Police.
■ United Kingdom
Papers to pay Cat Stevens
Two British newspapers said on Tuesday they had paid unspecified damages to the singer once known as Cat Stevens over articles suggesting he had links to terrorists. The musician, now known as Yusuf Islam, said The Sunday Times and The Sun had promised not to repeat the allegation and agreed to pay his legal costs and "substantial damages." "It seems to be the easiest thing in the world these days to make scurrilous accusations against Muslims, and in my case it directly impacts on my relief work and damages my reputation as an artist," Islam said in a statement.
■ United Kingdom
Healthy people preferred
Women in the latter part of their menstrual cycle have a particular preference for people who look healthy, according to a study in psychology published yesterday. Scientists led by Ben Jones at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, recruited more than 600 female volunteers in their early twenties, who were shown two pictures of a young man or woman and were asked to say which one they preferred. One of the two portraits had been subtly changed by software to make the individual look healthier. The other portrait was retouched to make the same individual look slightly unhealthy. Women who were pregnant, took the Pill or who were between the ovulation and menstruation steps in their cycle clearly preferred the "healthy" version.
■ Germany
Fake rooster disturbs peace
Before leaving on vacation, a German couple set up a loudspeaker and timer with the sound of a crowing cock to blast their neighbors every morning. After complaints, police in the northern town of Itzehoe obtained a warrant to enter the house and discovered the gear with the speakers aimed at the neighbors and rigged to a timer. "The apparatus switched on between 2 and 4 o'clock in the morning and produced a cock crowing at an enormous volume. This would last for 20 minutes with breaks in between," police said. Police charged the vacationers, who are still away, with bodily harm and disturbing the peace.
■ South Africa
Racial blood test scrapped
The South African National Blood Service said on Tuesday it was scrapping its controversial use of race as a risk factor when assessing if a donor's blood was safe. The move comes after an uproar late last year when it emerged that blood donated by President Thabo Mbeki had been destroyed because he did not complete a mandatory questionnaire and his race placed him in a high-risk category. The service had a policy of incinerating blood donated by blacks because of a perceived high HIV prevalence rate among this group.
■ Canada
Government bill defeated
Canada's minority Liberal government on Tuesday suffered its first loss in Parliament since last June's election but stayed in power because the vote was not considered a matter of confidence. Legislators voted 150 to 125 to defeat a government bill that would have split the ministry of foreign affairs and international trade into two separate ministries. The defeat is an embarrassment for Prime Minister Paul Martin, who lost his parliamentary majority in June amid voter anger over a cash-for-favors scandal involving the Liberals. The Liberals have just 133 seats in the 308-seat chamber.
■ United States
Men sue over `enlargement'
More than 1 million US men feel let down by firms which offered penis enlargements achieved by taking a course of herbal pills. One dissatisfied customer, Michael Coluzzi, sued a company for false advertising, claiming he "experienced no increase in size." Coluzzi, from New Jersey, said he paid US$59.95 for a 30-day supply of Alzare pills, which claim a 95 percent success rate in increasing the length of a penis by 7.5cm. The tablets are said to include ginseng and yohimbe bark. Coluzzi said he saw no results and was unable to collect a promised refund from the manufacturer, Alzare LLC, based in Boca Raton, Florida.
■ United States
Jackson rushed to hospital
Pop legend Michael Jackson was rushed to a California hospital on Tuesday after being struck down by flu on his way to his child molestation trial, delaying the case for a week. The dramatic twist came after the 46-year-old began vomiting while being driven to court, where lawyers were to question prospective jurors who could send him to jail for 20 years. Jackson was taken to the emergency room of a medical center in Santa Maria, California, where he was put on an intravenous drip and treated for a "flu-like illness," doctors said. In the courtroom, potential jurors were bemused by the latest delay of the case. "Six months of this?" one juror was overheard to ask.
■ United States
Priest sentenced for rape
A defrocked Boston priest at the center of a sex abuse scandal that rocked the US Roman Catholic Church was sentenced on Tuesday to 12 to 15 years in prison for child rape. Paul Shanley, 74, was also sentenced to 10 years probation following his release for indecent assault and battery on a minor. A "street priest" who ministered to disadvantaged youths, Shanley was convicted last week of repeatedly molesting a student at his Sunday cathecism classes in the 1980s. His accuser, now a 27-year-old firefighter, was six years old when the abuse began. In passing sentence, Judge Stephen Neel said it was "difficult to imagine a more egregious misuse of trust and authority."
■ United States
Twin doctors sued for abuse
An attorney has filed the latest in a series of civil lawsuits against twin physician brothers, accusing them of impersonating one another and sexually assaulting female patients in an obstetric-gynecology practice. In a complaint filed in King County Superior Court by Seattle lawyer Harish Bharti, six female patients of Charles Momah said they were sometimes deceived into being seen, examined, operated on and sexually fondled by his twin, Dennis Momah, a general practitioner who is not certified in obstetrics and gynecology.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was