■ China
Father gives right arm
A father in Jilin Province literally gave his right arm to keep his son in university. The 60-year-old from Changchun scraped a living by fluffing cotton and used the money to pay for his son's college education. Last week, his right arm was badly mangled in the fluffing machine he used and he faced a choice of amputation or expensive surgery to save his arm. Surgery would have meant taking his son out of college so he opted for amputation. His son, a student at Zhengzhou University in Henan Province, broke down in tears when he heard of his father's sacrifice by phone.
■ Thailand
Tsunami list at risk of abuse
A former senior police officer, facing an 18-year prison term for sex with underage girls, couldn't appear before an appeals court because he went missing when the tsunami struck southern Thailand two months ago, according to his lawyer. But the official charged with tracking down some 3,000 missing persons from the tragedy said yesterday that the name of Police Lieutenant Colonel Sakda Changrua hasn't appeared on any list of the missing.
■ Hong Kong
Nudists out in the cold
Nudists have been frozen out in their plans to set up a naturist colony on a desert island off Hong Kong. A 440-members nudist association wanted to set up Hong Kong's first nudist colony on Kau Tung Wan, a remote island off the eastern coast of the rural New Territories. It would have included 80 beach huts, a barbecue site and boating facilities and would have been a tourist attraction for Hong Kong, the association argued. However, villagers living near the island opposed the plan and two powerful rural committees are vowing to quash the idea. People living in the area were conservative and the idea of a nudist colony on their doorstep was "disturbing," Lau Wan-sei, head of one of the rural committees, said.
■ Indonesia
Smoke blankets Sumatra
Haze from forest burnings and ground fires blanketed parts of Riau province on eastern Sumatra yesterday, disrupting flights due to the limited visibility, officials said. The haze, which had covered Riau province for the past several days, also forced local government administration to shut down schools to prevent students from suffering respiratory-related ailments caused by the hazardous smoke. The haze is often blamed on farmers and other landowners who set fire to scrubland and forest to clear them for cultivation, and is an annual phenomenon in Indonesia that worsens during the dry season.
■ United States
Man finds python in toilet
A Florida man found a 2m python rearing its diamond-shaped head out of his toilet bowl, the St Petersburg Times reported on Thursday. Shannon Scavotto immediately grabbed his camera phone, snapped a few shots and called for help. But the reptile expert from animal control was out of town and a snake rescue company wanted US$150, so the St Petersburg resident lassoed the African rock python out of the toilet himself, the daily said. He then called work to say he'd be late, but his boss found the story a little hard to swallow, until Scavotto showed up at his office with the snake.
■ Scotland
Man bites guide dog
A partially sighted man who allegedly bit his guide dog on the head and kicked it has been charged with animal cruelty, Scottish police said on Thursday. An eyewitness reported seeing the 34-year-old bite the Labrador and kick it repeatedly at a shopping mall in Edinburgh on Feb. 8, a spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Police said. Officers arrested the suspect on Feb. 10 and charged him with animal cruelty and a breach of the peace, the spokeswoman said. She refused to name the man and didn't give a date for a court appearance. Police took the 8-year-old dog into protective care and handed it to the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.
■ Russia
Policemen killed
Three pro-Russian policemen were killed in a clash with rebel guerrillas in southeast Chechnya, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported yesterday, quoting a police source. The source said the clash occurred on Thursday while police and the Chechen president's security guard "were conducting patrols in the Nozhay Yurt region." One policeman and two presidential guards were also wounded, the report said. "The site of the incident has been blocked off and the guerrilla losses are being estimated," the source added.
■ United Kingdom
Hairdressers quite content
When it comes to happiness at work, it would appear that hairdressers are a cut above the rest. Research published yesterday reveals that two in five hairdressers rated themselves as "extremely happy" and thriving on the creativity and contact with customers. The survey, commissioned by the UK qualifications authority City & Guilds, led to a contentment list based on satisfaction felt in various jobs. Hairdressers were found to be the most content, followed by the clergy, chefs, beauticians and plumbers. The unhappiest are listed as social workers, architects, civil servants, estate agents, secretaries and lawyers.
■ United Kingdom
Lockerbie bomber moved
The Libyan secret agent convicted of the Lockerbie bombing was moved 40km on Thursday from his specially constructed "Qadaffi's cafe" cell in Barlinnie prison, Glasgow, where he will be free to mix with other inmates. The move comes after the acquittal of his co-accused, Al-Amin Khalifah Fhimah, left him in effect in solitary confinement. A source in the Scottish Prison Service told the Guardian newspaper: "He has a 27-year sentence to serve, and we cannot reasonably look to keep him in isolation for that time." But Megrahi's solicitor, Eddie MacKechnie, said: "The concern of the Libyan government and my client is that his safety and security should be preserved."
■ United Kingdom
Dirty water killing thousands
Unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation kill 4,000 children every day, World Health Organization (WHO) experts said yesterday. They described the deaths as a "silent humanitarian crisis" and called for immediate action. Four out of 10 people around the globe do not have access to a simple pit latrine and one-fifth have no source of safe drinking water. "Far more people endure the largely preventable effects of poor sanitation and water supply than are affected by war, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction," Jamie Bartram said in an article in The Lancet medical journal. The researchers said eradicating extreme poverty and reducing child mortality would be difficult without solving the water problem.
■ Brazil
Murder suspect nabbed
Police caught a suspect on Thursday in the killing of an environmentalist Dionisio Ribeiro Filho in an Atlantic rain forest on Tuesday. Jose Reis de Medeiros Alves, 40, was found in a house in Nova Iguacu, a city near Rio de Janeiro, after police received an anonymous tip. Police said the suspect was wanted on a number of charges, including homicide. Police and friends say they believe people who opposed Ribeiro's environmental activism killed him.
■ United States
Man loses sperm-theft case
The Illinois Appellate Court said a man can press a claim for emotional distress after learning a former lover had used his sperm to have a baby. But he can't claim theft, the ruling said, because the sperm were hers to keep. Wednesday's ruling sends Richard Phillips' distress case back to trial court. Phillips accuses Sharon Irons of a "calculated, profound personal betrayal" after their affair six years ago, saying she secretly kept semen after they had oral sex, then used it to get pregnant. He said he didn't find out about the child for nearly two years, when Irons filed a paternity lawsuit. DNA tests confirmed Phillips was the father, the court papers state. Phillips sued Irons, claiming he has had trouble sleeping and eating and has been haunted by "feelings of being trapped in a nightmare."
■ Bosnia
Former general indicted
The UN war crimes court in The Hague has indicted former Bosnian Serb general Zdravko Tolimir for war crimes committed during the country's 1992 to 1995 war, along with two leading Serb generals involved in the 1995 Srebenica massacre, an official said on Thursday. "I have reliable information according to which [Zdravko] Tolimir's name is on the indictment [list]," Jovan Simic, an advisor to Serbia's President Boris Tadic said in Banja Luka. During the war Tolimir was deputy chief of Bosnian Serb military intelligence.
■ Canada
Bear numbers declining
A nine-year study at Banff National Park has found the area's grizzly bears have the lowest reproductive rate ever recorded in North America, scientists at the University of Calgary said. The study of 71 bears between 1994 and 2002 also found that humans were responsible for more than 75 percent of female bear deaths and 86 percent of male deaths in the period. ``Basically, we [need] to have 19 out of 20 adult female bears in their reproductive years to survive into the next year,'' said Stephen Herrero, co-author of the study. Female grizzlies do not reproduce until they are about eight-years old, and generally have litters of one or two cubs every four or five years.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
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
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in