■ South Korea
New finance minister named
A veteran trade expert was named finance minister yesterday with the brief of ensuring policy remained geared towards nurturing a recovery in domestic demand in Asia's third-largest economy. Han Duck-soo, a 55-year-old Harvard graduate with fluent English, said there would be no drastic policy changes, Yonhap news agency reported. "I believe I was appointed to keep and successfully realize the policy that former deputy prime minister Lee Hun-jai has established with effort," it quoted him as saying after his appointment by President Roh Moo-hyun. The job comes with the post of deputy prime minister. Lee resigned a week ago after media reports that he and his wife had earned millions of dollars from land deals. Lee has denied any wrongdoing.
■ Sri Lanka
Thousands protest over aid
A strike gripped Trincomalee yesterday as thousands of residents protested the slow distribution of tsunami relief aid, police said. The multi-ethnic coastal town was at a virtual standstill with transport brought to a halt by protesters blocking the main entry points, a police official in the area said by telephone. The protesters are demanding speedy government aid for the thousands of residents who survived the Dec. 26 tsunamis that killed nearly 31,000 people and left a million homeless. The police official said the main protest was called by the minority Tamil community while the second largest minority, the Muslims, were staging a strike in nearby Kinniya, while Sinhalese also staged a smaller demonstration.
■ Australia
Dog stays loyal to death
An elderly man will be buried with his loyal dog after the animal spent almost a week guarding the deceased's body and appeared too miserable to live after being removed from his master. The RSPCA in Queensland state said that Jess, a cattle dog cross estimated to be about 12 years old, would be put to sleep and later cremated and buried with his owner. The dog was found lying across the body of his 74-year-old owner who died in his Brisbane home. The animal protection society was called in when the dog attempted to shield the dead man from ambulance officers who had come to take the body away.
■ Australia
Dolphins get new protection
Alarmed by reports of humans "chasing" dolphins, authorities have closed an anomaly and given dolphins the same protection from pesky swimmers that is already accorded to whales. The New South Wales government has ruled that swimmers should stay at least 30m from dolphins, porpoise and dugongs -- just as they are required to with whales. Boats will have to keep 30m away from dolphins, but 100m from whales. The changes are a response to concerns that there is too great a temptation for cruise boat operators to encourage interaction with dolphins.
■ Vietnam
Man fined for prank calls
A young man, excited by owning his first mobile phone, has been fined for making more than 200 prank calls to a fire department in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, police said yesterday. Tran Minh Hai, a 24-year-old street candy vender, was seized and fined US$250 on Friday. Hai said he made the calls just for fun because it was the first time he had owned a hand phone, the police said. "He drove our firemen crazy as they sent personnel and equipment to the places and then realized there was no fire at all," the police said.
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