■ Japan
Anti-crime clown arrested
A man who dressed as a clown and handed out stickers in a high-profile anti-crime campaign has been arrested for allegedly molesting elementary-school girls, police said yesterday. "A 59-year-old man was arrested ... on suspicion of enticing two girls to come to his home and committing obscene acts with them," a police spokesman in Osaka said, without identifying the suspect. News reports said he was Hiromi Yamamoto, who had become a television celebrity for his "Stop the Evil" campaign in his Osaka neighborhood. He allegedly snared little girls by giving them free stickers or bells, the reports said.
■ Hong Kong
Salon leaves dog bald
A pampered pet Shih Tzu dog was left bald after a Hong Kong salon accidentally shaved him when he was taken in for a grooming, a news report said yesterday. The two-year-old lapdog called Dou Dou is now so embarrassed by his appearance he can no longer bear to look at itself in the mirror, according to its owner. Owner Bonnie Louie told the South China Morning Post her pet dog was "very self-conscious" as a result of the shave.
■ Hong Kong
Triad crackdown continues
Hong Kong police staged a fourth night of raids on suspected organized triad gangsters, despite a report that gang leaders had apologized for a recent wave of violence. Police have arrested 60 people for various crimes including obstructing police, drug possession and claiming to be triad members. The crackdown follows months of escalating violence in Kowloon district and suburban New Territories. Two leaders of one of the city's biggest gangs, the 14K, had apologized to police for the trouble and promised to punish the troublemakers in a bid to end the raids. A police source said the force is intent on wiping out the triads' "family tree," a reference to the gangs' family-based hierarchies.
■ Thailand
Policeman denies killings
A police sergeant accused of murdering two young British backpackers last year pleaded his innocence and said, in remarks published yesterday, that the killings were actually done by his informant. "It wasn't me, it was my informant," Somchai Visetsing, 40, told the court, the Nation newspaper reported. Somchai is standing trial for the Sept. 10 shooting murders of Adam Lloyd, 25, and Vanessa Arscott, 23, near the bridge on the River Kwai in western Kanchanburi province. Thai police have said Somchai confessed to the shootings, but blamed Lloyd for starting a row. Somchai testified Wednesday that although he did not own a gun and had to borrow one from his colleagues, his informant had a revolver, the Nation reported.
■ Vietnam
Human trafficking tackled
Police and governments of six Asian countries agreed yesterday to collaborate to end human trafficking from the Mekong region, where criminals mostly target women and children. "The Mekong region is a hotspot of human trafficking in the world," Jordan Ryan, the UN Development Program representative to Vietnam, told a news conference. Officials from Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam said they would collaborate "on the investigation and prosecution of traffickers, and on supportive systems of repatriation and assistance to help trafficked victims return home."
■ United Kingdom
Hey presto! No rabbit
A thief stole a British magician's black top hat and white rabbit in the middle of one of his performances and then staged a disappearing act, police said on Wednesday. The Great Velcro -- whose Web site boasts "Have Rabbit will travel" -- was half an hour into his show at the Komedia club in Brighton on England's south coast when a man who had been heckling him got on to the stage. He swiped the magician's hat which had his rabbit Georgina inside and fled. "At first people thought it was part of the act," a police spokeswoman said. The audience chased after the man when they realized he was stealing the props, but the thief disappeared.
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