■ Singapore
Credit card thief sentenced
A man armed with a pair of chopsticks who plucked credit cards out of Singapore mailboxes over an 18-month theft spree was sentenced to six months in jail. Loo Chee Hoong, 31, managed to accumulate 20 cards, using them to rack up purchases totalling US$40,198, such as Acer laptops and designer clothing. When Loo initially ran into financial difficulties, he broke into the room of a flatmate at their apartment and stole a checkbook, which he used to write checks to himself. To cover his tracks, he used chopsticks to intercept any letters sent by the bank to his flatmate. He threw each card away when he reached the limit.
■ India
Taxman has a new racket
Tax authorities in southern India have found a new way to handle tax evaders: sending teams of traditional drummers to noisily pound away outside their homes or shops until they pay up. Tax officials in Andhra Pradesh state's Rajahmundry city said they had recovered three-fourths of the 50 million rupees (US$1.2 million) owed by people there after sending drummers to the doors of tax cheats. The sense of shame evoked by the racket was enough to make most people come out and pay, said T.S.R. Anjenayalu, a Rajahmundry official. This year's tax collection in Rajahmundry has hit an all-time high, with nearly 95 percent collected, he said.
■ Australia
Man cleared after 45 years
A deaf mute Australian man had his murder conviction quashed after almost 45 years yesterday after a court accepted a gallows confession made by a serial killer but ignored for decades. The Western Australia state Supreme Court upheld Darryl Beamish's appeal against his 1961 conviction for killing heiress Jillian Brewer, instead finding that serial killer Eric Cooke was the murderer. It is the second murder conviction overturned on the basis of gallows confessions by Cooke, who was hanged in 1964 for killing six people. The posthumous findings now bring his number of victims to eight.
■ China
Depressed go undiagnosed
An estimated 100 million people, or 8 percent of the population, suffer from depression and most of them have received no treatment, state media reported yesterday. One-fifth of the population have shown some signs of the condition, said a psychiatry researcher at the Chinese Academy of Science psychiatric research institute. Despite the high number of cases, 85 percent of those diagnosed have not received adequate treatment, he said. Experts say depression is one of China's most serious health threats, with a lack of public awareness and few services available to people who need treatment.
■ West Bank
Chief quits, gunmen hired
The Palestinian chief of intelligence in the West Bank Tawfiq Tirawi quit his post following armed disturbances in Ramallah. Meanwhile, gunmen in the Ramallah area and other West Bank cities will be incorporated into the Palestinian security forces as a way out for their crisis. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held two urgent meetings to put an end to the lawlessness caused by gunmen, members of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, who have been using the presidential headquarters, the muqata, as their hideout. Tirawi reportedly submitted his resignation after his organization was held responsible for the lawlessness and failure to put an end to it.
■ Albania
Plane wreckage recovered
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