■ New Zealand
Man breaks back undressing
A New Zealand hunter lay crippled in a forest hut for six days after breaking his back and shoulder while pulling his coat off, a newspaper reported yesterday. Brian Maude, 47, of Auckland, could not explain the bizarre accident but suspected he had aggravated an old injury, the Dominion Post reported. The accident happened soon after a helicopter dropped him and three friends in the Kaimanawa Range in the central North Island for a week's hunting. Unable to call for help, he had to lie on a hut bed gulping painkillers until the helicopter returned on schedule to pick them up six days later. The fractures were confirmed by X-rays in hospital, the paper said.
■ Hong Kong
Millions sought for dead dog
A couple is seeking US$2.5 million in damages after their pedigree pet was savaged by their neighbors' two mongrels, a newspaper report said yesterday. The couple claims they suffered post traumatic stress disorder after their beloved shih-tzu was attacked and killed by the two dogs almost five years ago. A report in the South China Morning Post said the dog, one of two shih-tzus owned by the couple, was dragged to its death after it broke free of its leash and ran towards the neighbors' house while being walked by the woman. The dog was rescued by another neighbor who beat the mongrels off with a spade, but it died shortly afterwards.
■ China
Foreigners obtain residency
Shanghai issued permanent residency permits to 18 foreigners yesterday, part of steps China's commercial hub is taking to deepen its integration with the world economy. "This is a major step for China's reform and opening and economic development, synchronizing with international practice," Shanghai Police Chief Wu Zhiming said at a ceremony. One of the recipients, Portman Ritz Carlton Shanghai vice president Mark DeCocinis, said the permits were an important recognition of foreigners' contributions. The residency permits allow recipients to live and work in China for 10 years without a visa. Those who received them yesterday came from the US, Thailand, Britain, Germany, Canada, Singapore and France.
■ China
Shanghai charmed by pigs
These pigs run, jump, and swim -- almost anything but fly. Thousands of Shanghai residents have turned out to a city park to watch a herd of pigs compete in what organizers are calling the "Pig Olympics," the Shanghai Daily reported yesterday. They run over hurdles, jump through hoops, dive and swim in shows twice a day. The pigs, a midget species from Thailand, begin training soon after birth and can begin performing professionally from about one year of age, Yang Ying, a manager with promoters Bluesea Broadway Co Ltd, was quoted as saying.
■ China
Zoo tiger kills boy
An eight-year-old boy was mauled to death by a tiger at a zoo in central China after scaling a fence to get a better view, state media reported yesterday. Mei Changhua had climbed over a 1m-high barrier at the zoo in Changde, Hunan Province, on Sunday and was attacked by the tiger through the bars of its cage, the Xiaoxiang Morning Post said. His death sparked criticism both of the zoo for failing to protect visitors and of the boy's father who remained outside the zoo gates to avoid buying an admission ticket. The father only arrived on the scene after his 10-year-old nephew came to get him, following the tiger's attack on his son.
■ Hungary
Malls for prostitutes mulled
The Interior Ministry looks set to allow prostitutes to tout for business in shopping malls, newspapers reported yesterday. The ministry is thinking of allowing special shopping centers where prostitutes could strike deals for sex as long as they move to a place of their own to carry out the transaction, the daily Nepszabadsag said. "There is nothing intrinsically wrong legally with an entertainment center without gratification," the daily quoted from a letter the ministry sent to the businessman who proposed to set up an "all-in-one" sex plaza. Hungary allows local governments to set so-called "zones of patience" for the country's up to 20,000 prostitutes, but no municipality has done so yet.
■ Germany
Toy gun halts train
A man armed with a toy gun forced an emergency stop on a high-speed train between Berlin and Hamburg, police said on Monday. The 28-year-old pulled the "pistol" from his pocket when asked for his ticket on Sunday but calmly put it back when he realized what he had in his hand. The rail employee then alerted the police, who stopped the train for 20 minutes before determining that the gun was made of plastic, said a police officer in Buechen. The train then continued on to Hamburg, where the "gunman" was appearing in a play.
■ United Kingdom
Toddler killer gets life
A British woman who murdered her neighbor's two-year old son by battering his head against a banister was sentenced to life in prison on Monday. Suzanne Holdsworth, 34, had denied killing Kyle Fisher at her home in Hartlepool last July, claiming the boy had suffered a fit but the jury did not believe her. Holdsworth had been looking after Kyle while his mother went for a night out. Expert witnesses had told Teesside Crown Court the boy's injuries had been so severe as to be similar to damage that might be inflicted from a high speed car crash. "There have been many victims in this case -- Kyle, his family who will not see him grow up and the children of his killer," said a spokesman for the police who investigated the murder.
■ United States
Immigrant sentenced to jail
A federal judge in California on Monday sentenced a Chinese immigrant to two-and-a-half years in jail plotting to illegally ship missile and fighter jet parts to China. Liang Xiuwen, 34, pleaded guilty in 2003 to conspiring to export defense items and attempted unlawful export. Her husband, Zhuang Jinghua, 35, pleaded guilty to the same charges and is serving his two-and-a-half year sentence imposed in December 2003. The couple are among four people who two years ago denied charges of exporting or plotting to illegally ship missile and fighter jet parts to China. The four and their firms were accused of illegally shipping parts of sensitive weapons, including for surface-to-air missiles and fighter aircraft.
■ Germany
Animal assaulter nabbed
Police said on Monday that they had captured a man behind a rash of brutal sexual assaults on horses, donkeys and sheep. The 47-year-old with a history of mental illness admitted 12 attacks on animals since the middle of last year and is suspected of another 10 cases, some of which were fatal, police said. Authorities received a tip from staff at a correctional facility where the man was serving a sentence for robbery on a day-release program. The man is now in custody.
‘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