■ Hong Kong
Scouts offer IPR badge
Boy scouts typically prove their mettle with fishing and camping skills, but now they can win laurels by showing their awareness of copyright laws. The Hong Kong government has launched the "IPR [Intellectual Property Rights] Scout Badge" to promote respect of intellectual property among youngsters. Scouts qualify for the badge by attending seminars and other activities on the topic, the government said in a statement. "It is a long-term process which involves continuous training of scout members throughout their formative years," said Stephen Selby, director of the government's intellectual property department.
■ Thailand
Briton's body thought found
Thai police believe they have found the remains of a British national who disappeared at a beach resort two months ago and have detained his estranged Thai wife and two of her relatives on suspicion of murdering the man, police said yesterday. The British Embassy had urged police to search for Toby Leicester Charnaud, 41, who has been missing since early March from his residence in the resort town of Hua Hin, 230km south of Bangkok, said Police Colonel Amnuay Warayavisut. "We have found the burned remains and ashes on a plot of land that belongs to his ex-wife and we're detaining her and her relatives for questioning," Amnuay said.
■ Australia
Man killed over phone sex
A woman pleaded guilty in court yesterday to killing her boyfriend because he called a phone-sex hotline. Prosecutors told the Queensland Supreme Court that in October 2003, Amanda Jane Griffin woke at 2am to find her partner Michael Campbell on the phone. The court heard Campbell, 27, told Griffin he was speaking to a friend but she hit the redial button and was connected to a sex hotline. Shortly after, neighbors heard Campbell yelling "no Mandy" followed by a crashing sound. An ambulance called to the scene found Campbell with two stab wounds to the chest from a kitchen knife. Griffin pleaded guilty to manslaughter after the prosecution agreed to drop a murder charge due to lack of intent.
■ Philippines
Journalist shot, wounded
Gunmen shot and seriously wounded a radio journalist in the southern Philippines, police said Wednesday. Cline Cantoneros of DXAA radio was attacked by motorcycle-riding gunmen who pumped five bullets into his body in the town of Dipolog shortly after midnight Tuesday, regional police chief Vidal Querol said. Cantoneros was taken to hospital with serious wounds, Querol told reporters. It was not known if the attack was politically motivated. Three Filipino journalists have been murdered this year.
■ Thailand
Elephant beheads villager
Rescue teams yesterday retrieved the body of a villager decapitated by a wild elephant in western Thailand, police said. Prataun Rongpheng, 59, and his nephew were in the jungle of Kanchanaburi Province gathering wood on Tuesday when the elephant attacked them, severing Prataun's head and crushing his body, police lieutenant Yuthana Soiyara said. The nephew escaped unharmed. The Forestry Department estimates that of Thailand's once vast herds, only about 3,000 wild elephants survive. Deforestation has forced many to move into surrounding farming communities in search of food but attacks by the animals against humans are rare.
■ Switzerland
Nuclear scientist arrested
Former Russian nuclear energy minister Yevgeny Adamov was arrested at the request of US officials who have demanded his extradition, a Swiss official said yesterday. Adamov, a nuclear physicist, was arrested in Bern during a visit on Monday, said Folco Galli, spokesman for the Justice Ministry. He confirmed Adamov was wanted by US authorities for several accounts of fraud and money-laundering. Galli said Adamov is accused of diverting up to US$9 million that the US Energy Department provided Russia to improve security at its nuclear facilities.
■ Denmark
Graffiti alerts Web pirates
The sprayed letters "NW" that have begun appearing on buildings in the Danish capital are no ordinary graffiti tag, the Politiken newspaper reported on Tuesday. The tag signals that there is free access to a wireless Internet connection at the location -- an invitation to any owner of a laptop computer with a wireless facility. The phenomenon is known as "warchalking," and "NW" is short for networking. "The people who make these tags usually have ideological reasons. They want to make the Internet accesible to as many people as possible," Soren Thomasen of the IT unit of the national police told Politiken.
■ United States
Support for Iraq war drops
Support for the Iraq war among Americans has dropped 41 percent, the lowest level since the US-led invasion toppled the Saddam Hussein dictatorship, according to a USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll published yesterday. Fifty-seven percent of the 514 people surveyed Friday through Sunday thought the Iraq war was not worth the fight, against only 41 percent who said it was. In a poll taken between Feb. 7 and Feb. 10, after the Iraqi elections, 48 percent said the war had been worth waging, against 50 who thought not. Support for the US-led war peaked at 76 percent right after it was launched in March 2003, the poll takers said.
■ Canada
Powder sickens 20 at airport
A mysterious white powder emanating from a package from Bangladesh made 20 people feel sick and sent four to the hospital late on Tuesday at Montreal's international airport, according to media reports. One of the injured people was taken away unconscious, radio and television reports said. A white powder apparently emanating from a package that arrived from Bangladesh on a British Airways flight caused people in the surrounding area to feel sick, Radio-Canada said on its Web site. The active substance in the white powder has yet to be determined.
■ United States
Bawdy cheerleading a no-no
After an alternately comic and fiery debate -- punctuated by several lawmakers waving pompons -- the Texas state House approved a bill to restrict "overtly sexually suggestive" cheerleading to more ladylike performances. The bill approved on Tuesday would give the state education commissioner authority to request that school districts review high school performances. "Girls can get out and do all of these overly sexually performances and we applaud them and that's not right," said Democratic Representative Al Edwards, who filed the legislation. Edwards said bawdy performances are a distraction for students resulting in pregnancies, dropouts and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
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
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was