■ Indonesia
Suharto very ill
Former dictator Suharto is suffering from internal bleeding that is potentially life-threatening, doctors said yesterday. "The bleeding is influencing other organs such as the brain, heart and kidneys," said the head of the team treating Suharto at Jakarta's Pertamina Hospital. "The possibility for recovery is 50-50," the doctor said. The 83-year old Suharto was hospitalized last Thursday after blood tests showed he was anemic.
■ South Korea
Human error cause of crash
Mistakes by poorly trained flight crew caused the crash of an Air China International passenger jet resulted in the death of 129 people on board, the Korea Aviation-Accident Investigation Board has ruled. Wrapping up a three-year-long investigation, the board said the crew had failed to pull up and turn the plane again when they missed a right approach to Gimhae International Airport on April 15, 2002. The plane continued flying low under driving rains before smashing into a small hill near the airport, the board said.
■ China
Baby-seller gets 10 years
A father who sold his newborn son to raise money to buy lottery tickets was sentenced to 10 years in prison, the Beijing Daily Messenger reported yesterday. The 35-year old man, identified only by the family name Zhang, sold his baby boy for 9,000 yuan (US$1,000) because "he had dreams of becoming rich overnight," the paper said. The Fugou County Court in Henan Province sentenced him to 10 years in jail and fined him 5,000 yuan (US$600), the paper said.
■ Australia
Pizzas end prison siege
A prison siege ended yesterday after a group of inmates agreed to release a guard they had held for two days in return for a delivery of pizzas, prison officials said. A group of up to 20 inmates seized control of the reception area of the maximum security Risdon Prison in Hobart,Tasmania, on Saturday, demanding better treatment and improvements to the jail. "Our staff member was negotiated out with the delivery of 15 pizzas," Tasmania's director of prisons told reporters.
■ Bangladesh
Factory owners refused bail
A court yesterday refused bail for the owner and an official of a garment factory building that collapsed and killed 74 people and jailed them pending trial when they emerged from hiding, officials said. Shahriar Sayeed Hossain and Abul Hashem Fakir, a director of Shahriar Fabrics, were in hiding since a nine-storey building in Palashbari, 30km from Dhaka, collapsed on April 11 with hundreds of people inside during a busy night shift. Government engineers and investigators have blamed shoddy construction for the country's worst industrial disaster.
■ Hong Kong
Bun-snatching rules changed
A traditional Chinese bun-snatching event may become an all-year sport. Until the late 1970s, people scaled a tower covered with steamed buns once a year as part of the traditional "bun festival" on Cheung Chau Island. The top bun was believed to bring good luck. But the event was canceled after a tower collapsed in 1978, injuring 100 people. The tradition was relaunched this year using a more stable tower and subject to new rules and safety measures. Higher-level buns are worth more points and the competitor with the most points wins.
■ United Kingdom
Public servants too `sick'
British public sector workers take far too many sick days, costing the country billions, the country's main business lobby said yesterday. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said public sector workers took an average of 9.1 days of sick leave per year, compared to 6.4 days in the private sector. It estimated the cost of public sector sick leave at ?4.1 billion (US$7.78 billion), or the same amount as the government raised by hiking National Insurance contributions in 2002. "These findings will make worrying reading for the newly elected government," CBI head Sir Digby Jones said in a statement.
■ United States
Exercise slows Alzheimer's
Exercise could slow down the development of Alzheimer's disease and increase learning abilities by reducing a plaque-forming protein in the brain linked to the degenerative disease, according to a new study from the University of California. A number of human-based studies have already shown that "lifestyle interventions" such as physical and mental stimulation can delay the onset and progression of the devastating disease. The new study used mice to show that "one simple behavioral intervention -- exercise -- could delay or even prevent" Alzheimer-like pathology by decreasing the levels of beta-amyloid proteins in the brain, according to the write-up in the US Journal of Neuroscience.
■ United Kingdom
Singles spending more
Love doesn't come cheap in Britain where the typical date costs ?200 (US$375), according to a survey of some of the nation's 8.6 million "singletons." On average, the single British man or woman goes out on a date five times a year, with the Welsh the keenest date hunters, spending more on looking for that someone special in bars and clubs. London is the lonely hearts capital with 33 percent more single people than other parts of Britain, even though the cost of a date there is almost 50 percent more expensive. YouGov, an opinion polling institute, questioned 2,473 people on their dating habits for Maestro, a debit card operator. The survey revealed that 60 percent of men still feel compelled to appear chivalrous and pay for dinner.
■ France
Raffarin well after surgery
Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin is well after undergoing surgery on his gall bladder and is eager to return to work, Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said yesterday. "Jean-Pierre Raffarin is well," Barnier told France's RTL radio. Raffarin, 56, had gallstones removed on Saturday after his gall bladder became acutely inflamed. "He will rest a few days," Barnier added. "He is impatient to resume his work. He is impatient to leave hospital."
■ United States
Hung jury for shooter
A judge declared a hung jury in the case of a man who admitted to a string of highway shootings -- one of which killed a woman -- but claimed innocence by reason of insanity. The mistrial came Sunday after four full days of deliberations in the trial of Charles McCoy Jr, charged with 12 shootings that terrified Columbus-area commuters over five months in 2003 and 2004. Earlier in the day, jurors told Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Charles Schneider they voted twice on the issue of insanity and could not reach a unanimous decision.
■ Ecuador
Ex-president arrested
Former president Gustavo Noboa was placed under house arrest Sunday on charges of corruption and mishandling of funds. The public prosecutor's office accused Noboa of embezzling US$7 million during debt negotiations while he was in office, 2000-2003. Noboa returned to Ecuador at the beginning of April from exile after the Supreme Court annulled charges against him. However, the court was dissolved shortly thereafter by then president Lucio Gutierrez. Just days later under new President Alfredo Palacio the public prosecutor's office reinstated the criminal charges. Defenders of Noboa said the charges against him are unconstitutional, as former presidents can only stand before the Supreme Court, which hasn't been reappointed since Gutierrez dismissed it in April.
■ France
Journalist still held hostage
The government continues to work in "extremely difficult conditions" to free journalist Florence Aubenas and her translator, held hostage in Iraq for 124 days. Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said yesterday, "Each day, we work, we think of them, we work with our [intelligence] services in extremely difficult conditions." France has had no solid proof that Aubenas or her translator and guide remain alive since a video made available March 1 showing her pleading for help. Aubenas, a veteran reporter for the daily Liberation, was taken hostage Jan. 5 with her Iraqi guide, Hussein Hanoun while leaving her Baghdad hotel.
■ France
Surgeons threaten exile
Hundreds of French surgeons are threatening to leave for four days of symbolic exile in Britain to protest against falling income and soaring insurance rates. The group Surgeons of France called off a similar action in August after reaching a compensation package with the government, but now claims its terms have not been implemented. Up to a thousand surgeons are due to take a Eurostar train from Paris today and spend the rest of the week at the southern English resort of Camber Sands. Surgeons of France says that fees have remained static for 15 years while insurance payments have gone up tenfold because of malpractice suits.
■ Israel
Troops fire into Lebanon
Israeli troops accidentally fired an artillery shell into Lebanese territory yesterday during an attempt to blow up mines planted by Hezbollah guerrillas near an army border post. The incident caused no casualties or damage. The mines were laid two weeks ago and given the danger of sending sappers out to the exposed border area, soldiers had been trying to neutralize the explosives by firing shells at them. Several rounds were fired yesterday.
■ United Kingdom
Reward offered in stabbing
British police offered a ?10,000 reward for help in catching the killers of a teenage girl stabbed to death in a park in Reading, as they hunted up to six men yesterday in connection with her murder. Mary-Ann Leneghan, 16, was found dead early Saturday morning after suffering a stab wound to the neck. An 18-year-old girl was also seriously injured and is still in hospital with a gunshot wound. Police said the two girls were seen in a maroon or burgundy car with loud music coming from it and around six men inside before the attack. The unnamed 18-year-old raised the alarm just after 5am on Saturday and Leneghan's body was found shortly afterwards.
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
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