■ United States
Human smuggler busted
A Canadian citizen faces up to 10 years in prison and US$250,000 in fines after pleading guilty to attempting to smuggle 13 South Korean women and one man across the Canadian border into northern Idaho. Authorities say Sang Yoon "Steven" Kim, 29, a resident of Surrey, British Columbia of Korean descent, was part of a prostitution smuggling ring. He was arrested shortly after midnight on April 3 when US Border Patrol agents, acting on a tip, stopped a recreational vehicle he was driving and discovered the illegal immigrants lying on the floor and beds of the motorhome.
■ Russia
Chechen rebels killed
Russian forces killed 40 suspected rebels and detained another 10 in Chechnya over the past five days, a spokesman said yesterday, according to the Interfax news agency. Major General Ilya Shabalkin, the spokesman for the federal forces in the North Caucasus region, said some of the militants had been killed by artillery fire in high mountain regions. Eight militants were killed on Monday in what Russian forces said was a foiled attempt to raid the hometown of the region's prime minister and his deputy. Shabalkin said Russian forces had also discovered three arms caches containing radio equipment, guns and ammunition, and components for explosives.
■ United States
Rice backs gun rights
Recalling how her father took up arms to defend fellow blacks from southern racists during segregation, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the constitutional right to own guns is as important as the right to free speech and religion. In an interview on Wednesday on CNN's Larry King Live, Rice said she came to that view from personal experience. She said her father, a black minister, and his friends armed themselves to defend the black community in Birmingham, Alabama, against the White Knight Riders in 1962 and 1963. She said if local authorities had had lists of registered weapons, she did not think her father and other blacks would have been able to defend themselves.
■ United States
Jesus used as a dieting tool
What would Jesus eat? is the title of one of a growing number of Christian diet plans crowding the lifestyle shelves of bookshops. Other bestsellers include The Maker's Diet, The Hallelujah Diet and Body by God. For the persistently overweight, they hold the promise of spiritual and bodily redemption. Don Colbert, a Florida doctor and author of What Would Jesus Eat? portrays his book as a way of putting some backbone into weak-willed believers. "They're letting the flesh rule them and they're eating anything they want," Colbert said. "We're making them accountable. Many people will not eat the right kinds of food unless they're held accountable and before they put something in their mouths ask: `Would Jesus eat this?'" Colbert said Jesus ate "whole grains, fresh fruits, seeds and nuts, rather than processed food." His book has recipes for Middle Eastern dishes such as hummus, made from ground chickpeas.
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