■ Australia
Elderly drivers on the run
An elderly couple evaded police on a 2,253km journey by car and bus after setting off in protest when the wife was denied an extension of her driving license because of old age. Tom and Marian Foulkes, both in their 80s, drove from their Melbourne home in the southern state of Victoria to the north of New South Wales state and halfway back again, avoiding police searching for them. At one stage, the couple had their car keys confiscated by a police officer who thought they were disoriented, but they hit the road again, this time in a bus. Their two weeks on the run ended Wednesday when they were found holed up in a hotel in the capital Canberra.
■ Malaysia
`Charming' maid sacked
A family was horrified to discover their maid had spiked their drinking water with soiled diapers and sanitary pads as a magic charm to ensure they were nice to her, reports said yesterday. The 26-year-old Indonesian maid was caught soaking the items which she retrieved from the rubbish bin and pouring the dirty water into a flask, on a spy camera that the suspicious family set up at their home in Kuala Lumpur. The maid, who was instantly dismissed after the incident was discovered late last month, claimed she resorted to making the charm because she was fed up with being scolded by her employers, the Chinese press reported.
■ Bangladesh
Brothers hanged for murders
Two brothers were hanged early yesterday in a prison in western Bangladesh for murdering three neighbors over a land dispute 12 years ago, a prison official said. The simultaneous executions of Monwar Hossain, 46, and Sanwar Hossain, 42, were carried out one minute past midnight at a jail in the town of Jessore, 136km west of Dhaka, prison superintendent Azizul Haq said. Their father, Abdul Aziz died in Dhaka Central Jail early this year while serving life term in the same case, Haq said. The brothers chanted from the Koran as they walked together to the gallows. Their bodies were handed over to their relatives, Haq said. A trial court ordered death penalties to the two brothers along with their father in 1997, four years after stabbing three neighbors to death.
■ Australia
Juvenile car thief nabbed
Perth police who chased a suspected stolen car through the streets of the city were stunned to find a 12-year-old boy at the wheel and a 10-year-old friend by his side. The two youngsters allegedly stole the car from a shopping center parking lot around 9pm and then led police on a five-minute pursuit that ended when the car blew a tire, police said. The 12-year-old was arrested and charged with theft and a number of driving offenses and was due to appear in Perth Children's court later yesterday.
■ Congo
Gold may drive atrocities
The lure of gold has fuelled atrocities in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, with international companies and warlords benefiting while local people suffer slaughter, torture and rape, Human Rights Watch says. Their new report says local armed groups have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, using the profits from gold to fund their activities and buy weapons. The group cites AngloGold Ashanti, who developed links with the Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI). Gold from the Democratic Republic of Congo is being sent to Uganda, then shipped to global gold markets. The report also says that AngloGold Ashanti provided "meaningful financial and logistical support," which led to political benefits for the FNI, a group responsible for some of the worst atrocities.
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