■ China
Child-trafficker gets death
A court has sentenced a man to death for running a child trafficking ring that sold 44 children to Singapore over a five-year period. Ke Pangjie was sentenced in Quanzhou, with partners Wu Wenbin and Sheng Zhenzhong getting life imprisonment and 15 years in jail respectively. The court said the severity of the verdict reflected the large number of children sold beginning in 1998, with no hope of winning their return. In 1998 Ke met He Yidi, a person running an adoption agency in Singapore. While He and an accomplice set about identifying Singapore families that wanted to adopt a child, Ke searched for children in Fujian's Quanzhou, Yongchun and Anxi cities. The children were bought from willing parents for between 5,000 to 10,000 yuan (US$600 to US$1,200) and were then shipped to Singapore, where they were sold for at least 8,000 Singapore dollars (US$4,800).
■ China
Anthrax outbreak eases
China has brought under control an outbreak of anthrax that killed one person and infected 11 others in the northeastern province of Liaoning, state media reported yesterday. The outbreak was discovered on July 29 in farms in two villages in the Damintun area of Shenyang city, the Liaoning health department said. But by late Sunday, no new cases had been reported for seven consecutive days, prompting Sun Baijun, deputy director of the Disease Control Center of Shenyang, to declare it was controlled, Xinhua news agency reported. "Local people's life is back to normal," said Sun. The 11 suffering anthrax after coming into contact with infected cows remained in quarantine although they were recovering, he added.
■ Hong Kong
Disney train a smash hit
A train taking passengers to Hong Kong's new Disney theme park has attracted 38,000 visitors in one day more than a month before the attraction opens, a news report said yesterday. Huge crowds of day trippers poured onto the trains, which carry special Mickey Mouse ears, for the three-minute journey across Lantau Island to the theme park, which opens on Sept. 12. On Sunday, a combination of the curious and people wanting to see a fireworks display rehearsal flooded the US$250 million line from daylight until dusk, the South China Morning Post reported.
■ Australia
Kylie's cancer spurs women
Media coverage of pop diva Kylie Minogue's battle with breast cancer prompted an unprecedented rise in the number of Australian women seeking early screening for the disease, the author of a medical study said yesterday. The 37-year-old superstar canceled her Australian tour in May after she was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery to remove a lump from her breast. A study published in the most recent edition of the Medical Journal of Australia examined the number of mammogram bookings made by women over 40 at four government-run clinics that provide free screening. It found that the number of reservations for breast exams rose by an average 40 percent in the two weeks after Minogue's diagnosis was made public.
■ Thailand
Noodle attack delays flight
A disgruntled passenger, miffed at an AirAsia hostess for telling her to switch off her mobile phone, chucked a bowl of hot noodles in the stewardess' face, delaying the no-frills airline's return flight by three hours. Chirayu Hoontrakul, 35, a car rental agent, was chatting on her phone to a potential customer on Sunday afternoon during the takeoff of flight FD3015 from Bangkok to Phuket, prompting stewardess Monthicha Kuawong, 30, to tell her to turn the device off for safety reasons, the Daily News reported. Chirayu ordered noodles from Monthicha 15 minutes after takeoff, then threw the meal in the hostess' face and pummelled her twice on the neck.
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