■ Hong Kong
Universal suffrage ruled out
Chief Executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權) has promised increased democracy in the 2007-2008 elections, but has rejected moves for full universal suffrage, the Standard reported yesterday. Tsang said government reforms for the 2007 chief executive and 2008 legislative council elections would allow more people to take part, the daily reported. But he added: "I hope everybody faces the political reality that it is impossible to have universal suffrage in 2007-08 because Beijing has already ruled it out." He called on pro-democracy parties to soften their demands for universal suffrage, warning their opposition could derail the government proposals.
■ INDIA
Building collapse kills 11
A four-story residential building collapsed in Mumbai early yesterday, killing 11 people and leaving at least 25 trapped in the debris, police and hospital officials said. Fire and police teams rescued 47 people from the building, a police officer said. At least 31 people were injured in the collapse which took place shortly after 1am, a police officer said.
■ South Korea
Ex-spy chief questioned
Chun Yong-taek, who headed the National Intelligence Service (NIS) in 1999, was questioned yesterday about a wiretapping scandal that has lifted the curtain on corrupt ties between business and politicians, prosecutors said. According to the Yonhap news agency, Chun obtained audiotapes from illegal wiretapping. It is uncertain whether information relating to the wiretapping was reported to then-president Kim Dae-Jung, who has flatly denied having allowed illegal wiretapping while in office, Yonhap said.
■ Indonesia
Polio cases increasing
The number of people infected with polio rose to 225 after five more people in Java were reported infected, including one man in Jakarta, the the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday. More national immunization days are scheduled for Aug. 30 and Sept. 27, targeting 24.4 million children under the age of five throughout the country in a bid to curb the disease's spread.
■ China
No longer in the dog house
More than 50 people in Tangzhuang Township, Henan Province, have thrown their centuries-old surname to the dogs, hoping to free themselves of a stigma supposedly imposed on their clan by an ancient emperor, Xinhua news agency reported. The villagers have legally changed their surname from "Gou" (humble), which is pronounced the same as the word for "dog," back to their original family name "Jing" (respect), Xinhua said on its English Web site. "It was really embarrassing. My son couldn't even find a girlfriend because of his name," one resident was quoted as saying before the name change. The Gou families said Shi Jingtang, founder of the Jin Dynasty (936 to 947), ordered their ancestors to give up the surname Jing and adopt Gou.
■ The Philippines
`Cybersex' den raided
Police arrested a 39-year-old American man after raiding a "cybersex" den he was suspected of running near a former US airforce base north of Manila, officials said yesterday. Six women, including two minors, were working as "models" in the Angeles City Internet cafe run by James Paul Kelly, an official said.
■ Netherlands
Truck in chicken crash
A truck carrying 8,000 live chickens crashed into a motorway maintenance vehicle near the Dutch city of Utrecht early yesterday, causing motorway chaos for kilometers around, police reported. The trailer containing the chickens toppled, presenting firefighters with the chore of capturing the survivors and loading them onto another vehicle before the truck could be moved. The driver suffered light injuries after crashing into a mobile motorway barrier at around 2:30am.
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