■ Korea
Anti-cancer breakthrough
A team of South Korean scientists said yesterday that they had succeeded in cloning genetically altered piglets that will produce a protein helpful in fighting cancer. Professor Park Chang-Sik at Chungnam National University said his team had created four female piglets that will produce milk containing GM-CSF, a kind of protein that stimulates production of white blood cells prescribed for sufferers of leukemia and anemia or patients who have low white blood cell counts during cancer treatment. But it is prohibitively expensive, fetching US$600,000 per gram because production is limited.
■ Brunei
Sultan takes second wife
Brunei's wealthy ruler Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has confirmed that he has taken a second wife, a former Malaysian television journalist, more than two years after divorcing an ex-flight attendant. In a royal household statement published by local media yesterday in this oil-rich Southeast Asian sultanate, the 58-year-old Hassanal announced that he married Azrinaz Mazhar Hakim, 26, last Saturday in Kuala Lumpur.
■ Hong Kong
Drivers give ultimatum
Drivers of Hong Kong's ubiquitous red and white minibuses have threatened to cause traffic chaos when the Disneyland theme park opens on September 12 unless they are allowed to operate at the park, a media report said yesterday. So far transport department officials have only granted licenses to buses, taxis and the Mass Transport Railway Corporation, prompting claims by minibus drivers that they are being discriminated against.
■ China
Polygamist sentenced
A Communist Party propaganda head in south China's Guangdong province has been sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted of having three wives at the same time, state press said yesterday. Huang Dong, 54, was sentenced by the Zhaoqing city intermediate court after the former head of the Huaiji county party propaganda bureau was found to have sired five children in his three marriages, the Southern Metropolitan Daily reported. The official, who also headed the Zhaoqing Agricultural Institute, entered all three using different names, it said. His wives lived in different parts of the province. Huang was further convicted for extorting 1.4 million yuan (US$173,000 dollars) while possessing an additional 5.7 million yuan in funds that were of unknown origin, the paper said. He is appealing the verdict.
■ China
Zoo looks for crocs
A Chinese zoo has set up a telephone hotline in a desperate bid to trace 13 rare crocodiles that escaped during floods two weeks ago and are threatened by the coming autumn chill, state media reported yesterday. The Benxi Shuidong Crocodile Park in northeastern Liaoning province is worried the Siamese crocodiles, which come from tropical and sub-tropical regions, might die from the cold, the China Daily newspaper said. Staff are also worried the reptiles, which grow to about 3m, might turn aggressive if they do not find food in the wild, the report said. "They are doomed if we don't find them as soon as possible because the autumn cold is drawing near," said Mai Yingpei, manager of the private zoo.
■ Hong Kong
Smoking ban slammed
A Hong Kong legislator said a planned government ban on smoking in restaurants could lead to social unrest and a downturn in business, a newspaper reported yesterday. "I am worried that a complete smoking ban could cause an economic downturn, civil unrest, stir up conflict between enforcement agencies and the public and between the catering industry and its customers," Tommy Cheung said in the report by the Standard. Cheung, who represents the catering industry, made the comments on the ban, which is to go into effect this year, after a fact-finding trip to three countries that have introduced smoking bans. He said his trips to Norway, Ireland and Thailand showed that bars and restaurants had suffered business downturns. "All the catering operators we met said they suffered losses ranging from a few percentage points to as much as 50 per cent after the smoking ban was imposed," Cheung said.
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