■ China
Sausage fails tests
A famed sausage in southern China that has been a delicacy for more than 1,000 years may be too unhealthy to pass more stringent new health standards, state press said yesterday. Cantonese-style sausage, a staple in homes throughout China, has been found to contain high acid and peroxide content that go beyond new hygiene standards, the China Daily reported. "The new standard is not directed exclusively at the Cantonese-style sausage but at all preserved meats," Liu Lishen, a senior food engineer at the Guangdong provincial association of food industry, was quoted as saying. In addition to pork, Cantonese-style sausages may also contain chicken, duck, mushrooms, seafood and vegetables. The sausages, which also have large lumps of fat, are cured and then dried -- guaranteeing a long shelf life that has helped them remain popular for more than a millennium.
■ China
15 miners killed
A gas explosion killed 15 miners in southwestern China, state media reported yesterday, the latest in an all-too-familiar series of accidents to strike the world's deadliest mining industry. Twenty-one miners were working underground when the accident happened late on Thursday in a new mine Renhuai, Guizhou province, Xinhua news agency said. Two workers escaped and four were rescued, Xinhua said, adding that the owner of the mine had fled. China relies on coal for more than two-thirds of its energy consumption and has the world's biggest and most dangerous mining industry, claiming 2,700 lives in the first half of 2005 alone.
■ Australia
Church leaders jailed
Three leaders of a Korean church in Sydney were given prison sentences yesterday for beating a woman because she did not regularly attend services. Junior assistant pastor Chi Yeong-yun, 37, and bible study teachers Tom Chae-yong Lee, 22, and James Kang, 21, from the Open Door Korean Church, pleaded guilty to assaulting 19-year-old Angela Kim in July last year. New South Wales District Court judge Joe Gibson gave Yun, described as the architect of the plan, a 12-month sentence term, while Lee and Kang were sentenced to up to six months. Prosecutors said that the three men kicked and punched Kim at a national park in northern Sydney, leaving her badly bruised.
■ Thailand
Would-be rapist bitten
A 16-year-old woman has identified a young man who she says tried to rape her but ran away after she bit off a chunk of his tongue, police said yesterday. The 17-year-old alleged rapist has been hospitalized, while a 3cm strip of his tongue found at the scene of the attempted rape is being kept on ice, police said. The young woman told police she was attacked by a man as she returned home from work on Wednesday. Police found the man in a hospital but he denied the accusations, reportedly telling a doctor that he was attacked by a gang of hooded men who tried to rob him and then cut off his tongue when they discovered he had no money.
■ Malaysia
Would-be cop jailed
A man who wanted to become a police officer just like his father ended up behind bars instead after he submitted forged paperwork in his application to the force, a report said. Azamazewan Zakaria, 26, gave police recruiters a fake certificate that indicated he had got a school credit in the Malay language, the Star newspaper said. The would-be cop copped a two-month sentence and a 2,000 ringgit (US$530) fine, but his father -- a police officer -- paid the fine and hauled his son out of jail after one day. In appealing for a lighter sentence, counsel Kuldeep Kumar said Azamazewan committed the offense because he was immature and did not think of the consequences.
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