■ Australia
Politician quits over racism
A political leader who after a few beers called the Asian-born wife of his political opponent a "mail-order bride" quit yesterday after news of his remark became public. John Brogden quit as leader of the Liberal party in New South Wales as his comment was condemned across the political divide, with Liberal Prime Minister John Howard calling on him to apologize. "I acted dishonorably and now is the time to act honorably," said Brogden, who quit the state party leadership but not politics. Brogden said he made the comment, along with pinching a female reporter on the bottom and propositioning another female reporter, after a few beers at a function in Sydney last month.
■ Australia
Child detainee files lawsuit
A 10-year-old Iranian boy who says he suffers a psychological disorder after being detained for two years in razor-wire immigration detention centers is suing the government. Shayan Badraie says he developed traumatic stress disorder while detained with his parents in the immigration centers between 2000 and 2002. Badraie's lawyer Andrew Morrison said yesterday that Badraie witnessed traumatic incidents in detention, but did not gain adequate medical treatment. The child is seeking damages from the government's immigration department and the company that then managed its detention centers.
■ India
Building collapse kills 5
Five people were killed and 13 injured when a three-story building collapsed in Mumbai. The 60-year-old structure in the south of the city, which housed three families, collapsed without warning late on Sunday. "Five people were brought in dead," said H.S. Jadhav, superintendent of the city's GT Hospital. "All the injured have rib and leg fractures." The building collapse is the third in the past week and follows largescale flooding and unprecedented rains in Mumbai last month. Local officials said that about 19,000 high-rise buildings in south Mumbai are "old and dilapidated" and unsafe for living.
■ India
Militants making porn films
Separatist militants from the All Tripura Tiger Force (AATF) who are involved in a decade-long fight for a separate homeland are forcing tribal women to act in pornographic films to raise funds for their floundering separatist movement, police said. Hundreds of the CDs have been seized from video parlors in the state. The director-general of police in Tripura, G.M. Srivastava, said tribal girls had escaped and recounted the tales of sexual exploitation to the police. He said militant organizations like the AATF and the National Liberation Front of Tripura were in "bad shape" and most of their cadre had surrendered. "They are resorting to making porn, counterfeit currency and criminal activities now," he said.
■ India
Encephalitis deaths rise
Encephalitis killed another 41 people over the weekend in northern India, with the mosquito-borne disease showing little sign of abating after claiming 253 lives in nearly three weeks. The majority of the dead are children. Some 300 people have been hospitalized, many of them in serious condition. Health Minister Jaiveer Singh said the government was doing its best to control the disease as it spreads throughout the state by vaccinating children and spraying insecticide to kill mosquitos.
■ Russia
Suspected killer lynched
A man suspected of killing two small girls died was lynched by residents in a village in Russia's North Caucasus province of Dagestan. The man was killed on Sunday in Bashlykent after the girls' bodies were discovered buried on land belonging to him, a local official said. The girls had disappeared on Saturday. Police had still to determine specifically how the man was killed. However it was known that the man's house had been burnt down with his body inside. Residents had thwarted an attempt by police to arrest the man.
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