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World News Quick Take

■ Australia
Dolphin stabbed to death
Australian officials were yesterday searching for those responsible for killing a dolphin which was found stabbed to death on a beach. The adult female dolphin sustained up to seven stab wounds, including a lethal wound to the heart, officials said. Veterinarians and staff from the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) removed the body from a beach near Geelong in the southern state of Victoria on Monday after being alerted by members of the public.

■ Nepal
Rain may worsen outbreak
Doctors fighting an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis in western Nepal said yesterday that fresh rainfall overnight threatened to spread the disease, which has already killed at least 271 people in the country this year. Cooler weather in the southern plain areas of this Himalayan kingdom and the end of the monsoon season have helped control the disease, but the latest downpour could provide breeding grounds for mosquitos which spread the disease. "Because of the fresh rain, we are expecting some new cases to arrive in the next couple of days," said Dr. Ganesh Bahadur Singh, chief of Seti Hospital in Dhangadi, about 600km west of the capital, Katmandu.

■ Australia
Fish used to track lost man
Rescuers tracked down a 65-year-old man who went missing in northern Australia by following a trail of fish pieces he had left. Jakob Jelenic got lost Sunday after a rogue buffalo chased him more than 2km through remote bushland in Arnhem Land east of the northern port of Darwin, where he had been fishing for barramundi, an Australian fish prized for the taste of its firm white flesh as well as the fight it puts up once hooked. And it was his catch that led searchers, including police and Aboriginal trackers, to Jelenic, his son-in-law Lazarus Murray told reporters. Knowing he was lost, Jelenic left a trail of fish together with arrows made of twigs on the ground.

■ Thailand
Monk caught selling guns
A Buddhist monk has been arrested and defrocked for stealing guns from the house of one of his followers and selling them, purportedly to buy building materials for his monastery, Thai police said yesterday. Police arrested Jirachai Lertbamroon, 32, on Tuesday at a monastery in Singburi Province where he was the acting abbot, said police Colonel Jirasak Suriyawong. Jirachai was taken to Bangkok, where he allegedly committed the crime, to face charges, Jirasak said. The suspect told police that he stole two pistols from the home of retired police General Thassana Klongpayaban in Bangkok and sold them for 30,000 baht (US$750).

■ India
Israelis fined for kissing
An Israeli couple was fined 1,000 rupees (US$23) after an Indian court found them guilty of obscenity for kissing during their marriage ceremony in a Hindu pilgrim town, newspapers reported yesterday. The couple had decided to have a traditional Hindu marriage while visiting Pushkar town earlier this month in the temple-studded desert state of Rajasthan, the Times of India reported. But they infuriated the priest as they started to kiss and embrace while he was chanting vedic hymns. The priest, along with other Hindu holy men, complained to police, who filed charges against the couple. The court in Pushkar gave its verdict on Tuesday. The Asian Age newspaper said Hindu priests were outraged.

■ United Kingdom
Workers faking illness
One in five British workers admits making up an excuse to call in sick at work, often citing food poisoning or a cold, a report said yesterday. Only a third of managers believe staff who call in sick are genuinely ill, research by healthcare firm BUPA showed. Many bosses said they suspected the main reasons for absences were workers wanting a long weekend or recovering from a hangover. "This research proves that not only are people taking time off when they are not sick, but that managers admit they are never sure if someone is genuinely ill," said BUPA's Ann Greenwood.

■ United States
Gotti gets new trial
The trial of John Gotti, accused of trying to kidnap Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, ended on Tuesday with a hung jury. No date was set for a new trial for the godfather of the New York mafia. Judge Shira Scheinlein said that she might allow Gotti to go free until then. Sliwa, who founded the Guardian Angels as an anti-crime citizens group, was shot three times in New York in 1992, he testified, in retribution for his radio show's criticism of Gotti's father. "It's a hung jury, it's a mistrial, it's round two for me, it doesn't mean John `Junior' Gotti is innocent," Sliwa said.

■ United states
FBI hunts ecoterrorists
The FBI and a building industry group said they will begin offering US$100,000 rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of ecoterrorists. The main target is the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), a group that has set fires at construction sites in housing developments, calling attention to the problem of suburban sprawl. "While ELF used to spike trees and sabotage logging equipment, they're now burning down apartment complexes," the Building Industry Association of Washington, said in a news release. The "increasingly brazen" attacks raise the likelihood that someone will be hurt or killed, he said.

■ Zimbabwe
Bus firms give back fares
Police in Harare have arrested 770 bus operators for overcharging passengers, the Herald newspaper reported. The government hiked fuel prices by more than 130 percent earlier this month, prompting bus operators to double their fares. But increases have first to be approved by the authorities. "We appreciate that bus operators have expenses to meet, but it is always wise to abide by the law," a police spokesman said. The 770 bus operators were arrested, fined 25,000 Zimbabwe dollars (about US$1) per passenger and made to pay back what was overcharged, he said.

■ United States
Iraq security breach
A former contractor has been accused of handing out high-access identification badges in Baghdad's Green Zone to an Iraqi girlfriend, a corporate executive, and others not entitled to them. Thomas Barnes III, 48, a former employee of contractor DynCorp, produced access badges for people authorized to enter the Green Zone, or International Zone. DynCorp administers the badge program under a US$ 7.7 million military contract. Greg Lagana, a spokesman for the company, said Barnes was fired and withdrawn from Iraq. "We were disturbed by all of this," he said.

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