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World News Quick Take

■ The Netherlands
Coffin shocks neighbors
Residents in the city of Dordrecht, south of Amsterdam, were astonished to see a coffin put out on the street with the rubbish, the Telegraaf newspaper reported yesterday. "Emotions were high, as several people in the street had lost loved ones recently," a neighbor of the Somali family that put out the coffin said. Residents said that a Somali had died recently and lain in the coffin for relatives to view. He had later been buried without a coffin. Police were informed but said that no crime had been committed. They did however contact the refuse removal authorities to remove the coffin.

■ United Kingdom
Blair apologizes to activist
British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday apologized to a veteran party activist thrown out of the party conference for heckling Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. The prime minister said stewards had been "overzealous" in their treatment of 82-year-old Walter Wolfgang. "I'm really sorry about it." Wolfgang, a refugee from Nazi Germany who joined the Labour Party in 1948, was manhandled by five burly stewards and ejected from his seat at the conference in Brighton on Wednesday. Wolfgang shouted "rubbish" and "that's a lie" as Straw said British troops were in Iraq to help bring democracy.

■ Brunei
Thieves have the power
A gang of thieves has stolen various equipment from scores of power substations, disrupting services, an official said. More than 60 substations have been stripped bare by thieves since July. the head of transmission and distribution, Nokman bin Tengah, said on Wednesday. The looted material -- mostly copper earthing cables and aluminum doors of substations -- is sold as scrap metal, he said. Some substations have been raided only days after previously stolen items were replaced. The thieves previously worked at night but have become increasingly brazen, striking during the day while disguised as utility workers, he added.

■ The Netherlands
Witches get tax breaks
Witches are allowed to offset their training costs with broomstick and potions against their income taxes, a court in Leeuwaarden confirmed. A young witch said she had learned her craft at a school for witches in Appelscha, earning the right to call herself a trained witch. The appropriate tax office allowed her to set off the 1,249 euros (US$ 1,500) that the course cost against her tax. However, the court also confirmed a ruling against allowing her further travel deductions as her job description did not comply with the rules for self-employed businesspeople.

■ United Kingdom
London still a terror target
The police officer in charge of London's anti-terrorist operation said that the force is tracking a number of potential terrorist suspects who may be planning further attacks. Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman told the Guardian newspaper that none of the individuals was linked to the previous blasts on July 7. No master plot had been discovered, but Hayman said that the force, and Londoners, would have to accept that the city was now a prime target. He anticipated other terrorist cells, which may well be British, would launch attacks.

■ United States
Robots battle in the desert
It's the ultimate robot reality show: 43 contestants battling for a spot in a government-sponsored desert race intended to speed development of unmanned military combat vehicles. The reward? A US$2 million cash prize. The autonomous robotic vehicles, ranging from souped-up SUVs to military behemoths, began competing on Wednesday in the first of a series of qualifying rounds at the California Speedway. Participants will be graded on how well they can self-drive on rough road, make sharp turns and avoid obstacles -- hay bales, trash cans, wrecked cars -- while relying on GPS navigation and sensors, radar, lasers and cameras that feed information to computers.

■ Canada
Mint president quits
The president of the Royal Canadian Mint, David Dingwall, quit on Wednesday amid accusations of lavish spending, becoming the fifth head of a Crown corporation to resign amidst controversy since Paul Martin became prime minister. Dingwall, a former Cabinet minister, has come under fire over reports that he and top aides racked up more than C$740,000 (US$631,000) in expenses last year. According to government documents, he and his aides were reimbursed C$140,000 for travel expenses and C$14,000 for meals last year. He also claimed C$1.29 for a pack of chewing gum and C$1.79 for a bottle of water, in addition to his annual salary of C$277,000.

■ France
Chemical castration mulled
The interior and justice ministers have proposed chemically castrating some sex offenders after they are released from prison to stop them reoffending. Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy pitched the idea on Tuesday, amid national horror over the case of a man convicted of raping 15 women and who was rearrested last week, accused of three more rapes. "We cannot be afraid of raising the idea of chemical treatments," Sarkozy said, suggesting that repeat sex offenders be required to report at least once a month to a neighborhood police station for treatment that reduces libido and could range up to chemical castration, although he did not go into detail.

■ United States
Sex-habit survey published
The government's largest-ever survey of the nation's sexual practices has found that US teenagers are increasingly engaging in oral sex as a strategy to avoid AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. The report also found a dramatic increase in the number of women who said they had engaged in a lesbian relationship. About 11 percent of women aged between 18 and 44 said they have had a lesbian sexual experience, up from 6 percent in a previous poll in 1992. In the 18 to 29 age group, 14 percent of women said they had engaged in lesbian sex. Researchers said that the rise in reported lesbian experiences might also be the result of greater female sexual freedom and increasing social acceptance of lesbianism.

■ United States
Bush to star in reality show
First lady Laura Bush is to star in an episode of the hit reality TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, where she will help rebuild homes in hurricane-ravaged Mississippi in a bid to repair the White House's ailing reputation, the Los Angeles Times reported. The White House contacted producers of the popular series, which runs on the Disney-owned ABC network, asking for an opportunity to include the president's wife.

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