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PHOTO: AP/EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK

■ United States
Reptiles in deadly battle
The tail of an alligator protruding from the ruptured gut of a Burmese python, which had swallowed its foe alive, bore witness to a fierce battle between two of the deadliest predators in Florida's Everglades National Park. Park rangers, who photographed the remains, say the clash demonstrates the threat to the fragile swamplands posed by a growing population of the non-native pythons, thought to have abandoned by pet owners. Biologist Skip Snow said he found the 4m-long python which had "apparently" swallowed an alligator about half his size. "I say apparently because the tail and hind limbs of the dead alligator were protruding from a hole in the mid-body of the dead python," he said.

■ United States
Life sentences for killings
A Boston judge sentenced two ethnic Vietnamese men to life in prison on Wednesday for one of the city's bloodiest murders -- the point-blank shooting of five men in Boston's Chinatown 15 years ago. Siny Van Tran, known as "Toothless Wah," and Nam The Tham were each found guilty of five counts of first-degree murder for the 1991 predawn massacre. A jury also found the two, who were arrested in China in 1998 after an international manhunt, guilty of armed assault with intent to murder for shooting a sixth man, Lee Pak-wing. Lee survived a gunshot wound to his head. A third suspect remains a fugitive.

■ Canada
Mystery illness claims six
Health authorities reported six deaths on Wednesday from a mystery disease outbreak at a Toronto nursing home, raising the death toll to 16. Nearly 90 people have been affected by the respiratory illness, which causes developed flu-like symptoms and was first reported at the Seven Oaks Home for the Aged last week, officials said. "The six new deaths are not new cases. All of these elderly individuals had been previously identified as cases and had underlying medical conditions" David McKeown, Toronto's health officer, said in a statement. "Testing continues to determine the cause of the illness." Thirty-four nursing home residents have been hospitalized, in addition to two staff members and two visitors.

■ Canada
Lottery winner kills himself
A lottery winner who spent every penny of his C$10 million (US$8.5 million) jackpot hanged himself in his parents' garage this week in Winnipeg, newspapers reported on Wednesday. Gerald Muswagon, 42, spent the entire sum within a few years buying new vehicles and big screen TVs for friends, a "party" house for him and copious amounts of drugs and alcohol. He also started a logging business, but it closed after losing a lot of money.

■ United States
Analyst pleads guilty
A senior Defense Department analyst admitted to sharing secret military information with two pro-Israeli lobbyists and an Israeli official. Lawrence Franklin pleaded guilty in federal court in Virginia on Wednesday. The offenses carry a maximum of 25 years in prison, but as part of a plea agreement, prosecutors are expected to recommend leniency for Franklin in return for his cooperation in a continuing investigation.

■ Hong Kong
Suicide jumper lands in bed
A Hong Kong man leapt 11 floors to his death and landed in a bed with a man watching television, police said yesterday. The 43-year-old jumped from his high-rise home and crashed through the roof of the other man's apartment, bringing with him a pile of debris and tiles. The 63-year-old, who had settled in bed to watch television while waiting for his wife, was shocked but unhurt. The dead man is believed to have been suffering from liver disease for 10 years.

■ Malaysia
Smoking preferred to news
Readership for Malay-language dailies drops by 10,000 copies each time the price of tobacco increases in Malaysia, as ethnic Malays prefer smoking to catching up on the news, a local report said yesterday. Johan Jaaffar, former editor-in-chief of Utusan Malaysia, a leading Malay-language newspaper, said that ethnic Malays placed smoking as a bigger priority than reading. "Whenever tobacco taxes go up, people will prioritize their disposable income on cigarettes instead of buying newspapers," Johan was quoted as saying by the official Bernama agency.

■ Sri Lanka
Tamil politician shot
A suspected Tamil Tiger rebel fatally shot a member of a Tamil political party opposed to the guerrillas in northeastern Sri Lanka, hours after a time bomb exploded outside the party's newspaper office in Colombo, injuring two people, police and the defense ministry said. Eelam People's Democratic Party member K. Weerarathne, 34, was shot dead as he was riding his bicycle near Trincomalee, a port town in the northeast where the rebels have a strong presence, said a military spokesman.

■ Australia
SMS Bible published
"In da Bginnin God cre8d da heavens & da earth," according to a new version of the Bible translated into the text message language of cellphone users. Yesterday, the Bible Society in Australia launched its translation of all 31,173 verses of the Bible in the modern, abbreviated language of text messages, or SMS. The verses can be accessed over the Internet for free, society spokesman Michael Chant said. "The old days when the Bible was only available within a somber black cover with a cross on it are long gone," Chant said. Sending the entire Bible by SMS would take more than 30,000 messages, he said.

■ Nepal
Journalist dies in custody
A journalist detained by the military on suspicion of having links to communist rebels has died in custody after he was denied proper medical care. Maheshwor Pahari, 30, who had been detained almost continuously since January last year, died on Tuesday night at a hospital in Pokhara, about 200km west of Katmandu. He had been diagnosed with tuberculosis a month-and-a-half ago but was only admitted to hospital last week, the Federation of Nepalese Journalists, an umbrella body of media rights groups, said. Doctors had recommended Pahari be transferred to Katmandu, where hospital facilities are better. But authorities had refused, the group said.

■ Bangladesh
Extra security demanded
Judges and lawyers demanded extra security yesterday after fresh threats from Islamic militants suspected to be involved in this week's bombings of court buildings. The Dhaka Bar Association said it received three handwritten letters threatening "more bomb attacks in court buildings" if lawyers did not support their drive to introduce Islamic Sharia law in this Muslim-majority nation. The leaflets claimed to be from the Islamic Law Implementation Council, a front organization for the banned Islamic group Jumatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, suspected of carrying out Monday's bomb attacks. Two people were killed and 25 others injured on Monday, when several bombs exploded in crowded court buildings in the cities of Chittagong, Chandur and Laxmipur.

■ South Korea
Wiretapping probe widens
Prosecutors yesterday arrested the former number two at the country's intelligence agency as part of a widening probe into illegal wiretapping. Kim Eun-sung, ex-deputy director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), was accused of bugging top politicians and businessmen. Kim served as the agency's number two for 17 months under former president Kim Dae-jung's administration. His arrest followed the prosecution's raid in August on the NIS headquarters in southern Seoul. The bugging scandal erupted in July when a local broadcaster revealed the existence of 274 NIS audio tapes of wiretapped conversations between influential figures in politics, business and the media until 2002.

■ Thailand
Chinese may be compulsory
The education ministry has proposed a plan to require all high schools to teach Mandarin by 2008, the Nation newspaper reported yesterday. The plan, which needs approval from Education Minister Chaturon Chaisang, would require one school in each district to offer Mandarin classes by 2007. All high schools would have to offer Mandarin by 2008.

■ Sweden
Goose knocks out hunter
A Swedish hunter spent two days in bed after being knocked unconscious by a Canada goose that landed on his head moments after his son shot it dead, news reports said on Wednesday. The goose had been flying about 20m up in the air when it was shot by Carl Johan Ilback, who was hunting with his father, Ulf, along a stream in eastern Sweden in August. When the goose dropped from the sky, it hit Ulf Ilback in the head and knocked him out, he said. "It wanted to extract its revenge, I assume," Ulf Ilback told local newspaper Extra Ostergotland. "If it had gotten a better hit, it could have broken my neck." Ilback spent two days in bed with severe headaches before returning to work.

■ United Kingdom
Woman giving away money
A woman who was handing out cash to strangers this week said on Wednesday she was simply enjoying spreading happiness. "I unexpectedly came into some money recently, and I don't really need it," 79-year-old Ruby Dickens explained. "It's a lovely feeling to give it to someone and brighten up their day. It's always nice to get some free money, isn't it?" she said. Some people have refused to take the ?5 notes (worth US$8.80) she was passing out on the streets of Liverpool, she said. "Maybe they think it is a trick or that I'm trying to abduct them." But Dickens, a widow with three daughters and four adult grandchildren, insisted her motives were innocent: she doesn't need the extra money. "I don't go out at night, I don't have much of a social life."

■ Italy
Five tried in banker's death
Five people were to go on trial yesterday for the murder of Italian financier Roberto Calvi, more than two decades after the body of the banker with close ties to the Vatican was found hanging from a London bridge, his suit stuffed with rocks and bank notes. The trial, for the murder of the man nicknamed "God's banker," was to be held in a top security courtroom in Rome. Among the five people who faced trial were Giuseppe "Pippo" Calo, who prosecutors allege ordered Calvi's killing.

■ Japan
Fujimori launches Peru bid
Former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, living in self-exile in Japan, formally announced yesterday he will run for president in the upcoming Peruvian election, Kyodo News agency reported. Fujimori was granted a Peruvian passport last month in a move that some observers considered the latest sign he was preparing to return to his homeland and run in the April political race. Fujimori fled his homeland to Japan in November 2000 as his government crumbled amid a corruption scandal.

■ United States
Russia king of credit scams
Trafficking in stolen credit cards has largely shifted to Russian-language Web sites after an international crackdown sparked disarray among English-speaking scam artists, a US Secret Service official said on Wednesday. The raid in October last year, dubbed Operation Firewall, led to 28 arrests in seven countries and shut down several Web sites that served as online bazaars where scam artists could buy and sell credit-card numbers, drivers' licenses and other documents. Now activity has shifted to Russian-language Web sites that are wary of outsiders, posing challenges to investigators, said Brian Nagel, the Secret Service's director of investigations.

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