■ India
Police aide kills for blood
A police assistant in the central state of Chhattisgarh killed a fellow villager by slitting his throat with a sword and drank his blood, hoping to cure his own depression, police said yesterday. Amit Soni, 28, was unhappy with his low-paying home guard job, police said. Home guards support policemen in law enforcement tasks such as traffic management. "The man was a believer in witchcraft and he thought killing a human and drinking his blood would cure him of his mental agony and depression," police officer Dipanshu Karba said. He was struggling to look after his wife and children on a monthly salary of 1,600 rupees (US$35).
■ Hong Kong
Protesters denounce Yahoo
Protesters rallied outside the Hong Kong office of Yahoo on yesterday demonstrating against the US Internet giant for passing on information that led to the jailing of a journalist in China. The chanting protesters denounced Yahoo for providing Chinese authorities with the contact details of writer Shi Tao (師濤) who was jailed in April for 10 years for revealing state secrets. The demonstrators, members of the Democratic Party, unfurled a large banner and urged the company to review its privacy policy so that client information was protected in future.
■ Hong Kong
China's film limits to change
A senior Chinese film official said on Monday that the country's censorship system will change as China opens up more and cultural exchange increases. "Depending on the progress of opening up, as international exchanges increase in frequency, China's movie censorship system must change and adjust," Zhang Pimin, deputy director-general at the State Administration of Radio, Film and TV's Film Bureau told reporters in Hong Kong. Zhang said China only wants to uphold moral standards. He said films screened in China must extol the qualities of "truth, kindness, beauty," "true feelings and caring love," as well as "hard work leads to wealth."
■ China
Workers discover tombs
Archaeologists have unearthed a 1,700-year-old complex of tombs in eastern China that contain bronze mirrors, porcelains and ancient money, a news report said yesterday. The tombs near the port city of Ningbo south of Shanghai were uncovered by a forklift operator working at a construction site, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Inscriptions in the tombs indicate they were built in 256AD, the report said, citing Ding Youfu, a member of the archaeological team. He said they were the region's best-preserved tombs. "Figures embodying fish, beasts, dragons, phoenixes and money can be seen in the wall of the grave," Ding said. "They are incredibly refined and clearcut."
■ India
54-year detention an error
More than half-a-century ago, Machal Lalung was thought to be insane and sent to a mental asylum in India's remote northeast. A few months ago, he was set free after the National Human Rights Commission found that healthcare authorities had made a mistake and Lalung suffered only from epilepsy. Lalung's confinement for 54 years has shocked rights activists and mental health experts in a country where it is not uncommon for people to be branded insane and locked up in homes or asylums.
■ Bulgaria
Policemen steal cellphone
Two border policemen caught red-handed after stealing a mobile telephone belonging to US ambassador John Beyrle could face up to 10 years in prison, officials said on Monday. The two took the expensive telephone after Beyrle left it by an X-ray machine at Varna airport, where they worked. They denied having seen the phone when Beyrle called to enquire about it, but the high-tech gadget's inbuilt tracking system led to its eventual location in one of the men's pockets. The Interior Ministry said the policemen would be fired and their superiors disciplined following the incident.
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