■ Australia
Fishermen resist arrest
Australian authorities arrested a group of Indonesian fishermen who brandished burning poles and threw lead weights at agents who boarded their boat and later found a big haul of sharks' fins, Australia's justice minister said yesterday. Australian fisheries authorities will investigate whether the vessel was fishing illegally inside Australia's territorial waters, Justice Minister Chris Ellison said. Finning sharks is illegal in Australia. The nine-member crew would be prosecuted "to the full force of Australian law," Justice Minister Chris Ellison said in a statement. "We want to send a clear message that aggression toward our officials on the seas will not be tolerated by Australia, especially within our own territorial waters." After a tense high-seas pursuit inside Australia's northern waters, customs and navy ships fired warning shots at the ship, Ellison said.
■ Maldives
Rights activist sent to jail
A Maldives court on Tuesday sentenced a human-rights activist to 10 years in prison for "instigating terrorism," a government spokesman said. Jennifer Latheef, 32, was sent to jail after being identified as "one of the instigators" of pro-democracy riots in September 2003 in the capital Male, government spokesman Mohamed Shareef said. She is the daughter of the exiled founder of the country's main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, Mohamad Latheef. Four others charged with the same offense were also given 10-year prison sentences last week, and another person fled the country, he said. Latheef's father, who lives in exile in neighboring Sri Lanka, called Tuesday's verdict "outrageous."
■ Australia
Bride-to-be punches cop
An early-morning melee at an Adelaide night club resulted in seven arrests yesterday among a group of young women out on the town for a hen night celebration. It's a tradition in Australia for a woman and her closest friends to have a night out in the days before her wedding. The bride-to-be was charged with assault after a police officer was punched in the face. Six of her friends face charges ranging from assault to resisting police. Police were called after the group refused to leave the club after being told to go because of bad behavior.
■ China
Drug ring smashed
Victory was declared in a cross-border drugs bust, one of the biggest in Southeast Asia in recent years, with 70 suspects arrested and almost 727 kg of heroin seized, the China Daily said yesterday. Chinese police worked with counterparts from Myanmar, Laos and Thailand in an 11-month operation that also netted dozens of weapons, millions of dollars of property and currency and culminated with the arrest of the kingpin, the paper said. "The street value of the heroin is estimated to be US$18 million in Beijing," it said. The accused ring leader, a 35-year-old Chinese, was arrested in Laos on Sept. 22 and deported to China on Oct. 2.
■ Australia
Minister attacked in debate
New South Wales Roads Minister Joe Tripodi said yesterday he would not press charges against an opposition member who assaulted him during a rowdy debate in the state parliament in Sydney. It took six men to pull Andrew Fraser off Tripodi and drag him outside during a late-night session on Tuesday. Fraser grabbed Tripodi by the neck and attempted to throttle him. "It was technically an assault but I'm not going to take legal action," Tripodi said. "I just think that Mr Fraser should be a lot more apologetic about his behavior because the whole of Australia is watching this." Tripodi added. A motion is expected to be tabled to expel Fraser from Australia's oldest parliament.
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