■ Hong Kong
Activists ready for protest
South Korean activists with a reputation for violent protests warned yesterday that they will be "escalating the level of struggle" toward the end of the weeklong WTO summit in Hong Kong. The Korean protesters said they would demonstrate legally and peacefully, according to a statement by the Korean Struggle Mission, which represents several activist groups. But the statement warned that the activists, representing farmers and workers, were ready for "strong struggles" against police repression. Further details were not provided about what the groups planned to do. The Koreans oppose the WTO's aim to lower trade barriers for agricultural imports, saying such moves will flood the Korean market with cheap rice and bankrupt Korean farmers.
■ Malaysia
Video woman identified
Malaysian authorities said yesterday they have identified a Chinese woman who was forced to strip and perform squats in police custody, but sought to keep her name a secret. Government lawyer Suhaimi Ibrahim said a ``prime witness'' would testify today at an inquiry into the scandal, but he stopped short of confirming whether the witness was the Chinese woman. "When the prime witness gives evidence, we would like a gag order to prevent the press from publishing the name, photographs or details of the identity" of the woman, Suhaimi said. Suhaimi refused to explain the move or clarify whether the Chinese woman is among 21 witnesses summoned to appear in front of a commission of legal experts and politicians to investigate whether police violated her rights. Video footage of the woman was disclosed last month.
■ Australia
Lion eats woman's finger
A young male lion bit off the tip of a woman's finger and ate it at Melbourne Zoo after she climbed over a barrier next to the animal's cage to pick flowers, the zoo's director said yesterday. "We do ask all our patrons to stay behind the safety barriers here at the zoo, and she explained at the time that she was picking some flowers," John Gibbons told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio. The incident happened last Thursday. "It's not a wise thing to do to climb over a safety barrier and collect a flower here at the zoo," he said. The lion apparently bit the woman from inside its cage, even though she was outside.
■ Japan
Dad killed over bus fare
A drunken 39-year-old Japanese man strangled his father to death after he refused to lend him ¥100 (US$0.80) for his bus fare, police said yesterday. Police arrested construction worker Hirokazu Tashiro on murder charges on?Sunday in Ichihara, east of Tokyo, as he allegedly confessed to attacking his 67-year-old father Hiroshi, a police spokesman said. The son, who had been drinking, grew infuriated after realizing he was ¥100 short of pocket change to take a bus downtown, the police official said. "I asked Dad to lend it to me," the son was quoted as telling police. "I was mad when he refused to I strangled him with my necktie."
■ Japan
Four more `Internet suicides'
Three men and a woman were found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning in a car in the latest suspected Internet suicide pact, police said yesterday. The four -- a 39-year-old businessman, a 27-year-old unemployed man, a 25-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman -- were found in the car in Yabu in western Hyogo prefecture on Sunday, a police spokesman said. "Their parents and relatives told investigators that the four people didn't know one another before," he said. "We're looking into the case to see if they got to know one another through the Internet and decided to commit suicide," he said.
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