■ China
Fourth official kills himself
A county government official was found dead in western China in the latest in a string of apparent suicides among local bureaucrats, a newspaper reported yesterday. Li Fuduo, 44, was found collapsed on the roof of his apartment building on Sunday with a knife in his hand and stomach wounds, the Chongqing Morning Post said. He died the same night in a hospital, it said. Police labeled Li's death a suicide, the paper reported, making him at least the fourth government official to kill or attempt to kill himself in recent weeks. Such officials often face intense pressure in their jobs, and large numbers have fallen afoul of investigators looking into corruption or poor performance.
■ China
Adult diapers a hit on trains
Migrant workers in southern China are wearing adult diapers on overcrowded trains heading home for the Lunar New Year holiday because they have no access to toilet facilities, state media reported yesterday. About 120 million peasants from the country's vast rural areas swarm into the cities for work and all try to make it home for the holiday, filling all standing room on trains and making access to the toilet impossible during trips which often last 24 hours or longer. The Lunar New Year holiday prompts arguably the biggest movement of humanity on Earth in China. "During the peak travel period last year, some passengers even became deranged on their journeys because of the conditions and jumped out of the carriages," the China Daily said. Many supermarkets in southern Foshan had reported a 50 percent increase in sales of adult diapers for the train trips, the China Daily reported.
■ Malaysia
Prostitutes hit the road
Thai sex workers affected by violent unrest in the south of their homeland are now plying their trade in northern Malaysia, operating illicitly from the back rooms of cyber cafes and beauty salons, a state official and a news report said yesterday. The migration of the prostitutes began last year after an escalation of bombings and other violence by Islamic insurgents in the southern Thai provinces significantly reduced the number of Malaysians and other tourists to the area, the New Straits Times newspaper reported.
■ Cambodia
Man receives cruelest cut
A man had to have 25 stitches to his penis after his wife attempted to sever the organ with scissors after a domestic dispute, a newspaper reported yesterday. Khay Kaing, 40, returned home early on Saturday after a night out with friends in Kampong Cham province, 80km northeast of the capital Phnom Penh, the Koh Santepheap newspaper reported. An argument ensued and he allegedly slapped his wife. As the man got into bed his wife came at him with the scissors and attempted to cut off his penis, the newspaper reported, not detailing whether she succeeded. The newspaper said after being attacked, the man walked some 500m to a relative's home to seek help and was later taken to a doctor who administered the sutures.
■ Japan
Stressed nurse jailed
A Japanese nurse who tried to relieve her work stress by tearing off patients' nails was sentenced on Monday to three years and eight months in prison. The 32-year-old Japanese woman, who worked at a hospital in the ancient capital of Kyoto, tore off the fingernails and toenails of six female patients in September and October 2004. The patients were all immobile after strokes or other illnesses. The Kyoto District Court said the woman had committed the cruel acts to relieve stress she was under from extra work forced on her by her supervisors.
■ Japan
Researchers find ancient ice
A team of Japanese researchers drilling on Antarctica has recovered what is believed to be the oldest sample of ice ever -- possibly dating back 1 million years, officials said yesterday. The ice sample was taken from a depth of 3,028.52m into the Antarctic ice sheet near the Japanese camp at Fuji Dome, according to Yuji Umezaki, an official with the education and science ministry. Umezaki said the ice sample may provide important insights into climate change because it contains ancient air that was trapped in bubbles as the snows piled up deeper and deeper above.
■ Singapore
Light-fingered hooker jailed
A prostitute who boosted her income by dashing off with her clients' cash and valuables while they slept has been jailed in Singapore for two years, news reports said yesterday. The haul collected by Norsiah Daen Sudin, 26, amounted to S$15,000 (US$9,259) since Sept. 17 last year. Among her victims was a 61-year-old U.S. tourist, a 43-year-old Norwegian expatriate, and several Singaporeans, the Straits Times said. The American awoke after sex in his hotel room only to find his Rolex watch, cellphone, jewelry, cash and credit cards were all gone, along with Norsiah. The Norwegian, who brought Norsiah to his apartment, lost his Tag Heuer watch, a digital camera, laptop, cellphone and cash. On occasions she slipped out while the men were showering.
■ Netherlands
`Salamander man' arrested
Dutch police have arrested a thief they dubbed the "salamander man" who talked his way into the homes of dozens of unsuspecting people by saying he was looking for his lost salamander, hamster or iguana. Police said on Monday they had been hunting the 33-year-old homeless man for months and that he had admitted to about 60 thefts in towns across the country. Once inside a house, the man stole wallets and loose cash. Police arrested him last Friday after a tip-off and found nine empty wallets in his car, which had been stolen the day before.
■ Kenya
Rescue work continues
Kenyan rescuers and soldiers cut through layers of concrete slab early yesterday to free an unknown number of construction workers still trapped after a building collapsed in downtown Nairobi, killing at least 11 and injuring dozens. Workers had struggled throughout the night to reach survivors using sledge hammers, metal-cutters and crowbars. Police superintendent Jaspher Ombati said rescuers did not know how many more people were trapped, but they could hear tapping or muted voices from four places in the rubble and were concentrating their efforts in those areas. So far, he said 92 workers had either been treated for wounds or were confirmed dead.
■ Kuwait
Emir's abdication expected
Kuwaitis waited yesterday for the expected abdication of their ailing emir, Sheik Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, a move that has been sought for days to resolve the country's unprecedented leadership crisis. After days of division, the royal family had reportedly agreed the emir would step down, paving the way for the prime minister and longtime de facto ruler, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, to become the new head of state. "An agreement has been reached in the family and he will sign the abdication papers tomorrow," lawmaker Nasser al-Saneh said on Monday evening. A government official confirmed the abdication was to take place yesterday.
■ Sudan
African Union picks head
African nations yesterday picked Congo Republic to head the 53-nation African Union (AU), to be followed next year by Sudan, whose leadership bid for this year caused deep divisions on the continent."They are all congratulating the Congolese president now," a delegate at the AU summit in Khartoum said by telephone. Other delegates confirmed the choice. Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Jamal Ibrahim said Sudan would take over the leadership of the AU next year. African nations had been deeply split about Sudan, which put itself forward for the presidency based on a tradition that the summit host takes over as the AU's head.
■ France
Nuclear policy unchanged
French President Jacques Chirac on Monday laughed off concerns that France has lowered its threshold for using nuclear weapons, saying there had been no change in policy. Chirac said last week that France would be ready to use nuclear weapons against any state that carried out a terrorist attack or used weapons of mass destruction against it. He laughed and smiled when asked about his comments during a news conference following talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Versailles. "There has been no lowering of the nuclear threshold," Chirac said.
■ El Salvador
Gang kills soccer fans
Members of a feared street gang shot dead six people at a soccer match after rounding up players and fans and forcing them to lie face down on the pitch, police said on Monday. Police chief Rodrigo Avila said the killers invaded the game on Sunday, forcing players from both teams and around 100 fans to lie down on the field. They separated a group, ordered them to remove their shirts and shot them in the back of their heads. At least 10 people were arrested in connection with the killings and Avila said the assailants belonged to Mara 18, a violent street-gang that sows havoc in poor neighborhoods from Central America to the US. Avila said that one gang member was killed by survivors when he returned to the crime scene.
■ United States
Bin Laden helps book sales
An unexpected endorsement from al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has resulted in a huge jump in sales for a book by a critic of US foreign policy. William Blum's Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower was ranked 209,000 on Amazon.com's sales list before bin Laden mentioned it in an audiotape released on Thursday. By Friday, the book was No. 30 on the Amazon.com list. Bin Laden said al-Qaeda group was preparing more attacks in the US but also told Americans, "It is useful for you to read the book The Rogue State." In an interview on Friday from Washington Blum said: "I was quite surprised and even shocked and amused when I found out what he'd said ... I was glad. I knew it would help the book's sales and I was not bothered by who it was coming from."
■ United States
Man freed after 24 years
A Florida man was freed on Monday after spending nearly 24 years -- more than half his life -- in prison for rapes that DNA tests recently showed he did not commit. Alan Crotzer, 45, was convicted in 1982 of raping a 38-year-old Tampa woman and a 12-year-old girl and sentenced to 130 years behind bars. At a hearing on Monday in Tampa, prosecutors said there was significant doubt about Crotzer's guilt and asked Judge J. Rogers Padgett to set aside the conviction and free Crotzer.
■ Brazil
Tourists held up in Rio
Police in Rio de Janeiro are probing the holdup of a tourist bus carrying some 30 elderly British tourists that was targeted by three armed men, Globo Television said on Monday. The thieves apparently trailed the tourist bus by car last Thursday from Rio's international airport as it headed to a city hotel, before taking over the vehicle, driving it to a remote location and robbing its passengers.The thieves got away with jewelry, credit cards and cash stolen.
■ United States
Hacker earned US$61,000
A 20-year-old hacker pleaded guilty to surreptitiously seizing control of hundreds of thousands of Internet-connected computers, using a "zombie" network to serve pop-up ads and renting it out to people who mounted attacks on Web sites and sent out spam. Jeanson James Ancheta, of Downey, California, pleaded guilty on Monday in Los Angeles Federal Court to four felony charges for crimes, including infecting machines at two US military sites, that earned him more than US$61,000. Prosecutors called the case the first to target profits derived from use of large numbers of computers that hackers commandeer and marshal for various nefarious deeds.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese