■ Cambodia
Police seek vengeful wife
The police were seeking a jealous wife after she allegedly caught a prostitute canoodling in a hammock with her husband and threw acid in her face before stabbing her in the neck and chest, authorities said yesterday. The police chief of Thmor Pouk district in northwestern Banteay Meanchey Province, Yot Ray, said Kim Pouv, 39, was in a serious but stable condition after she and soldier Mang Ty, also 39, were surprised by Ty's wife, known only as Sout, 37. "This is a crime of the highest order. This is a very scary wife and even jealousy cannot excuse this sort of violence," Ray said.
■ Vietnam
Hundreds mourn whale
Hundreds of mourners gathered yesterday morning to pay their respects to a dead whale that had washed up on the country's central beach. The whale -- about 12m long and weighing about 12 tonnes -- was found on the beach in Quang Ngai Province on Friday, a local resident surnamed Tam said. "Hundreds of locals are burning incense and praying in front of the whale ... It will be buried in a cave nearby," she added. According to state media, the whale had some injuries on its body, probably because of earlier attacks by hunters.
■ Malaysia
Six soldiers set free
Thailand has freed six Malaysian soldiers who were detained after they crossed into Thai territory by mistake during a military exercise, an official said yesterday. "They were released on Tuesday. They are in good health. The Thais know it was a mistake," a Malaysian defense ministry official said. The Malaysian Bernama news agency said the six had crossed into Bukit Tokmok in the southern Thai province of Narathiwat on Monday.
■ New Zealand
Missing hiker found dead
The body of a Japanese hiker who went missing while trekking has been found on New Zealand's South Island, police said yesterday. The body of Katsusbaro Nagashima, 65, was discovered on Friday evening caught among logs in the Fox River some 40km north of Greymouth on the island's west coast after a ground and helicopter search, a police spokesman said. He said Nagashima's family had been informed and was traveling from Japan to formally identify the body.
■ Bangladesh
Building collapses in Dhaka
A six-story building housing a garment factory, shops and offices collapsed in the Bangladeshi capital yesterday, and many were trapped inside, a fire official said. No casualties were immediately reported but witnesses saw rescuers transport about a dozen injured people to hospital. The building collapsed in Dhaka's central Tejgaon industrial district a fire brigade official said. It was not immediately known how many people were inside the building, and there was confusion about whether the garment factory was open at the time.
■ Pakistan
Three die in insurgent unrest
A paramilitary soldier and a suspected insurgent were killed in a clash in the restive southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan, officials said yesterday. The fighting started when Bugti tribe rebels attacked a security forces post in Dear Bugti district late on Friday, regional administrator Abdul Samad Lasi said. Separately, a paramilitary soldier was killed when he stepped on a landmine planted by insurgents near the Pirkoh gas field late on Friday, Lasi said. Insurgents also fired rockets on security forces deployed in different parts of Dera Bugti district late on Friday, however, they caused no casualties, he said.
■ Japan
Troops to return from Iraq
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will announce as soon as next month a decision to pull troops out of Iraq between April and June, a report said yesterday. The withdrawal of Ground Self Defense Force troops from the southern Iraqi city of Samawa is expected to be made in two stages, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said without citing sources. Meanwhile, the government will likely have the roughly 200 Air Self Defense Force personnel based in Kuwait continue carrying out transport operations Nihon Keizai said. A spokesman at the Japan Defense Agency declined to comment on the report.
■ New Zealand
Boxer cleared to fight
A boxer who served four years in jail for the manslaughter of his infant daughter has been cleared by Australian immigration authorities to fight at next month's Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Soulan Pownceby needed a special entry visa to fight in Melbourne because of a criminal record which includes several assaults committed after his manslaughter conviction. The special entry authority was granted yesterday by Australian Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone, in spite of Australian Prime Minister John Howard's stated belief it would not be appropriate for Pownceby to compete in Melbourne. Pownceby was convicted in 1995 of the manslaughter of his five-month old daughter who died from multiple injuries he claimed were the result of a fall. A post-mortem showed her injuries were likely the result of a beating.
■ Romania
Lawyer defends `killer' dog
A lawyer on Friday pleaded for the life of a dog whose bite allegedly killed a Japanese businessman. Hajime Hori, 68, was bitten on the leg on Jan. 29. Police said the bite hit an artery in his thigh and he bled to death within several minutes. Hori was entering his apartment building in the center of Bucharest when the attack occurred. ``I have asked for a forensic report about the incident. It seems that the Japanese man died of a heart attack and not due to the bite,'' lawyer Paula Iacob said.
■ United Kingdom
Offensive poster slammed
Police said on Friday that they were investigating the posting of a Danish cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammed on a bulletin board at a municipal government office in northern England. The cartoon, which depicts the prophet with a bomb in his turban, was placed on a bulletin board used by city employees and a local housing authority in the town of Oldham, the municipal council said in a statement. Local police said they were treating the incident "extremely seriously." In a statement Oldham Council said "Muslim members of staff who saw the poster reported it as being offensive; the poster was removed immediately and an inquiry has now been launched into the poster's origins."
■ Italy
Tibetans protest Olympics
Three Tibetan activists on Friday marked their 11th day on a hunger strike to oppose the choice of Beijing as the 2008 Olympic host. The hunger strike was being led by 75-year-old Palden Gyatso, a Tibetan activist who said he spent 33 years in a Chinese prison for his involvement in the independence movement. He is demanding China end its "military occupation" of his homeland before it hosts the Olympics. "I'm glad I'm able to contribute to the movement somehow," he said from a tent erected on the grounds of a cemetery in downtown Turin. Gyatso claimed to have drank only water and eaten no food since the strike began.
■ United Kingdom
`Tiger kidnappers' bag cash
A gang made off with an estimated ?200,000 (US$350,000) from a Belfast bank on Friday after taking the family of a key bank employee hostage and forcing him to cooperate, a common criminal tactic in Northern Ireland, police and politicians said. The raid on a branch of Ulster Bank came two days after a gang in England snatched an estimated ?40 million to ?50 million. That robbery also used so-called "tiger kidnapping" tactics, when a gang takes an employee's family hostage to force the employee to help rob their own business.
■ France
Gay rights extended
The nation's highest court ruled on Friday that gay parents may extend parental rights to their partners. The court, the Cour de Cassation, approved such shared rights when the couple is living in a stable union and when it is in the child's best interests. The judges upheld a 2004 decision by an appeals court in Angers in central France. It was the first time the high court had granted such broad rights to a gay couple. The case centered around two women who registered a civil union in 1999. One of them gave birth to two daughters through artificial insemination, but only the birth mother had parental rights. She sought legal permission to grant parental rights to her partner.
■ Brazil
Bishops warn on sex, booze
Brazil's Roman Catholic Church urged revelers on Thursday to abstain from reckless sex, too much alcohol and violence during the country's Carnival celebrations. "We are not against people having fun but caution them against hurting others or abandoning good customs," said Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo, head of the National Conference of Brazil Bishops. Carnival begins across Brazil, the largest Catholic country in the world, this weekend and crowds of people indulge in a frenzy of drinking, dancing and often licentious behavior. Although the pre-Lenten festival has its roots in Christian tradition, it provides an annual headache for the church.
■ Venezuela
US flights cut back
In its latest political dispute with the US, Venezuela's populist government has announced that it is unilaterally reducing flights by US-owned airlines starting on Wednesday, a measure taken after Washington declined to lift restrictions on Venezuelan carriers for safety reasons. The move would affect American Airlines, which on peak days offers eight flights to the US, and Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines, which serve Houston, Atlanta and Newark, New Jersey. Service by US cargo carriers would also be reduced. The National Civil Aviation Institute announced the restrictions, saying it had "exhausted all the conciliatory avenues with US authorities."
■ United States
Contractor admits to bribery
A defense contractor pleaded guilty on Friday to paying a California congressman more than US$1 million in bribes and to hiring the son of a Pentagon official in a scheme that helped bring his firm more than US$150 million in defense contracts since 2002. The contractor, Mitchell Wade, founder and former president of MZM Inc in Washington, admitted in an appearance before Judge Ricardo Urbina of the US District Court that he bribed the congressman, former Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a Republican from California, with cash, cars and antiques.
■ United States
Turkey-calling contest starts
Gobbles, clucks and coos spill out of the grand ballrooms, but there are no live turkeys on the floor of the Opryland Convention Center. Instead, about 150 men, women and children are doing their best imitations at the championship of turkey calling, the annual Grand National Wild Turkey Calling championships. The National Wild Turkey Federation Convention that began this week brings some 40,000 hunters and exhibitors from across the nation to Nashville, but the spotlight is on the turkey callers. "When you get up on that stage, you're nervous," said three-time champion Jim Pollard from Heflin, Alabama.
■ United States
Dog tale tops bestseller list
The tale of a rambunctious puppy is proving its staying power in the dog-eat-dog world of US best-sellers. With more than 1 million copies in print, Marley and Me -- Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog has struck a chord with dog lovers who are laughing and crying over author John Grogan's account of his yellow Labrador retriever. The story is more than a recounting of Marley's antics that include chewing through doors, expulsion from obedience school, clawing paint off concrete walls, devouring furniture, swallowing valuable jewelry and swooning over soiled diapers.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia