■ 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.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in 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
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was