■ China
No more torture for police
Beijing has introduced a new law banning police from using torture to extract confessions, state media said on Tuesday. The Law on Penalties for Offenses against Public Order, which took effect yesterday, also bars evidence obtained with threats from being used to pursue prosecutions, the Xinhua news agency said. Ke Liangdong, director of the legal affairs bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, was quoted as saying the law stipulated an "illegal evidence exclusion principle" that "evidence obtained by torture, threatening or cheating could not be used as the basis for penalties."
■ Australia
Poisoning suspect nabbed
Brisbane police arrested a 57-year-old woman yesterday for allegedly putting rat poison pellets in a salad bar at a Sizzler restaurant. The woman will be charged with contaminating goods, a police inspector said. The arrest follows two incidents in which green pellets were allegedly found in salad bars at two Sizzler restaurants in Brisbane. Police said at least one set of pellets tested positive as rat poison. Police did say if anyone fell ill from the alleged poisoning. Sizzler Australia closed all of its self-serve soup and salad bars on Tuesday as a precaution.
■ Hong Kong
Surgeon told to take classes
A plastic surgeon has been ordered to undergo retraining after a 70-year-old woman died during liposuction on her stomach, the South China Morning Post reported yesterday. Lam King-fong was undergoing her 17th plastic surgery in August 2003 when she fell unconscious. She died on her way to hospital. Dr. Frankin Li told the inquest that Lam, who wore a wig, had never told him her age.
■ Japan
Men big on girdles
As waistlines expand, so does the market for girdles -- for men. A new line of male underwear that flattens the stomach and lifts the hips proved so popular when introduced on a trial basis last month that some stores quickly sold out. "Men are getting so much more fashion conscious these days that they're starting to pay attention to the lines of their body and their silhouette, just like women," said a spokeswoman at Triumph International Japan, a leading underwear firm. Triumph marketed two different types of "long girdle" -- one from the navel to the knees, and the other a "hip hugger" version to be worn with low-waisted pants.
■ Hong Kong
`Spiderman' convicted
A British resident was convicted yesterday of causing a public nuisance when he dressed up as Spiderman and scaled a giant TV screen to protest Beijing's bloody 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators. Matt James Pearce, 30, an English teacher from Bristol, England, was accused of disrupting traffic and business for nearby shopkeepers when he protested atop a giant LCD advertising screen on June 3 last year -- the eve of the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. Pearce, who pleaded innocent to the charge, unfurled a banner reading: "Tiananmen Square June 4th 1989: Justice Must Prevail" and attracted a massive crowd of onlookers.
■ Singapore
Fertility hotline opened
A new hotline was opened yesterday for couples unable to conceive, but too embarrassed to directly ask doctors. Biotech company Serono, specializing in reproductive health, launched the service in English, Mandarin and Malay. It provides information and counseling to anyone who wants to know about fertility, treatment, financial implications and fertility centers. "The hotline is operated by experienced, retired nurses, who will refer callers to relevant fertility centers for help," a Serono spokesman said. The hotline also aims to dispel myths and tackle questions that the public may find too personal to ask of anyone, even those closest to them.
RSS