■ Kazakhstan
Man put in coffin during raid
Burglars locked a funeral parlor employee in a coffin and kept him there unconscious while rummaging for cash in the shop. Serik Sarsenbayev said he was on his own late at night when two masked burglars burst into the parlor and beat him until he fainted. The thieves then nailed him into a wooden coffin and carried on their search for a money safe, he said by telephone from the steppe town of Temirtau. He was later freed by the driver of the parlor's hearse. The thieves made away with the equivalent of US$23,000 and remain at large, the daily Express K reported.
■ Hong Kong
Soldier fined over theft
A Chinese soldier stationed in the territory has been fined for stealing a Mickey Mouse key ring from Disneyland, a court document showed. Tsuen Wan Magistrates' Court charged Zhang Qinggang, 27, with theft and ordered him to pay HK$1,000 (US$129) for pocketing the HK$35 key ring from a shop at the theme park in January, the document issued Friday showed. Zhang, a member of the People's Liberation Army, was shopping at the theme park with his wife when a security guard spotted him slipping the key ring into a carrier bag, the Ming Pao Daily reported yesterday.
■ Australia
`Bloody' ads back on TV
British television regulators have lifted their ban on an Australian tourism advertising campaign built around the slogan "Where the bloody hell are you?" officials said yesterday. The regulator last week stepped in to prevent television airing the ads because of their use of the word "bloody." The ban sparked a storm of ridicule in Australia, which dispatched Tourism Minister Fran Bailey to London to defend the campaign. Bailey said she pointed out in meetings with British officials that the word "bloody" had been used in British television advertisements before and that research found "bloody" was not regarded as offensive in Britain. "My faith in the British sense of humor has been restored," she said.
■ Philippines
Activist's release ordered
A government prosecutor has ordered the release of a former Cabinet secretary and an activist who were arrested in an alleged illegal protest against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, one of the detainees said yesterday. Police on Friday arrested former Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman and Vicente Romano, leader of the Black and White Movement, for leading a silent protest in Manila. The Black and White Movement is a prominent group of resigned Arroyo Cabinet members and opposition leaders. Soliman said the prosecutor ordered their release around midnight on Friday, telling them authorities would conduct further investigation into charges they violated a law against holding a rally without a permit.
■ India
Danish visit postponed
A visit by Denmark's prime minister has been delayed, an Indian foreign ministry official said yesterday, amid reports New Delhi feared the trip could provoke renewed anti-Danish protests by Muslims. The official, who would not be named, said the visit though not yet announced had been delayed but he was unable to give details or reasons. Newspapers said the Danish government had agreed, at New Delhi's request, to delay Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's visit which the reports said was due to begin on April 2.
■ Sweden
Dismemberer confesses
A man was remanded in custody on Friday after confessing to murdering and dismembering his girlfriend and dumping her body parts in an ice-covered lake. The 31-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday, after a witness told police he spotted him cutting a hole in the ice of the Yngern lake south of Stockholm on Tuesday night and dumping plastic bags into the water. Police later found the bags contained the dismembered body of a woman. The suspect confessed to the crime during a detention hearing on Friday.
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