■ Thailand
Kickboxing apes to go home
More than 50 orangutans which were smuggled into the country to perform in kickboxing matches may finally return to their home countries two years after the government seized them, an official said on Tuesday. Talks are to be held with Malaysia and Indonesia later this week to determine where they should go, the deputy chief of Thai national parks said. "During the meeting we will finally decide which country the 54 orangutans will return to," Chawann Tunhikorn said. The orangutans were trained to fight each other in kickboxing matches for spectators at a zoo. The government seized the 57 and took them to the Khao Pratap Chang wildlife preserve.
■ Hong Kong
Expats in exodus
The expatriate population has slumped by 14 percent with a particularly sharp drop in the number of Britons living in the former colony, a news report said yesterday. The number of US, British, Canadian and Australian expatriates in the city of 6.8 million fell from 93,000 to 79,190 last year, according to the South China Morning Post. The biggest decline was among British expatriates, whose numbers fell by 24 percent from 17,780 in 2004 to 13,490. The figures do not include permanent residents, who have settled in Hong Kong after living in the city for seven years or more. The figures follow surveys indicating that Hong Kong is becoming less attractive as a destination for expatriates because of its worsening air pollution and a general decline in overseas pay packages in recent years.
■ Pakistan
Cleric, driver killed in attack
Unidentified gunmen ambushed a car carrying a minority Shiite Muslim cleric in eastern Pakistan, killing him along with his driver before fleeing, police said yesterday. Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack late on Tuesday on the cleric, Fazal Alvi, in Faisalabad, an industrial city about 300km east of Multan, and police said they had launched an investigation. "So far we only know that two terrorists shot and killed Fazal Alvi and his driver when he was going to his home," said Nisar Waqar, an area police chief. The cleric's car caught fire after the attack and police found only two charred bodies inside, he said.
■ China
Human bird flu case reported
China has reported its 17th human case of the H5N1 strain of bird flu since November in a 21-year-old security guard from the central city of Wuhan, according to the WHO. The man was confirmed on Tuesday to have the virus, but the source of his exposure is still under investigation, said Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, a spokeswoman for the WHO's Beijing office. He became sick on April 1 and was hospitalized in critical condition with a high fever, she said. Eleven people in China have died from the disease.
■ New Zealand
Two charged over killing
Two Chinese men appeared in court yesterday charged in the death of a Chinese student whose body was found last week stuffed in a suitcase and floating in Auckland harbor. The body of 19-year-old Wan Biao, from Yiwu in China's Zhejiang Province, was found last Friday with multiple injuries. He was believed to have been dead for about 24 hours. A 21-year-old student appeared in Auckland District Court charged with Wan's kidnap and murder. An unemployed 21-year-old man also appeared, charged with being an accessory to murder for allegedly tampering with evidence.
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