■ Vietnam
Bird flu detected
Bird flu has been detected in poultry for the second time this month, igniting fears of a possible resurgence of the H5N1 virus in the country that has been touted for beating it back, officials said yesterday. The virus was found in one duck in the southern Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre, Mai Van Hiep, director of the provincial animal health bureau said, adding it was among eight samples taken from a farm of 45 ducks in Thanh Phu town. All the ducks, none of which showed any sign of bird flu symptoms, were destroyed yesterday morning, Hiep said. The farm was disinfected, he added.
■ Vietnam
Robber joined police force
A convicted robber who escaped from prison 20 years ago chose a sly way to hide from the law -- inside the police force and as a member of the ruling Communist Party. A police newspaper reported on Friday that Ngo Thanh Tam, 51, was re-arrested on Tuesday, two decades after joining the police under a false identity in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong. The Capital Security newspaper described Tam as a "dangerous criminal" on the national wanted list. After his arrest he was purged from the party, which he joined in June.
■ United Kingdom
HIV drug could fight cancer
A commonly used HIV medicine may also help prevent cervical cancer and could be developed into an anti-cancer cream, early laboratory tests by scientists suggest. Researchers at the University of Manchester said on Friday that test-tube studies showed the drug lopinavir selectively killed human papilloma virus (HPV) -- the virus that causes cervical cancer -- as well as HIV.
■ Bolivia
Morales chides `dinosaurs'
President Evo Morales used the ribbon-cutting ceremony of a dinosaur theme park on Friday to take a gentle dig at opponents of his leftist policies. High on a hill outside the colonial former capital of Sucre, Cretaceous Park includes one of the world's largest and best-preserved collections of dinosaur tracks. "When we were first invited here to see this Cretaceous Park, I didn't understand what they were talking about," Morales deadpanned to a crowd of dignitaries at the opening. "And so they told me there were dinosaurs here. Well, so many people talk about political dinosaurs, I thought maybe I'd see monuments to those old politicians here." Morales often chides his conservative opponents for resisting social reforms.
■ United Kingdom
Webcam foils robbery
An American helped foil a burglary in northern England whilst watching a Beatles-related Webcam over the Internet, police said on Friday. The man from Dallas was using a live camera link to look at Mathew Street, an area of Liverpool synonymous with the Beatles and home to the Cavern Club where the band regularly played. He saw intruders apparently breaking into a sports store and alerted local police. "We did get a call from someone in Dallas who was watching on a Webcam that looks into the tourist areas, of which Mathew Street is one because of all the Beatles stuff," a Merseyside Police spokeswoman said. "He called directly through to police here," she said.
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