■ Japan
Suicidal wife kills husband
A 42-year-old woman in central Japan was arrested on Saturday for allegedly killing her husband after he tried to stop her from committing suicide, officials said. Police arrested the woman after her husband died from a stab in his chest, according to police official Masatoshi Sakata in Anjo City in Aichi Prefecture. The couple's younger daughter saw her father trying to stop her mother from killing herself with a small knife, Sakata said. Soon the parents of the husband joined him trying to stop the woman from jumping from a window on the second floor of their house, the police official said. The husband, Toshihiko Yamamoto, 46, collapsed after apparently being stabbed by his wife in the chest and he was confirmed dead at a hospital, he said.
■ Australia
Cosmetic surgery law mulled
Shocked by an apparent rise in the number of teens seeking breast implants, Botox injections and nose jobs, the leader of the nation's most populous state has said new laws are needed to make it harder for young people to go under the knife. New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma told the Sunday Telegraph that the number of people under 18 seeking cosmetic surgery had recently gotten out of hand. "It used to be the case that the biggest question parents faced was whether to give their children permission to have their ears pierced," Iemma told the paper.
■ Malaysia
Would-be gigolos conned
Men are being conned by newspaper ads supposedly searching for male gigolos to service Western and Middle Eastern women, newspapers reported yesterday. The New Straits Times said men had gone into debt with loan sharks in order to pay deposits to a recruitment agent who promised them a lucrative job as a male escort. "I worked out in a gym to make sure I looked good, and was strong for my clients. I even drank lots of essence of chicken," lamented a victim of the scam who identified himself only as "Martin." He said he had waited for hours to see a nonexistent client in a hotel room and had gone into hiding after borrowing his 1,000 ringgit (US$270) deposit from loan sharks who he was unable to repay.
■ East Timor
US hospital ship arrives
US naval hospital ship the USS Mercy arrived yesterday off the capital, Dili, to provide humanitarian and civic assistance to the people of the impoverished country, an embassy statement said. "[The ship] will provide a broad range of assistance to include specialized surgical procedures, general medical and dental support, and training opportunities to host nation health care providers," the statement said.
■ Australia
Cryonics center approved
A biologist has won approval from health authorities to build the region's first cryonics center for freezing people when they die in the hope of revival in the future, reports said yesterday. Philip Rhoades, 54, told the Herald Sun newspaper it was believed to be only the third such center in the world, and that he and his family would be among the first to be frozen in minus 150oC liquid nitrogen. Rhoades has already spent A$650,000 (US$490,000) developing plans for underground storage at Cowra, about 200km west of Sydney. He said there was a need for a cryonics center in Australia because religious fundamentalists could sabotage established operations in the US or the US government might outlaw the process.
■ United States
Chase leaves police carless
A man led police on a destructive chase and crashed his van into 10 police cars, leaving one small town without enough cars for its officers on duty, officials said. By the time officers stopped Jeffrey Bean in Minnesota, eight squad cars from Grand Forks and two from East Grand Forks were damaged, Grand Forks Police Sergeant Roger Pohlman said. Damage to the Grand Forks squad cars totaled more than US$26,000 and the department doesn't have enough vehicles now for all officers on duty, he said. "Right now, our day shift has enough vehicles. Our night shifts are doubling up," Pohlman said.
■ Finland
Phone throwers compete
Lassi Etelaetalo beat out a slew of competitors to win the World Mobile Phone Throwing Championships title in Savonlinna, on Saturday, tossing his handset 89m organizers said. Etelaetalo fell short of the world record of 94.97m set last year. Phone throwers can compete in the "original" category, a straight over-arm pitch where length is the main factor, and in "freestyle", where points are also given for style, costume and character, as well as general sobriety. Organizers say the event is "the only sport where you can pay back all the frustration and disappointments caused by this modern equipment."
■ France
Bear turns up dead
The first of five bears released into the French Pyrenees as part of a repopulation program was found dead, the Agriculture Ministry announced on Saturday. Hikers found the body of Palouma, an 83kg female bear captured in Slovenia and released in the mountainous region of southwestern France in April, at the bottom of a rocky outcropping on Friday. The Agriculture Ministry said the bear's death appeared to be the result of an accident. The animal likely died several days ago, the ministry said.
■ Turkey
Escaped python found
A 6m python, which went missing from Ankara Zoo two months ago has finally been found napping near its cage, newspapers reported on Saturday. The python disappeared on June 10 after a security guard opened the hole used to feed the snake because the animal seemed to be in discomfort and walked away without shutting it. An extensive search of the zoo grounds, with thermal cameras, turned up nothing and a Cabinet minister suggested at the time that the snake might have ended up in a kebab merchant's meat grinder and advised against eating shish kebab. On Thursday, zoo officials finally located the animal sleeping in the ventilation shaft of its cage when they noticed discarded snake skin outside the shaft, reports said.
■ United Kingdom
Boy quizzed over assault
Police in England arrested an 11-year-old boy on Saturday in connection with an assault with a building brick on a four-year-old boy which left him with a fractured skull. Humberside Police said the 11-year-old had been arrested on suspicion of assault on Charlie Davis, who has been in hospital since Thursday when he was found in a pool of blood on wasteland near his home in the city of Hull. "He has been interviewed by detectives and he's now been released on police bail until a date in mid-September," a police spokesman said. "This is to allow officers to make further inquiries into the incident."
■ Uganda
Truce agreement reached
The government and Lord's Resistance Army rebels agreed on Saturday to a truce aimed at bringing an end to a brutal 19-year conflict that has left thousands dead, officials said. The truce, reached during peace talks in Juba in southern Sudan, is to go into effect early tomorrow, officials said. Both sides agreed to lay down their arms while negotiators work on a more detailed peace deal and a permanent ceasefire to end one of Africa's longest-running wars. "We are happy, and now we will continue working for a comprehensive peace agreement," government spokesman Paddy Ankunda said.
■ United Kingdom
Carter: Blair is `subservient'
Former US president Jimmy Carter lashed out at British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday for being "so compliant and subservient" to US President George W Bush's administration in Washington. "I have been surprised and extremely disappointed with Tony Blair's behavior," Carter told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper as he promoted his new book Faith and Freedom. "I think that, more than any other person in the world, the prime minister could have had a moderating influence on Washington, and he has not," the 81-year-old Carter said.
■ United States
Lightning delays shuttle
NASA officials have decided to delay the launch of space shuttle Atlantis by 24 hours to give engineers more time to determine whether a lightning strike at the Kennedy Space Center launch pad caused any problems. The launch, planned for yesterday, now will not happen until at least today. It was the first time a lightning strike had caused a shuttle launch delay. The lightning on Friday did not hit the shuttle itself, NASA managers said.
■ Mauritania
Bodies washed ashore
Dozens of illegal immigrants were feared drowned after 14 bodies washed ashore on Saturday, while another 179 people heading to the Spanish Canary Islands were rescued before their boats sank, a police official said. The 14 dead were found on the beaches of the capital Nouakchott, probably after their boat capsized, police speculated. There are probably "more bodies in the ocean and we must monitor the beaches, as the boats usually carry 90 to 96 people," the police official said.
■ United States
Man goes on shooting spree
A gunman on a cocaine and alcohol binge killed one man and wounded two others in a series of drive-by shootings in New York's Queens district, prompting a massive manhunt that ended when he surrendered peacefully after police stopped his car, authorities said. Three other people were injured by flying glass, including an off-duty police lieutenant, during the rampage by Matthew Colletta, 34, said police spokesman Sargent Kevin Hayes. Colletta was arrested early on Saturday.
■ United Kingdom
No cash for attacks abroad
British holidaymakers will not receive compensation if they are injured in a future terrorist attack overseas, the government said -- a decision that contradicts assurances from Prime Minister Tony Blair that he was seeking to extend the amount of money given to UK victims abroad. Lawyers representing British victims of last summer's attacks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh said the move discriminated against those caught up in incidents abroad compared with those wounded in the UK.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia