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World News Quick Take

■ China
Pajama roamers irritate
People wearing pajamas in public, still a common sight in Shanghai, is one of the most irritating aspects of life in China's biggest city, according to an opinion poll of residents. The survey found that pajama-wearing on the streets and in public places such as shops, banks and parks is among the most uncivilized things in the city, along with aggressive pets, unhelpful neighbors and disregard for the natural environment. More than 16 percent of respondents said they or family members often donned pajamas in public, and 25 percent reported they sometimes did, Yang Xiong, a professor who helped conduct the poll, said on Wednesday.

■ Bangladesh
Storm toll nears 100
The death toll from three days of storms in Bangladesh and India rose to at least 95 after rescuers recovered 30 more bodies along the Bay of Bengal, while hundreds remain missing, news reports and officials said yesterday. The storms have capsized dozens of fishing boats, toppled houses and washed away roads. Rescuers recovered 30 more bodies overnight, pushing the death toll to 49 after sudden storms hit the tropical nation's southern coast on Tuesday, rescue officials said. Nearly 1,000 people, including a naval commander, are missing, the officials said on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to media. Rough weather was hampering the search for the missing, they said. In neighboring India, storms since Monday killed at least 46 people and injured hundreds of others, Indian officials and media reports said. At least 15 were killed and 300 others injured when a cyclone hit India's West Bengal State, Press Trust of India news agency reported.
■ Australia
Six nabbed in coke haul
Six men linked to an international drugs syndicate have been arrested for trying to smuggle in cocaine worth A$35 million (US$26 million) from Canada, police said yesterday. The 135km cache was hidden inside a shipment of 420 computer monitors intercepted by customs officials in Brisbane. The container also held 120,000 ecstasy tablets worth an estimated A$3.5 million, police said. Five men were arrested on Wednesday night after trying to access the container at a warehouse and another was nabbed in Sydney.

■ China
Cosmetic sales group a `cult'
Police have busted a "cult-like" pyramid sales scam involving up to 500,000 people that amassed 2 billion yuan (US$250 million), the People's Daily reported on its Web site yesterday. The scheme, which began by selling women's make-up, was masterminded by a 30-year-old post-doctoral student who ran operations largely through the Internet, the report said. "Direct sales organizers, in order to meet sales goals, are repeatedly brainwashing their sales representatives and using illegal and distorted cult methods of mental control," the site quoted Assistant Public Security Minister Zheng Shaodong (鄭少東) as saying. The report said police had arrested 33 suspects.

■ Japan
Teachers win lawsuit
Hundreds of teachers won a lawsuit yesterday against Tokyo city's orders to raise the national flag and sing an anthem to the emperor at school ceremonies. The Tokyo District Court ruled that a 2003 directive which threatened teachers with punishment for not recognizing the national anthem and flag violated the Constitution.


■ United Kingdom
Terror suspect in court
A 26-year-old man charged with terrorism offenses was due to appear before a court in London yesterday in the latest case stemming from heightened security across the country. Habib Ahmed, from Manchester, is accused of collecting information about potential terrorist targets and traveling to Pakistan earlier this year for terrorism training, police said. No further details were given, but the charges were not believed to be linked either with last year's suicide bombings in London or the recently uncovered plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners. He was arrested on Aug. 23.

■ Canada
TV head quits over remarks
The chairman of the publicly funded Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC) has resigned after remarks about bestiality and ruminations about defecation, Heritage Minister Bev Oda said on Tuesday. Guy Fournier created an uproar in Canada's Lebanese community and in the media when he claimed that Lebanon allowed men to have sexual relations with female animals, but reserved the death penalty for those who did so with male animals. In comments made in May, and replayed in a CBC weekend interview, he talked at length about the joys of bowel movements.

■ United States
Alleged child killer indicted
A man accused of killing a 10-year-old girl and nearly severing her head as part of a cannibalistic plot was arraigned on Wednesday on first-degree murder. Kevin Ray Underwood, 26, showed no reaction as District Judge Candace Blalock read the charge and set a tentative trial date of May 7. After Underwood's arrest, police and prosecutors revealed grisly details of the crime, saying Underwood raped the girl's corpse and planned to eat her flesh. Underwood is accused of smothering Jamie Rose Bolin, his neighbor in an apartment complex in Purcell, a suburb 64km south of Oklahoma City. Pro-secutors are seeking the death penalty.

■ Canada
Hardcore gamer arrested
A man's apparent fondness for the video game Grand Theft Auto has led to his arrest in connection with an auto theft, police said on Wednesday. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Shylo Kujawski -- who has the game's name prominently tattooed on his back -- was spotted acting suspiciously in a Vancouver suburb where several car thefts had been reported. Using the tattoo to identify Kujawski as a convicted auto thief, police said they then set up a stakeout that nabbed him attempting to drive away in a stolen car. Police said during the stakeout they also watched Kujawski thwart his own attempt to drive away in a stolen vehicle by accidentally disabling the car with the owner's steering wheel lock.

■ Germany
Terror database authorized
Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet has agreed on legislation to create a new anti-terrorism database that officials hope will lead to better cooperation and information sharing between police and security agencies, an official said on Wednesday. "The draft legislation represents an important contribution to the fight against international terrorism," government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told a news conference. "The work of German security agencies will be supported by the database in a targeted way," he said.


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