■ India
Seahorse aphrodisiac tested
Indian scientists are hoping to discover once and for all whether seahorses are an aphrodisiac, a myth that has made the creatures a major hunting target for centuries and an endangered species. Seahorses have been eaten for more than 2,000 years and, as well as being a traditional way of improving sex-drive, are also thought to help respiratory problems. Now the National Institute of Oceanography in seaside Goa is teaming up with the National Centre for Cell Sciences to try to unravel the seahorse's mysteries.
■ Japan
War orphans win in court
A court yesterday ordered the government to pay compensation to scores of Japanese who were left behind in China as children in the closing days of World War II. It was the first ruling to blame the government for failing to take steps quickly to repatriate nationals and help them resettle in their homeland. The court ordered the central government to pay about US$4 million in compensation to 61 "war orphans." Japan sent some 320,000 settlers to Manchuria after its troops began occupying the province in 1931 and brought Henry Pu Yi (溥儀), who had abdicated as the Qing dynasty emperor 20 years earlier, out of seclusion to become the puppet emperor.
■ Malaysia
Policeman turned to crime
A former elite Malaysian policeman was shot and killed after robbing a petrol station and attempting to flee with 50,000 ringgit (US$13,700) in cash, reports said yesterday. The New Straits Times said that Stephen Yau, a one-time member of the elite Special Action Squad, was identified as the culprit in Wednesday's robbery in the capital, during which he was shot twice and died soon after. Yau had saved numerous lives while on the elite squad and received several recommendation letters before quitting in 1994, but had turned to crime to fund his taste for high living, the daily reported.
■ China
Pee before you board
An airline has calculated that it takes a liter of fuel to flush the toilet at 9,144m and is urging passengers to go to the bathroom before they board. As airlines come under increasing pressure to cut fuel expenditures, China Southern's latest strategy is to encourage passengers "to spend their pennies before boarding the aircraft," Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday. "The energy used in one flush is enough for an economical car to run at least 10km," Captain Liu Zhiyuan, who flies regularly between Hangzhou and Beijing, was quoted as saying.
■ United Kingdom
Diana report almost ready
The official report into the death of Princess Diana, which is widely expected to conclude that the 1997 Paris car crash that killed her was an accident, will be published on Dec. 14, the BBC reported on Thursday. Police, who will release the report, refused to confirm the release date. The report is the result of a three-year inquiry into the crash by former Metropolitan Police chief Lord Stevens. The inquiry, which is estimated to have cost as much as ?4 million (US$7.2 million), employed cutting-edge computer technology to reconstruct the crash scene.
■ United Kingdom
Preteen daters like a smoke
Children who start dating before their teens are at least twice as likely as other youngsters to become smokers, researchers said yesterday. The link was particularly strong in preteen girls who are increasingly taking up the habit. The results of the study published in the journal Addiction are troubling because most adult smokers started when they were adolescents and efforts to prompt them to quit, or to prevent children from starting, have had limited success.
■ United States
Man saved from alligator
Deputies rescued a naked man from the jaws of a nearly 3.6m alligator on Wednesday, saying the man was high on crack cocaine. Polk County, Florida, deputies responded to multiple calls about a man yelling for help at about 4am. They could not shoot the animal because it was too dark, the sheriff's office said. Adrian Apgar, 45, was taken to the hospital in critical condition with his left arm hanging by a tendon. He also had an apparent broken right arm and leg injuries. Four deputies struggled to get the 113kg man out of the water and thick brush, even after the alligator let Apgar loose.
■ Germany
Spray-on condoms coming
German sex educators plan to launch a spray-on condom tailor-made for all sizes. Jan Vinzenz Krause from the Institute for Condom Consultancy, a Singen-based practice that offers advice on condom use, said on Thursday the product aimed to help people enjoy better and safer sex lives. "We're trying to develop the perfect condom for men that's suited to every size of penis," he said. Krause's team is developing a type of spray can into which the man inserts his penis first. At the push of a button it is then coated in a rubber condom. Krause hopes the high tech condom, which will be available in different strengths and colors, will be on the market by 2008.
■ South Africa
Gay marriage legalized
With the deputy president's signature on a new law, the country on Thursday became the first in Africa to legalize same sex marriages. The Civil Union Act entered into force on the eve of yesterday's deadline set by the Constitutional Court for the government to change its marriage legislation to ensure full equality for gays and lesbians. The legislation made it through parliament despite opposition from many church groups and traditional leaders, who said it violated African culture. Gay rights groups have welcomed the law, although they criticized provisions allowing marriage officers to turn away gay couples if their consciences prevented them from marrying them. The nation's constitution is also the first in the world to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
China would train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction,” its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪) told an annual global security forum. Wang made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organizations such as Interpol. The forum is part of ongoing