■ 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.
MONEY MATTERS: Xi was to highlight projects such as a new high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest, as Serbia is entirely open to Chinese trade and investment Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic yesterday said that “Taiwan is China” as he made a speech welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Belgrade, state broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) said. “We have a clear and simple position regarding Chinese territorial integrity,” he told a crowd outside the government offices while Xi applauded him. “Yes, Taiwan is China.” Xi landed in Belgrade on Tuesday night on the second leg of his European tour, and was greeted by Vucic and most government ministers. Xi had just completed a two-day trip to France, where he held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as the
With the midday sun blazing, an experimental orange and white F-16 fighter jet launched with a familiar roar that is a hallmark of US airpower, but the aerial combat that followed was unlike any other: This F-16 was controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), not a human pilot, and riding in the front seat was US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall. AI marks one of the biggest advances in military aviation since the introduction of stealth in the early 1990s, and the US Air Force has aggressively leaned in. Even though the technology is not fully developed, the service is planning
INTERNATIONAL PROBE: Australian and US authorities were helping coordinate the investigation of the case, which follows the 2015 murder of Australian surfers in Mexico Three bodies were found in Mexico’s Baja California state, the FBI said on Friday, days after two Australians and an American went missing during a surfing trip in an area hit by cartel violence. Authorities used a pulley system to hoist what appeared to be lifeless bodies covered in mud from a shaft on a cliff high above the Pacific. “We confirm there were three individuals found deceased in Santo Tomas, Baja California,” a statement from the FBI’s office in San Diego, California, said without providing the identities of the victims. Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter
CUSTOMS DUTIES: France’s cognac industry was closely watching the talks, fearing that an anti-dumping investigation opened by China is retaliation for trade tensions French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at one of his beloved childhood haunts in the Pyrenees, seeking to press a message to Beijing not to support Russia’s war against Ukraine and to accept fairer trade. The first day of Xi’s state visit to France, his first to Europe since 2019, saw respectful, but sometimes robust exchanges between the two men during a succession of talks on Monday. Macron, joined initially by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urged Xi not to allow the export of any technology that could be used by Russia in its invasion