■ Australia
Steve Irwin has his Way
Officials have renamed a stretch of road in honor of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, who died last year after being attacked by a stingray. On Monday, the Department of Main Roads in Irwin's home state of Queensland officially renamed Glasshouse Mountains Road to Steve Irwin Way in memory of the slain adventurer and television personality. The road runs in front of Irwin's popular wildlife park, Australia Zoo. Irwin, 44, died in September after being stabbed in the chest by a stingray's poisonous barb while filming a documentary on the Great Barrier Reef.
■ Cambodia
Man nabbed for child abuse
A US citizen has been arrested for allegedly sexually abusing two Cambodian girls, police said yesterday. Roger Green, 59, was detained on Monday evening when police raided his hotel room and discovered the girls, aged 11 and 12. Stuffed toy animals were also found in the hotel room. Green, from Tennessee, will be formally charged tomorrow. Cambodia has struggled to shed its reputation as a haven for pedophiles, putting dozens of foreigners in jail for their crimes or deporting them to face trial at home.
■ South Korea
Lee Myung-bak is back
A former mayor of Seoul has a commanding lead in the race for president of South Korea, newspaper polls showed, as voter dissatisfaction with President Roh Moo-hyun and his ruling party remained high a year before the election. Lee Myung-bak, a Hyundai CEO-turned-politician with the Grand National Party, had about twice the support of distant runner-up and former GNP chairwoman, Park Geun-hye.
■ China
Traffic kills 245 daily
More than 89,000 people were killed in traffic accidents last year, amounting to 245 per day. The figure was down 9.4 percent compared with 2005, Xinhua news agency said yesterday. Out of the total for last year, 76,000 deaths were caused by speeding, drunk driving or other traffic violations. The country's roads are seen as among the most dangerous in the world, with the WHO warning that the government may be massively under-reporting road fatalities. The WHO has said fatalities may be more than twice the official number, as official figures come from police reports and not from hospitals or medical clinics.
■ Philippines
Terrorists hiding on Jolo
At least five members of the Jemaah Islamiya (JI) terrorist group, including two Bali bombers, are hiding with Muslim extremists in the south of the country, a military official said yesterday. Brigadier General Juancho Sabban said they are being sheltered by the Abu Sayyaf group on Jolo, a southern island. He said military intelligence confirmed the presence of the five JI members. Two are wanted for involvement in the Bali bombing that killed more than 200 in 2002.
■ India
Fog grounds planes, trains
Thick fog wreaked havoc on New Delhi's transport systems yesterday, canceling and delaying nearly 150 flights and dozens of trains. An airport spokesman said problems began late on Sunday when visibility started to worsen because of fog. Aviation officials say many pilots are not trained to fly in poor weather. Low temperatures of around 4oC have killed at least 27 people, most of them homeless, over the last month.
■ Israel
Tag triggers uproar
Crowds trashed a prison vehicle in a row over the electronic tagging of an Orthodox Jewish man, the Yediot Aharonot reported yesterday. Prison officers went to Bnei Brak -- a stronghold of Haredi Judaism, the most conservative branch of the Jewish faith -- after they stopped receiving signals from the high-tech device that local rabbis decreed could not be worn on a Saturday, the Jewish sabbath, the newspaper said. Confronted by an angry mob, the prison officers fled on foot, leaving their vehicle to be smashed and overturned. The man had been tagged as a form of house arrest for his role in a recent violent protest against a proposed gay pride parade in Jerusalem.
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