■ China
Factory fire kills nine
A fire at a Taiwanese-invested factory producing touch-panel electronic devices in Shenzhen killed nine workers and injured 10, state media reported. The fatal blaze on Sunday was the second serious factory fire in less than a month in the booming manufacturing city. The official Xinhua news agency reported that 235 workers were evacuated after the fire broke out in the afternoon at the four-story Yanghua Hi-tech Factory. It said 10 were injured, with one in a serious condition.
■ China
Fog causes giant collision
Heavy fog caused a chain collision of 80 vehicles and left 10 people dead on a highway in south China on Sunday, the Xinhua news agency reported. The accident occurred around 8am outside the city of Nanchang, 1,300km south of Beijing, and snarled traffic for thousands of vehicles, Xinhua said. The report did not provide further details on how the pile-up began or whether there were casualties other than the 10 who died.
■ China
Pyramid scheme broken
Authorities have broken up a pyramid scheme based in Beijing that swindled more than 20,000 people nationwide out of more than 1.6 billion yuan (US$206 million), state media reported on Sunday. The Yilin Wood Company had cheated investors by promising them high returns on sales of woodland property through a pyramid-selling model, Xinhua news agency said. Xinhua said it was the largest pyramid scheme ever discovered in the Chinese capital. Eighteen people were arrested as part of the operation.
■ Philippines
Pants stunt earns jail time
A 66-year-old German tourist, annoyed by stringent security at Manila's airport, dropped his pants before walking through an X-ray machine last Friday, newspapers reported yesterday. Authorities were not amused. Instead of boarding a flight to Frankfurt, Hans Jurgen Oskar von Naguschewski was detained after police filed a complaint of lasciviousness against him, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and the Philippine Star reported. "He must have been annoyed that he was asked to walk through the X-ray twice so he took off his pants," airport security chief Angel Atutubo was quoted as saying. The man spent the weekend in police detention and was to face the prosecutor yesterday.
■ New Zealand
Ships clash in Antarctic
A whale conservation boat in Antarctic waters collided twice with a Japanese whale-spotting vessel yesterday, the Sea Shepherd anti-whaling group said. Paul Watson, the founder of the conservation group, said the Sea Shepherd ship, Robert Hunter, was hit twice by the Kaiko Maru yesterday after the conservationists tried to stop the Japanese ship from reaching a pod of whales. The Robert Hunter sustained a 1m gash in the hull above the water line, but no one aboard the ship was injured, Watson said. The Kaiko Maru then issued a distress signal, with the Japanese crew indicating the ship had a propeller problem, which was "vibrating," Watson said. "We responded to the distress call and offered to send down a diver, but the Japanese did not respond, he said.
■ Thailand
Rules to love by
The Culture Ministry has issued what it calls the "10 Commandments of Love" to encourage teens not to get too carried away with romance while celebrating Valentine's Day. The first commandment: "Love with patience, so as not to become a young parent." The fourth urges youths to love carefully "to avoid the risk of sexually transmitted diseases." "When you are young and in love you lack experience and can't tell the difference between love and lust," Culture Ministry official Ladda Tangsuphachai said yesterday. "We want to provide some guidance." Sex isn't the only subject covered by the commandments, which were released on Sunday. They also encourage monogamy, respect, trust and forgiveness.
■ Sri Lanka
Navy kills eight rebels
The navy said it had destroyed a separatist rebel boat yesterday, killing at least eight insurgents off the nation's east coast. One boat was destroyed and another recovered, along with a body and weapons, navy spokesman Commander D.K.P. Dassanayake said. He said the sea clash broke out after the navy spotted two suspicious boats in a restricted area off the coast of the eastern town of Pulmoddai, about 225km from Colombo, at dawn yesterday. No insurgent Tamil Tiger rebels survived the battle, Dassanayake said.
■ Pakistan
Quake rattles capital
A moderate earthquake rattled Pakistan's capital and areas in the country's northwest on Sunday, an official said. No casualties or damage were reported. The magnitude 5 quake, which struck at 8:05pm, was felt in the capital Islamabad, the city of Peshawar in the northwest and in Chitral, an isolated town near the border with Afghanistan, the state-run Seismological Center in Peshawar said. The quake was centered in the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan, it said.
■ Sweden
`Doomsday' scientist dies
Bent Skovmand, a world-renowned plant scientist who helped oversee the creation of a "doomsday vault," died in Kavlinge, his wife Eugenia said on Sunday. He was 61. Skovmand, a University of Minnesota graduate, had a significant role in the creation of the Svalbard International Seed Vault, which is on Spitsbergen, a Norwegian island inside the Arctic Circle. He died last Tuesday from brain tumor complications, reports said.
■ Mauritania
Damaged ship still at sea
A broken-down ship carrying about 400 illegal migrants would only be allowed to dock once medical facilities are ready, officials said. The vessel has spent more than a week at sea off the coast of the northwest African country as Spanish and Mauritanian officials argued about what government should take them in. Mauritania eventually agreed to let the rusty vessel dock and allow its occupants ashore, on the condition that Spain would supply medical facilities for the migrants and planes to fly them out. Three planes have already arrived to transport the migrants -- a mixture of Africans and Asians -- back to their countries of origin. Most are believed to be from Pakistan, officials have said.
■ United Kingdom
Trial Viagra for Lovers' Day
Pharmacy chain Boots will begin a trial program on Valentine's Day to offer men Viagra without a prescription, the firm said on Sunday. The initial pilot program is expected to last six months and Boots will then consider whether to expand it to other pharmacies. The chain has about 1,500 stores across the nation. The pilot, which begins tomorrow, will be offered in three of the chain's stores in Manchester. Would-be customers from 30 to 65 will be required to see a pharmacist, provide a medical history and have their blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels tested.
■ Italy
Woman `buried alive'
One of two Italian women slain on a Cape Verde resort island in a brutal attack might have been alive when she was buried by her killers, an official said on Sunday. Because some dirt was found in her lungs, "it is presumed that perhaps Dalia could have been still alive when she was buried" after the attack on Thursday night, said Luigi Zirpoli, Italy's honorary consul in Cape Verde. Zirpoli was referring to the autopsy on one of the victims, identified in news reports as 33-year-old Dalia Saiani from northern Italy. The other victim, a 28-year-old, and a 17-year-old survivor were part of a group of Italians on a windsurfing vacation in Cape Verde. Zirpoli said in a phone interview that two local men had confessed to the killings while a third man had been released on bail because he apparently was not involved in the crime.
■ Seychelles
Beijing inks aid deals
China signed five agreements with the government worth US$10 million, state-owned television reported. The deals include funding for the government's budget, new schools and a new National Assembly building, Seychelles Broadcasting Corp (SBC) TV reported late on Saturday. The station did not give details about what period the deals covered or the terms Beijing gave the government for getting the money. Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) left the Seychelles late on Saturday, ending an eight-nation African tour.
■ Brazil
Condoms given for carnival
Brazil's Health Ministry will distribute 10 million condoms ahead of Carnival -- a period of wild partying and lowered inhibitions -- in an effort to fight AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases in Latin America's largest country, the official government news agency said Sunday. The AIDS prevention campaign will also include several nationally broadcast radio and TV ads, the official Agencia Brasil news service said. The president of Brazil's Roman Catholic Bishops Conference criticized the government's decision to distribute condoms again this year. About 15 million condoms have already been distributed this year alone, the Health Ministry said.
■ United States
Nowak gets fundraiser
About 70 diners attended a fundraiser in Cocoa Beach, Florida, at an Italian restaurant for a NASA astronaut charged with attempted murder. Silvestro's restaurant, which was bombarded with criticism after word spread that they were holding the fundraiser, plans to donate the proceeds from Sunday's dinner to Lisa Nowak's family. Restaurant co-owner Tony Bless said that he thought it was the right thing to do for Nowak, who made a positive impression on his staff when she dined there last summer. "We stand by our friends in time of need, and it's a time of need," he said.
■ United States
Coal plants protested
Carrying signs with slogans of ``Stop the Coal Rush'' and ``Shame on Texas,'' about 1,000 people rallied at the state Capitol in Austin, Texas, to persuade lawmakers to abandon a plan to build up to 18 new coal-fired power plants. Environmentalists fear the new plants will pump millions of tons of pollutants into the air every year. "Coal plants seem so archaic," said Stacy Foss, an Austin teacher who brought her two young children to the rally Sunday. "Texas is so environmentally incorrect." Energy giant TXU Corp, which wants to build 11 of the new plants, has said the facilities will meet the state's growing demand for power.
■ United States
Writers Guild gives awards
The mob epic The Departed and the road-trip comedy Little Miss Sunshine won top honors at the Writers Guild of America Awards. William Monahan on Sunday won the adapted-screenplay prize for The Departed, Martin Scorsese's saga about rival moles who have infiltrated the police and a crime gang. The film was based on the Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs. With his debut script, Michael Arndt received the award for original screenplay for Little Miss Sunshine, directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' tale of a family's outrageous mishaps on the way to their little girl's beauty pageant.
■ United States
Inmate wants execution
In Dallas, Texas, one of the notorious "Texas Seven," who escaped from prison and killed a police officer during more than a month on the run, has told court officials he wants to drop all appeals to speed up his execution. Michael Anthony Rodriguez, 44, would be the first of the escapees to face execution for the 2000 killing. One of the escaped inmates killed himself before he could be captured. At the time of their escape, Rodriguez was serving a life sentence for hiring a hit man to kill his wife.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the