■ Hong Kong
Flu did not spread: official
People who had contact with a baby girl infected with a mild strain of bird flu have tested negative for the virus, indicating there was no immediate risk of human-to-human infection, a health official said yesterday. But officials are still investigating how the nine-month-old girl was infected, said Thomas Tsang Ho-fai of the Center for Health Protection. The baby tested positive last Tuesday for H9N2, a less virulent bird flu virus than the deadly H5N1 strain, Tsang said. Before falling sick, she had been taken almost daily to a market that sold live poultry. The girl has now recovered, he said.
■ Kygyzstan
Bakiyev agrees to reforms
President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has agreed to carry out constitutional reforms demanded by opposition groups, which threatened to launch nationwide rallies and push for his resignation. Bakiyev said in a nationally televised address on Friday he would create a working group to draft constitutional changes. He did not, however, spell out what changes he was planning to make or how long the process would take. "Civil confrontation is harmful for the country," he said. The country's two largest opposition movements threatened to stage massive rallies if Bakiyev fails to carry out pledged constitutional reforms within a month.
■ China
Man hacks officials to death
A man hacked two government officials to death and injured one after being compensated less for his house than his neighbors, state press reported yesterday. Ma Xueming butchered a man and a woman from Suzhou city's housing relocation department in China's Jiangsu Province after walking into their office and blinding them with lime powder, the Beijing News reported. A third woman was able to escape, the newspaper said. Ma was apparently angry about receiving only 400,000 yuan (US$51,600) in compensation for his home when most residents had received one million.
■ Malaysia
Health facilities revamped
Authorities will revamp health facilities for teenagers drafted into national service amid public concerns over the deaths of several recruits, reports said yesterday. Health Minister Chua Soi Lek said a ministry committee has recommended placing at least one doctor, two nurses and three medical assistants at each national service training camp, the New Straits Times and the Star newspapers reported. More stretchers, inhalers for asthmatic recruits and other medication will be provided for camps, while ambulances will be stationed at locations far from hospitals, Chua was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.
■ China
Three judges jailed for graft
Authorities have jailed three senior judges in Shenzhen for corruption in the southern city's biggest ever graft scandal. A court convicted retired judge Liao Zhaohui (廖朝暉) and divisional court chiefs Cai Xiaoling (蔡曉玲) and Zhang Tinghua (張庭華) of unspecified graft crimes, the China Daily said in a report citing the Shenzhen Intermediate court. They were among five senior judges arrested recently after the local prosecution office investigated their alleged acts of corruption, the report said. A series of raids last year led to the arrest of a court vice-president, three division heads and a retired judge, the report said. The probe unfolded after prosecutors arrested judge Liao, who allegedly took bribes.
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