■ CHINA
World's tallest man marries
After searching high and low, the world's tallest man has married a woman two-thirds his height, a Chinese newspaper reported yesterday. Bao Xishun (包喜順), a 2.36m tall herdsman from Inner Mongolia, married saleswoman Xia Shujian, who was 1.68m tall, several days ago, the Beijing News reported. Bao's 28-year-old bride is half his age and hailed from his hometown of Chifeng even though marriage advertisements were sent around the world, it said. "After a long and careful selection, the effort has been finally paid off," the newspaper said. Bao was confirmed last year by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's tallest person.
■ CHINA
Burglar steals a night's sleep
A Beijing worker who broke into luxury villas to steal property and get a good night's sleep has been jailed for a year, state media reported on Tuesday. The court heard that Ye, a migrant worker, broke into five villas "out of curiosity," took showers, tried on clothes and slept in beds -- even when the householders were at home, the Shanghai Daily said. When Ye found a woman sleeping in the house on his third break-in, he took a carton of milk from the fridge and went to bed on a separate floor, the paper said.
■ AUSTRALIA
Monster cane toad found
A huge cane toad the size of a small dog has been captured in the Australian tropical city of Darwin, startling environmentalists who are fighting to stop the poisonous reptiles from spreading across the country. "It's a monster toad," said Paul Cowdy from FrogWatch, which captured the cane toad on Monday night. "We've never seen a cane toad this big," he said on Tuesday. "It's a male and normally females are bigger." The cane toad, regarded as a major pest in Australia, was one of 39 caught by a group from FrogWatch near Lee Point in Darwin. It measures 20.5cm in length and weighs 840g -- twice the normal weight.
■ Afghanistan
Suicide bomber blends in
A suicide bomber trying to blend in with street beggars exploded himself near a top intelligence official in a crowded part of the capital early yesterday, killing four people and wounding 12, police said. The bomber apparently targeted the investigations chief of Afghanistan' intelligence service, said deputy police chief General Zulmay Khan. The explosion went off near Kabul's main market place, killing four people and injuring 12, Afghanistan's intelligence service said. The attack's apparent target, Kamulladeen Khan Echekzai, is a powerful Afghan elder from the southern city of Kandahar.
■ CAMBODIA
Thieves poison elephant
Thieves in the northeast part of the country poisoned a domesticated elephant before sawing off its valuable tusks to sell on the black market, police said on Tuesday. The 62-year-old bull elephant was found dead on Saturday some 100m from its owner's home in Ratanakkiri province, police said, adding that it appeared to have been fed jack fruit laced with rat poison. "The elephant's tusks, measuring between 70cm to 80cm long each, were sawed off," said deputy provincial police chief Hor Ang. He said the tusks could fetch thousands of dollars on the illegal ivory market. No one had been arrested for the killing, Hor Ang said, adding the elephant's body had since been butchered for meat.
■ West Bank
Jewish settlers forced out
Hundreds of Israeli police in riot gear dragged squatters from the ruins of a Jewish settlement yesterday, ending a three-day showdown between the government and Jewish settlers trying to reclaim an area. The confrontation played out in the former Homesh settlement, dismantled in 2005 as part of Israel's unilateral pullout from the Gaza Strip and parts of the northern West Bank. On Monday, some 2,500 protesters had marched to the ruins of Homesh, pledging to rebuild it. Demonstrators set up large canvas tents on the site and started piling up rocks, in a symbolic attempt at reconstruction.
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