■ JAPAN
Dog helps rescuers
A dog helped rescuers find her 88-year-old owner, who went missing the day before in Uwajima, police said yesterday. The pilot of a police helicopter searching for the missing man spotted the dog in an orange field about 1km away, leading to his rescue on Monday, Uwajima police spokesman Takatoshi Hirokawa said. The 88-year-old farmer was missing since Sunday evening after going to another orange field with his 11-year-old female dog Maru, Hirokawa said. The man, whose name could not be disclosed at his relatives' request, strayed away after falling down while cutting weeds, he said.
■ MALAYSIA
Seized beer won't be drunk
Beer will flow, but down the drain. Customs officials will pour out almost 200,000 cans of smuggled beer they seized over the weekend from a syndicate that planned to sell the duty-unpaid drink at one-third the market price, The Star daily reported Tuesday. Authorities won't auction the seized beer, as is usually done, because flooding the market with 63,000 liters of beer would affect prices, the report said. Customs department spokeswoman Noorlida Ibrahim confirmed the seizure in the Star report. The 8,000 cases of beer were seized from four shops in an industrial area of Kuala Lumpur.
■ NEW ZEALAND
Dead terrier gets medals
A Jack Russell terrier who died from injuries sustained when he saved a group of children from being mauled by two pit bulls is being given two posthumous medals. The Society for the Protection of Animals yesterday awarded the Jack Russell, George, a bravery medal, while a US Vietnam veteran who read news articles about the attack said he would send a Purple Heart to the dog's owner. Feisty, foot-high George fought with the pit bulls to keep them from attacking the youngest of five children as they returned home from buying sweets at a neighborhood shop in the small town of Manaia, North Island, on April 29.
■ INDIA
Lawmaker jailed for life
A court yesterday sentenced a lawmaker to life in prison for kidnapping and intending to kill a political rival. Sessions judge Gyanaeshwar Prasad Srivastava also fined Mohammed Shahabuddin 10,000 rupees (US$240). The Bihar State lawmaker belongs to the Rashtriya Janata Dal, or National People's Group, a coalition partner of the prime minister's government. Politics in several states have been dominated by local strongmen who often use violence to intimidate rivals. Many of the lawmakers in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh states are facing criminal charges, including murder and kidnapping. Bihar, in the east, is considered India's most lawless.
■ NEPAL
Rights group makes appeal
Maoists should immediately free children recruited into their armed forces, an international rights group said yesterday. New York-based Human Rights Watch said thousands of former child soldiers should be allowed to return to their families after a peace accord placed them in camps for Maoist fighters. The Maoists have repeatedly denied having recruited anyone under the age of 18 in their armed division. In a statement, Human Rights Watch said it wrote a letter to Nepalese social welfare minister Khadga Bahadur Bishwakarma "to secure the Maoists' cooperation with the United Nations and child protection agencies to allow children to return home without further delay."
■ UNITED KINGDOM
Politicians lose trust
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