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World News Quick Take

■ VIETNAM

War claims another life

A boy was killed when a war-era mortar shell he was playing with exploded, police said yesterday. Nguyen Ngoc Vinh, 11, was killed instantly in the incident on Monday in Vinh Thuan village in southern Long An Province, village police chief Ho Van Re said. Re said the boy's family had found the shell earlier this year and put it in their garden. Unexploded ordnance from the Vietnam War has killed about 38,000 people since the conflict ended in 1975.



■ VIETNAM

Officials stole bird flu money

Two former government officials were given three-year suspended jail terms after they were found guilty of embezzling state funds earmarked to fight bird flu, a court official said yesterday. Phan Bach Tuyet, a former head of the Agriculture Department of An Phu District in southern An Giang Province, was convicted of embezzling 39 million dong (US$2,440). Van Van Phet was found guilty of stealing 62 million dong after a one-day trial on Tuesday, presiding judge Lam Phuoc Nghia said. Nghia said the two inflated labor and equipment costs for efforts to contain the spread of bird flu in the district in 2004.



■ SOUTH KOREA

Drinking prize stopped

A local government has stopped awarding prizes to big-spending barflies in the second setback this month for the country's hard-drinking culture, a report said yesterday. The Goesan county government had faced criticism over its "Drinking Culture Prize," rewarding county employees who boosted the local economy the most by frequenting local bars, the Joong Ang Daily said. Three employees had won a three-day trip to the resort island of Jeju and a plaque for their elbow-bending efforts. But criticism intensified when it was learnt that one had lost his license in 2005 for drunk driving, the paper said.



■ INDIA

Military holds missile test

The military test-fired a medium-range nuclear-capable missile yesterday with a range of 150km, a defense ministry official said. The surface-to-surface "Prithvi" (Earth) missile was fired from the test range in Chandipur in the eastern state of Orissa as a trial by the army, the official said on condition of anonymity as he is not allowed to reveal his identity under ministry rules. The area is 70km north of Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Orissa State. India and longtime rival Pakistan routinely test-fire missiles, but usually notify each other ahead of the launches in keeping with an agreement between the two countries.



■ CHINA

Trial for ex-regulator to open

A disgraced former top drug regulator will go on trial this month for accusations of taking bribes to approve untested medicine, state media reported yesterday, in a case expected to further highlight safety problems in the country's drug and food chains. Xinhua news agency said the trial of Zheng Xiaoyu (鄭筱萸), former director of the State Food and Drug Administration, has been set for the middle of this month. The trial comes as the country's international image for food and drug safety has been tarnished with allegations that tainted ingredients from local companies ended up in products blamed for deaths in Panama and for killing pets in the US.



■ UNITED KINGDOM

Costly sub gets attention

The Royal Navy showed off its largest and most powerful attack submarine on Tuesday, a month before the over-budget, overdue vessel is due be launched. Military officials say the HMS Astute will be able to circumnavigate the planet without surfacing and its nuclear reactor is designed to last for the vessel's 25-year operational life, meaning it will never need to be refueled. The sub is to be followed by two more, the Ambush and the Artful. Together the navy estimates they will cost about £3.6 billion (US$7.2 billion), more than £1 billion over the original estimate.



■ SWITZERLAND

Solar boat crosses Atlantic

A Swiss-built solar vessel arrived in New York on Tuesday on what the group behind the project said was the first sun-powered voyage across the Atlantic. Dubbed Sun21, the catamaran reached North Cove Marina after a journey of six months and some 13,000km from Chipiona, Spain, to the Caribbean island of Martinique and then along the US east coast to New York, the Switzerland-based group transatlantic21 said in a statement. The solar energy was used to power the boat's electric motors and any surplus was stored in batteries, allowing it to travel at a constant speed of 56 knots (103kph) day or night, the group's Web site said. "This proves that in our modern society it is indeed possible to travel the world efficiently and still safeguard the environment," said the boat's skipper, Michael Thonney.



■ Italy

Parents to drug-test kids

Parents in Milan are being offered do-it-yourself narcotics testing kits to check their children for drug use. Over the next few days, the city's council will send letters to almost 4,000 homes with children between the ages of 13 and 16. Inside will be a voucher that can be exchanged at pharmacies for one of the kits. Similar to a home pregnancy test, the kit requires a urine sample and can be used to reveal traces of any one of five drug groups, from amphetamines to opiates. The aim is to provide a kit to every home with a child in the target age group.



■ Russia

WWII spy, lover reunited

Soon after Ivan Byvshikh, a 20-year-old Russian intelligence officer, fell in love with the daughter of a German man that he was sent to interrogate at the end of World War II, the relationship was brought to an abrupt end. The Soviet authorities sent him home in 1946, and although they exchanged letters for 10 years, party officials told him he would be sent to the gulag if he continued the correspondence. Byvshikh was allowed to send one last letter to his love, Elisabeth Valdhelm. On Tuesday, after 60 years of separation, the couple, both 82, announced they would get married this year.



■ Germany

Game in child sex scandal

Prosecutors have launched an investigation to find anonymous participants of the online computer game Second Life, who are reportedly buying sex with players posing as children, as well selling child pornography. Second Life is an Internet-based virtual world with at least 6 million players, where you can choose your appearance. "Virtual" child pornography is a crime in Germany punishable by up to five years in prison. So-called "age play," in which players request sex with other players who dress up as children, has encouraged a growth in players posing as minors to make money.

■ UNITED STATES

Burst levees drench towns

Five burst levees along the Missouri River sent a deluge of water that submerged the tiny town of Big Lake, Missouri, on Tuesday, as thousands in the region fled their homes amid warnings that the flooding could approach the devastation of 1993. The levees broke on Monday south of Big Lake, along with four smaller levees along the Tarkio River and Tarkio Creek and the rush of river water immersed the town on Tuesday, said Mark Sitherwood, presiding commissioner of Holt County. Many of the buildings in town had several meters of water inside, said Holt County Clerk Kathy Kunkel. No injuries were reported.



■ UNITED STATES

Man dies `battle dancing'

A man died while trying to outdo a rival with an acrobatic move while "battle dancing" in New Britain, Connecticut, police said. Robert Stitt, 48, and his rival were competing in a parking lot on Monday night when he tried a forward flip and landed on his head. "It was just two guys dancing. Everybody was laughing," Stitt's friend John Boxley said. Boxley said James Brown was on the radio and Stitt wanted to outdo a rival dancer, who had flipped in the air. Police said the victim went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead a short time at a local hospital.



■ UNITED STATES

Hilton tries online appeal

Her television series was called The Simple Life, but the prospect of an austere existence in the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, California, does not much appeal to Paris Hilton. Thus the heiress and socialite on Tuesday appealed to fans to sign an online petition urging California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to commute her 45-day sentence for driving with a suspended license. The appeal says: "We undeniably support Paris Hilton being pardoned for her honest mistake as well, and we expect that the governor will understand and grant this unusual but important request." Hilton, 26, was sentenced on May 5.



■ UNITED STATES

Crossing accident kills six

An Amtrak passenger train collided with a compact sports utility vehicle in Modesto, California, on Tuesday, killing all six people inside the car. None of the 70 passengers or crew members aboard the Oakland-bound train was injured, Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said. Shortly after 2pm, the driver of a Chevrolet Tracker stopped on the tracks before the railroad crossing arms came down, said Steve Mayotte, chief of the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District. She attempted to back up and then drive forward to escape the approaching train, he said. One person was thrown from the car. The others remained inside and were pronounced dead at the scene, Mayotte said.



■ UNITED STATES

Clinton makes crossword

A crossword posted on the New York Times Web site is generating interest well beyond the ranks of puzzle buffs. The reason: the compiler is former president Bill Clinton. Introducing the crossword, Times puzzle editor Will Shortz said: "The clues in this puzzle are a little more playful and involve more wordplay than in a typical crossword. You have been warned." The theme is the baby boomer generation. There are references to politics and popular music. There are also clues to make people groan: "How Kissinger would say he feels." "Vel," insists Clinton.




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