■ NEPAL
Devout cuts off right hand
A 23-year-old man cut off his right hand after morning prayers and offered it to Kali, the Hindu goddess of power, the Annapurna Post local daily said yesterday. Rajesh Tajpuria, who runs a drug store in the southeastern town of Rangeli, is undergoing treatment at a hospital, it said. More than 80 percent of the country's 26 million people are Hindus who frequently sacrifice animals such as goats, buffaloes and roosters in temples.
■ CHINA
`Potter' magically appears
The final Harry Potter book is still being translated into Chinese for the China market, but eager fans have posted their own translations online, a move that could lead to counterfeit books in a country where piracy is rampant. The authorized publisher of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows yesterday denounced the freelance translators and urged them to delete the translations. Users of the Potter fan Web site called the "International Wizards' Alliance" in Chinese have posted translations of several chapters of the new Potter book. Some chapters were restricted to registered users, but a reporter could access at least two chapters yesterday without signing in.
■ CHINA
Tigress kills zookeeper
A tigress in a small city zoo killed a zookeeper who forgot to remove her from her cage before cleaning it, Xinhua news agency said. Police shot the tigress after discovering the zoo's only tranquillizer gun was also inside the cage. Zhang, a keeper in his 60s, drove a tiger into an inner cage before entering the outer cage at the zoo in a park in Xinyi, in Jiangsu Province, colleagues told Xinhua. But he forgot about the tigress who shared the outer cage. Police evacuated tourists and park workers after Zhang was mauled on Monday.
■ THAILAND
Bomb blasts in south
Seven coordinated bomb blasts rocked the Muslim-majority south yesterday, killing one and wounding at least 12, police said. The blasts all happened at 7:45am yesterday at locations around Narathiwat, one of three provinces along the southern border with Malaysia hit by deadly separatist unrest. A 49-year-old Buddhist woman was killed and 10 others injured when a bomb hidden in a motorcycle exploded in a busy market, police said. A roadside bomb injured two marines who were part of a security detail protecting a convoy of schoolteachers. Two bombs exploded at Kasikornbank branches while three bombs went off at other spots around Narathiwat town.
■ AUSTRALIA
Sydney ready for terror
Dozens of loudspeakers have been installed in Sydney to tell residents what to do in a terrorist attack, an official said yesterday. Approximately 40 speakers should be operational in time for next month's meeting of 21 world leaders at the APEC summit, New South Wales state Police Minister David Campbell said. "If there were a terrorist event or a major building fire and there were people in the streets, this is a way of giving them information," Campbell told ABC. A wailing siren would attract residents' attention, followed by a police announcement directing people to evacuation points plotted around the downtown area.
■ UNITED KINGDOM
Early election discussed
Officials in the governing Labour Party have been put on alert to expect an early election, the Times reported yesterday, quoting a senior party official. The daily quoted Martin Salter, Labour vice-chairman, as saying: "I can confirm that the party has been put on alert for an early election that could take place as soon as this autumn." Salter later said there was not an official timetable in place. But he added: "We have been put on an election footing and preparations are under way so that we are ready for an election whenever the prime minister chooses to call it." But a senior Downing Street official, speaking on condition of anonymity, however, denied that the reason Labour was drumming up funds was because Brown wanted to call an early election.
■ GAZA STRIP
Russia invites Hamas
Russia has invited a Hamas delegation to visit Moscow in the next few days, a Hamas official said yesterday, just a day after Russia publicly embraced Hamas' nemesis, moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The announcement from Hamas lawmaker Khalil al-Haya came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin told Abbas in Moscow that he is the "legitimate leader of the Palestinian people." But the Russian Foreign Ministry said yesterday it had no information on a visit by Hamas officials. Al-Haya said the Russian government had officially invited a Hamas delegation headed by Khaled Mashaal, the Islamic group's exiled leader.
■ HUNGARY
Rare fossilized trees found
Scientists in Budapest said on Tuesday they have discovered a group of fossilized swamp cypress trees preserved from 8 million years ago which could provide clues about the climate of pre-historic times. Instead of petrifying -- turning to stone -- the wood of 16 Taxodium trees was preserved in an open-cast coal mine allowing geologists to study samples as if they were sections cut from a piece of living wood.
■ NICARAGUA
Ortega offers missiles
Leftist President Daniel Ortega offered on Tuesday to give hundreds of Soviet-made anti-aircraft missiles to the US in exchange for medical equipment or helicopters. Washington wants Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla and Cold War enemy, to destroy or hand over more than 1,000 SA-7 shoulder-fired missiles, which it says could be used by terrorists to shoot down airliners. Nicaragua has been considering destroying 650 of the missiles, and keeping the rest for self-defense purposes. "We'll turn over these rockets and they can take them away if they want," Ortega said.
■ POLAND
Parachutist jumps at 84
Krystyna Zbyszynska, 84, became the country's oldest parachutist when she made her first jump with her daughter-in-law, news channel TVN24 reported on Sunday. "I survived World War Two and wasn't afraid, so what's there to be afraid of now?" she said after clambering out of her jumpsuit this weekend. "Babcia [granny] Krysia is not your ordinary gran," explained one of her teenaged granddaughters. "She tells me I'm not playing my music loud enough and comes into my room and wants to dance." Asked whether she planned another jump Zbyszynska, from the northern city of Olsztyn, told the channel: "Yes, the day I turn 100."
■ MEXICO
Amnesty suspects torture
Amnesty International urged the Mexican government on Tuesday to investigate suspected torture and abductions by state officials during months of protests in the city of Oaxaca last year. Amnesty International secretary general Irene Khan called for the probe during a visit to Oaxaca, saying Governor Ulises Ruiz's government appeared to be implicated. After meeting with Khan, Ruiz said Amnesty was wrong and that the rights organization had not asked his government for its side of the story. Last year leftist protesters called for the resignation of Ruiz. More than 20 people died in the disturbances and protesters say more than a dozen of the dead were activists killed by police.
■ UNITED STATES
Church stops cheeky ad
A church that went to court seeking to cover up the bare buttocks in a Times Square advertisement will get its way. A deal has been struck to cover the bare backsides on a planned billboard advertising a bidet seat that uses warm water and air. The ad will instead show the models' legs and torsos, with their derrieres covered by the slogan for Toto, maker of the Washlet bidet. The billboard is wrapped around the building that houses the Times Square Church. The church went to court to stop Toto from putting up a cheekier version that featured smiley faces on people's bare bottoms. "This is our bottom line," reads the new slogan. "Clean is happy. No ifs, ands, or ..."
■ canada
Titanic boy identified
The nameless child who became a symbol for the many children who died aboard the Titanic has been identified -- again. After more DNA testing, Canadian researchers said on Tuesday the child they declared a few years ago to be a 13-month-old Finnish baby is actually a 19-month-old English boy. In 2002, the researchers declared the remains were those of the Finnish boy, Eino Viljami Panula. But they began to question the results after one did not match the Finnish family. The team eventually found a match with a surviving maternal relative of the English boy, Sidney Leslie Goodwin. According to the researchers, the boy died with his entire family, including five siblings, as they set out for a new life in America.
■ UNITED STATES
Fake captain to tend graves
A man who posed as a decorated US Marine Corps captain for two years will tend graves at a military cemetery as part of his sentence to serve 500 hours of community service, a judge ruled. Reggie Buddle, 59, pleaded guilty in April to unlawful wearing of US military medals and decorations. He told US Magistrate Judge Kelly Arnold at his sentencing on Monday that he was ashamed of his conduct. Buddle never served in the Marines. He bought the uniform at a military surplus store, and the medals belonged to his brother, a Marine who died in Vietnam.
■ UNITED STATES
Monkey cuts loose
A white-faced capuchin monkey at zoo in Mississippi outsmarted the park's staff on Tuesday, unlocking his own pen and leading them on a chase through the park's trails before escaping. Ann Stewart, an employee at the Tupelo Buffalo Park and Zoo, said Oscar would respond to his own name and may take bait of bananas, marshmallows or grapes. However, she urged people to call the park if they spot the mammal. "He will bite. People around here have handled him, but he will bite. Just call the Buffalo Park," Stewart said.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
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