■ CHINA
Shaolin monks offended
Shaolin Temple, the cradle of kung fu, is demanding an apology from an Internet user, media said yesterday. The Internet user said on an online forum last week that a Japanese ninja came to Shaolin, asked for a fight and many monks failed to beat him, the Beijing News said. "The facts that the monks could not defeat a Japanese ninja showed that they were named as kung fu masters in vain," the Internet user was quoted as saying in the post. "The so-called defeat is purely fabricated," the monks said in a notice from their lawyer, "We demand the Internet user to apologize to the whole nation for the wrongs he or she did."
■ JAPAN
Wasps a crispy treat
A fan club for wasps has added the insects to rice crackers, saying the result adds a waspish scent to the traditional fare. The digger wasp rice crackers are made in Omachi. "Young people see the bugs and refuse to eat the senbei," said Torao Kayatsu, the president of the Omachi digger wasp lovers club, who has been handing out sample crackers around town. "But seniors, they love them. We even have an order from a nursing home." A bag of 20 crackers costs US$3.20, but output may be limited as the wasps are caught in the wild for optimum flavor.
■ CHINA
Genghis punished gays
Gay sex was punishable by death under Genghis Khan's rule. That was among the findings of researchers who spent more than a year compiling the legendary Mongolian conqueror's code of laws, the official Xinhua news agency said on Thursday. The experts at the Research Institute of Ancient Mongolian Laws and Sociology in Inner Mongolia said the ban was put into place because Genghis Khan wanted to expand the Mongolian population, which was about 1.5 million at the time. Experts compiled the Mongolian code based on historical texts, including Marco Polo's travelogue, Xinhua said. The original text was lost more than 600 years ago.
■ JAPAN
Nine hospitals reject woman
A pregnant woman miscarried on Wednesday after nine hospitals refused to admit her and the ambulance crashed on its way to the 10th, news reports said. The incident triggered an immediate outcry. Last year, a pregnant woman from the same area died after being refused admission by about 20 hospitals that said they were full. In Wednesday's incident, the 38-year-old woman, in the sixth month of her pregnancy, was being driven to a hospital near Osaka after she suffered from stomach cramps and bleeding, Kyodo News said. Nine hospitals refused to admit her, saying they were full.
■ GERMANY
Thief throws away cash
A thief stole a briefcase and threw it away without noticing it contained 10,000 euros (US$13,660) in cash, a spokesman for Duesseldorf police said on Thursday. "I think they'll be annoyed when they find out," he said. The case's owner, a 57-year-old Iranian businessman, had reported it missing as he prepared to board a flight in the city's airport. The case was later found by a policewoman -- ransacked, but still containing the two cash-filled envelopes.
■ GERMANY
Tenth vehicle hits house
A resident of the northern village of Karlshoefen said he feared he may have built his own tomb after a vehicle ploughed into his house for the 10th time. "If we stay, someone's eventually going to kill us. We're living in a time bomb," Manfred Sedlazek said on Thursday. He said he was reluctant to leave the house he built himself, which is on a bend of a busy road. Earlier this week, a 40-tonne truck blasted through the side of his red-brick house. Sedlazek returned home from shopping to find the shattered vehicle sticking out of his living room. Police estimated the damage at more than 100,000 euros (US$136,100).
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