■ THAILAND
Foreigners investigated
Authorities are conducting background checks on more than 1,000 foreigners working in the country after a spate of arrests for alleged child sex abuse, a senior officer said yesterday. Colonel Apichat Suriboonya, of Thailand's Interpol office, said police had contacted the home countries of many of the targeted foreigners, most of whom are teachers. "Before, educational institutions would only look at their academic qualifications, but that is not enough," he said. Apichat did not say how police had chosen the foreigners in question. Police said they arrested a British national on Tuesday for allegedly posting photos of naked children on the Internet.
■ CHINA
`Sexy' marriage ads banned
A city has banned the use of "seductive" words like "foxy lady," "handsome guy" and "moneybags" in marriage advertisements in a bid to stamp out fraud, domestic media reported on Tuesday. Many Chinese people still go to marriage brokers to arrange suitable life partners for their children, and often turn to adverts carried in newspapers, magazines and on the Internet. But after a series of complaints from people who said they had been cheated -- although how was not explained -- Zhengzhou, Henan Province, is reining in the industry, the Beijing News said.
■ CAMBODIA
PM sends mixed signals
The prime minister said on Tuesday that his daughter is a lesbian and he was severing ties with her, but he urged the country not to discriminate against gays. "My adopted daughter now has a wife. I'm quite disappointed," Hun Sen said. He made the comment during a speech at a university graduation ceremony. Hun and his wife adopted the daughter as a newborn. Hun Sen also told the National Institute of Education graduates that it is wrong to discriminate against gays. "Most of them [gays] are good people and are not doing alcohol, drugs or racing vehicles" like the members of youth gangs, he said.
■ GREECE
Saucy thieves grab cash
Two thieves armed only with ketchup ambushed a supermarket employee as he was taking cash to the bank, Greek police said on Tuesday. "The thieves jumped out of the bushes and threw two big bags of ketchup on the front window to stop the car," said a police official who requested anonymity. The man fought with his attackers who managed to flee on a motorcycle with only 400 euros (US$577) of the 140,000 euros he was carrying.
■ RUSSIA
Restaurant in meat probe
A Chinese restaurant in Moscow is being investigated for butchering stray dogs and selling the meat to diners as lamb, Russian police said on Tuesday. "A woman reported to the police that sacks containing something alive, that was moving and whining, were being loaded into the restaurant at night," a police spokesman said. "We went to the restaurant to check the meat ... and carried out tests," the spokesman said. "We found it was of poor quality, dangerous for your health, and from an unusual animal -- that it was dog meat."
■ GERMANY
Student finds art in couch
A student who bought a pullout couch for 150 euros (US$215) at a Berlin flea market found a painting worth several times that much hidden inside when she unfolded the sofa at home. The piece of art, a 26cm-by-39cm oil-on-shale painting was sold for 19,200 euros at a Hamburg art auction over the weekend, the Kunst Kettler auction house said on Monday. The piece titled Preparation to Escape to Egypt was painted by an unknown artist close to Venetian painter Carlo Saraceni between 1605 and 1620, the auction house said. The student's identity was not revealed.
■ GERMANY
Teen flees jail in suitcase
A 19-year-old woman has escaped from prison by hiding in a friend's suitcase. The fugitive hid inside the large case when her 17-year-old fellow inmate was released from the youth prison in northwest Germany on Friday, Lower Saxony ministry spokesman Dennis Weilmann said on Monday. The girl simply walked out of the building with her friend concealed in her luggage, Weilmann said. "Our staff are going to make sure they inspect big suitcases more carefully in the future," Weilmann said. Neither of the teenagers has since been caught. Both had been jailed for theft. The escaped prisoner had less than two weeks left to serve.
■ BELGIUM
Prison escapee recaptured
A notorious criminal who escaped from a prison after a hijacked helicopter crash-landed inside the prison grounds was recaptured on Tuesday in The Hague after a holdup, Dutch police said. Serial escapee Nordine Ben Allal had managed to flee in a car after the helicopter crash caused confusion and threw up billows of smoke in the grounds of Ittre prison. Police spokesman Wim Hoonhout said late on Tuesday two men had been pursued by police after a holdup in a motorcycle showroom and had been arrested after officers fired warning shots. "It was only in the police station that Ben Allal was identified," he said. The identity of his accomplice was not known.
■ United States
Quake shakes California
A magnitude-5.6 earthquake shook the San Francisco Bay area, rattling homes and nerves, but there were no immediate reports of serious damage or injuries. The moderate temblor struck shortly after 8pm on Tuesday, about 14.4km northeast of San Jose, according to the US Geological Survey. Residents reported feeling the quake as far east as Sacramento and as far north as Sonoma. The California Highway Patrol received no reports of damage or injuries, spokesman Tom Marshall said.
■ United States
Boy started wildfire
A boy playing with matches started a fire in north Los Angeles County that consumed more than 15,378 hectares and destroyed 21 homes last week, authorities said. The boy, whose name and age were not released, was interviewed a day after the Buckweed Fire was sparked on Oct. 21, sheriff's Sergeant Diane Hecht said on Tuesday. "He admitted to playing with matches and accidentally starting the fire," Hecht said in a statement. The boy was released to his parents, and the case will be be presented to the district attorney's office, Hecht said. She said she did not know whether he was arrested or cited by detectives.
■ United States
Couple offer deal of lifetime
Bob and Ricki Husick of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, are offering anyone who buys their home a full refund when they die. The Husicks have been trying to sell their suburban home for almost a year, but have failed to do so in the current shaky market. Some area homeowners have lowered prices, offered free trips and tried a variety of other gimmicks, but the Husicks came up with their own unique incentive. The couple have no heirs and want US$399,900 for the four-bedroom home, located about 32km north of Pittsburgh. Under the Husicks' offer, the buyer would get the sale price back when they die.
■ United States
Pig spat turns serious
A Minnesota woman wants abuse charges filed against an acquaintance who was pet-sitting for her potbellied pig and allowed the animal to get fat. Michelle Schmitz said her pig, Alaina Templeton, weighed 22.7kg when Schmitz left her with a co-worker who offered to care for the animal in February, when Schmitz went on medical leave to recover from ankle surgeries. Nine months later, the pig weighed 68kg, the Winona Daily News reported. Officers are investigating whether Alaina was abused by the sitter's neglect and overfeeding. Investigator Jeff Mueller of the Winona County Sheriff's Department said on Tuesday that no charges had been filed against the pig sitter, whose name was not released. Schmitz said she cried for three days after she discovered her pet's weight problem. "That pig is my life," said Schmitz, who has a tattoo of Alaina's name.
■ United States
Biggest black hole found
US astronomers have discovered the biggest black hole yet, found orbiting a star 1.8 million light years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia, with a record-setting mass of 24 to 33 times that of our Sun, NASA said on Tuesday. It beats the previous stellar-mass black hole discovered on Oct. 17 in the M33 galaxy, which has 16 times the mass of our Sun, the US space agency said. A team at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, found the new black hole using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The discovery paper is to appear in the Nov. 1 edition of Astrophysical Journal Letters.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in