■ CHINA
Fog disrupts transport
Thick fog blanketed Beijing yesterday, delaying flights out of the city and reducing visibility. Most flights out of Beijing's airport were delayed, said an official, who declined to give her name, at the Beijing Capital International Airport. All flights scheduled before 9am were postponed by one hour. Other flights were delayed by up to three hours as planes had to wait to be defrosted, CCTV reported. Flights later returned to normal, it said. Cars were forced to use headlights on inner city roads, and office buildings in Beijing's central business district were shrouded in fog. Visibility on roads was reduced to less than 500m in some urban areas
■ PHILIPPINES
Carolers banned from streets
At the risk of being called the Grinch, Manila administrators said yesterday that they were banning Christmas carolers from the capital's streets because they disrupt traffic. "The plan, controversial as it might be, is not done out of whim but rather for the safety of the children and the motorists," Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chief Bayani Fernando said, citing an incident last year in which a child caroler was run over by a speeding vehicle. He said that the ban applies to carolers and beggars in the streets, who often stop cars, beat their drums and tin cans and ask for money.
■ AUSTRALIA
US influence unwelcome
Australians believe that the hamburger and US slang are infringing on their culture and they are "not at all pleased" about it, a survey released yesterday said. The telephone poll of 1,213 people by the government-funded US Studies Center at the University of Sydney measured peoples' attitudes about their closest ally, the US. Asked to judge the influence of US culture on Australia, 67 percent of respondents said they were "not at all pleased" about the prevalence of US-style fast food in their country. They ranked fast food second only behind US foreign policy as an issue they were "very worried" about.
■ GAZA STRIP
Confiscated drugs burned
Hamas Islamists burned sacks of confiscated marijuana and cocaine on Sunday and said they had arrested dozens of dealers in a drugs crackdown. Police in Hamas-run Gaza said they had netted drugs -- including hashish and cocaine, heroin and ecstasy -- worth some US$4 million and arrested 115 dealers. Hamas said security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction allowed drug abuse to flourish before the Islamist group violently seized the coastal enclave in June. Senior West Bank-based Fatah official Ziad Abu Ain rebuffed the accusation.
■ UNITED KINGDOM
Zeppelin tickets go on sale
Led Zeppelin fans queued for hours on Sunday to get tickets for the iconic band's one-off comeback gig, amid tight security to prevent touts from cashing in on the eve of the concert. Amid growing anticipation ahead of yesterday evening's concert, Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant meanwhile fueled speculation that there could be further reunions with comments to a British newspaper. Only 20,000 lucky names were pulled out of a secret ballot to attend the band's first show in 19 years.
■ RUSSIA
Putin endorses Medvedev
President Vladimir Putin has backed First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as presidential candidate to replace him after he leaves office next year, Russian news agencies reported yesterday. "I fully support this candidacy," Putin was quoted as saying by Interfax after four parties, headed by the ruling United Russia, named Medvedev. "I have been very closely acquainted with [Medvedev] for 17 years and I completely and fully support this candidacy," Putin was quoted as saying.
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