■ VIETNAM
Snakes found on a plane
Customs officials have seized more than a tonne of ratsnakes found aboard a Vietnam Airlines flight from Bangkok, the second time in about a month such snakes were found in air cargo to Vietnam, state media said yesterday. The snakes -- scientific name Ptyas mucosus and a protected species -- were found in more than 60 boxes that arrived in Hanoi's Noi Bai airport on Thursday, the Vietnam News Agency quoted officials as saying. "There is a great possibility that Vietnam is only a transit point of the cargo," it said, adding that the snakes were transfered to an animal caring station nearby.
■ SOUTH KOREA
Military calls up dancers
Dancers will now have to win international competitions if they want to sidestep mandatory military service, a report said yesterday. Under a rule which took effect on Jan. 1, dancers and musicians who only win domestic contests will no longer be able to escape the draft. Local dancers and music groups were quoted as saying the new rule could jeopardize their careers, with dancers fearful that life in the army could stiffen their muscles. But the Office of Military Manpower Administration said South Korean sportsmen must win international contests to secure exemption and it was not fair to exempt artists who had won only domestic recognition.
■ AUSTRALIA
Boomerang finally returns
Boomerangs really do come back -- even after 25 years. Officials in an Outback town were surprised when a boomerang -- an angled throwing stick traditionally used by Aborigines as a hunting weapon -- arrived in the post. Along with it was a note from a guilt-ridden American who said he stole it years earlier from a museum in the mining town of Mount Isa and now felt rotten about it. "I removed this back in 1983 when I was younger and dumber," said the note, according to Mount Isa Mayor Ron McCullough. "It was the wrong thing to do, I'm sorry and I'm going to send it back."
■ CHINA
Smoke-free restaurant failing
Beijing's first smoke-free restaurant chain faces going out of business after its customers deserted it in droves after the ban was enforced, state media reported yesterday. The Chinese are the world's most enthusiastic smokers, with a growing market of more than 350 million. The occupancy rate at Meizhou Dongpo, a chain serving the spicy fare of southwest Sichuan Province, had dropped to "about 80 percent of that enjoyed by other restaurants across the street" after it banned smoking in October, the China Daily quoted its manager as saying.
■ SERBIA
Commission confirms ban
The electoral commission confirmed its ban of US and British observers at weekend presidential elections because their countries back Kosovo's drive for independence. The commission voted late on Thursday to reject an appeal by pro-democracy groups that asked the body to reconsider its ban of the US and British observers because it could hurt Serbia's image abroad.
■ RUSSIA
Stray rocket hits house
The military on Thursday offered compensation to a homeowner after a small rocket veered off course and hit his country house outside Moscow. Russian Internet chatrooms were buzzing late on Wednesday after local news agencies reported that "an unidentified flying object dropped two bombs near Moscow." A defense ministry official said two rockets had gone astray during a military exercise near Moscow on Wednesday afternoon. One hit the roof of an unoccupied house 3.5km away. "The damage is estimated at 60,000 rubles (US$2,466). It will be compensated for in two days," said Yevgeny Konashenkov, spokesman for Russian land troops. "The owner of the house treats the incident with understanding. He has no legal claims." Luckily for the nearby compound of cottage houses, the rockets disconnected at launch from the load of explosives they normally carry to clear minefields.
■ TURKEY
Headscarf ban gets boost
The country's chief prosecutor warned on Thursday against moves to lift a ban on women wearing Islamic-style headscarves in universities, saying the injunction is key to protecting the country's secular traditions. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan opposes the ban and has advocated changing the Constitution to allow headscarves on campuses. Turkey's High Appeals Court chief prosecutor, Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, issued a statement on Thursday warning that allowing "religious symbols" in schools would harm the nation's secular nature and even lead to conflict.
■ GERMANY
Burglar stumbles upon body
A Berlin burglar's break-in took an unexpected turn when he stumbled upon a corpse and felt compelled to call the police. "He called to say he'd just broken into a flat and found a dead body," said a spokeswoman for Berlin police on Thursday. "He gave the address of the place and then hung up." Officers discovered the 64-year-old resident of the flat dead in his bedroom. The man had passed away about two weeks ago, and authorities are not treating the death as suspicious. The burglar has not been heard of since.
■ UNITED KINGDOM
Don't send in the clowns
Bad news for Coco and Blinko -- children don't like clowns and even older kids are scared of them. The news that will no doubt have clowns shedding tears was revealed in a poll of youngsters by researchers from the University of Sheffield who were examining how to improve the decor of hospital children's wards. The study, reported in the Nursing Standard magazine, found all the 250 patients aged between four and 16 they quizzed disliked the use of clowns. "As adults we make assumptions about what works for children," said Penny Curtis, a senior lecturer in research at the university. "We found that clowns are universally disliked by children."
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
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
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was