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World News Quick Take

BANGLADESH

Talk shows banned

Bangladesh's army-backed emergency government has banned two popular live political talk shows, the private satellite television channel ETV said yesterday. The two prime time shows, off the air since Thursday, hosted political and civil society leaders and took questions from viewers and journalists on political, economic, social and cultural issues.



■ INDIA

Bird flu outbreak worsens

The Indian state of West Bengal, battling the country's worst outbreak of deadly bird flu, appealed to the federal government yesterday to send "all possible help to defeat" the virus. The call by state animal resources minister Anisur Rahaman came as authorities struggled to stop the disease spreading beyond the 12 out of 19 state districts already affected. "We have to control the disease immediately as the deadly H5N1 virus has been spreading fast," Rahaman said, adding "avian flu is knocking on the doors of Kolkata," the eastern state's congested capital of 13.5 million people.



■ THAILAND

Bus crash kills nine

A bus packed with passengers heading to a funeral tumbled down a mountain yesterday in western Thailand, killing nine people and injuring 26 others, police said. The accident occurred after the driver lost control of the bus in Kanchanaburi Province, about 210km west of the capital, Bangkok, said police General Raewat Klinkaeson. The driver then fled the scene, he said. "It is a steep path down and we are investigating if the accident occurred because the brakes failed or if the driver was negligent," he said, adding that authorities are looking for the driver for further investigation.



■ JAPAN

Flatfish delivers letter

A letter that a young girl in Japan sent into the sky tied to a balloon some 15 years ago has been found on a fish hauled from 1,000m below the Pacific. A fisherman found the still legible piece of paper sitting on a sticky flatfish in his catch on Thursday, along with a torn-off string and the fragment of a red balloon. The handwritten letter was from a six-year-old girl at an elementary school in Kawasaki, 150km away from where the fish was caught off Choshi port. The sender, Natsumi Shirahige -- now a 21-year-old university student -- and her friends released letters as part of events to mark the school's 120th anniversary in 1993. "Our school is 120 years old ... If you pick up this letter, please write to me," the letter reads, listing the school's address.



■ SOUTH KOREA

Crooner nearly mooner

An aging South Korean crooner stunned a live, national TV audience on Friday by dropping his trousers and saying he was ready to prove he had not been castrated in a love quarrel. Na Hoon-a spoke at a packed news conference to deny rumors he had been castrated off by a Japanese yakuza gangster. Media reports have said the gangster was angry the 60-year-old singer had a fling with one of his favorite South Korean actresses. "Do I have to show you, or will you just believe me?" Na asked. Saying he was ready to prove he had not been damaged "down there," he jumped on a table, slightly lowered his pants and was revealing his underwear when the live TV broadcast cut away, with surprised reporters heard shrieking in the background. Results were inconclusive as Na pulled his pants back up.

SOUTH AFRICA

Schoolboy stabs cell thief

A schoolboy who had his cellphone stolen at knife point on the playground hunted down the robber and stabbed him to death, police said on Friday. The 15-year-old pupil, a student at Delft, a suburb of Cape Town, took his revenge after being stabbed in the back by one member of a five-strong gang of adults who had come to the high school on Wednesday. "One of the men robbed a 15-year-old boy of his cellphone, stabbing him in the back with a knife in the process. The other four men ran away," police spokesman Andre Traut said.



■ GERMANY

Diplomat abuses maid

A Yemeni diplomat stationed in Berlin treated his Indonesian maid like a domestic slave, the German foreign ministry said on Friday, confirming media reports. The 30-year-old woman told a newspaper she was forced to be on call 24 hours a day and was beaten by her employer if she failed to work quickly enough. "I wasn't allowed to touch the food that I cooked for him. For breakfast I was permitted a slice of bread and in the evening a bowl of rice with tomatoes," the woman, using the pseudonym Dewi Hasniati, said in the Frankfurter Rundschau.



■ SPAIN

Man sues family of cyclist

A driver who collided with a cyclist is suing the dead youth's family 20,000 euros (US$29,000) for the damage the impact of his body did to his luxury car, a newspaper reported on Friday. Businessman Tomas Delgado says 17-year-old Enaitz Iriondo caused 14,000 euros (US$20,500) of damage to his Audi A8 in the fatal 2004 crash in La Rioja region, the El Pais newspaper reported. Delgado, who has faced no criminal charges for the incident, wants a further 6,000 euros to cover the cost of hiring another vehicle while his car was being repaired, El Pais said.



■ UNITED KINGDOM

Haggis dish under threat

Exports of Scotland's fabled dish haggis are under threat because of a shortage of young people wanting to becoming butchers, the Financial Times said Saturday. The dish -- sheep's heart, liver and lungs with oatmeal, herbs and spices -- is the traditional fare on Burns Night (Jan. 25) in honor of the poet Robbie Burns, who hailed it as "great chieftain o' the puddin' race." The chief executive of the Scottish skills council Improve, Jack Matthews, told the business daily it was the epitome of Scottish industry: traditionally made and a premium product.



■ UNITED KINGDOM

Stash of false limbs found

A massive stash of false limbs found in the cellar of a retired British taxi driver's home are to be sent to Pakistan to help victims of the 2005 earthquake, a charity said on Friday. More than 100 artificial limbs and about 100 crutches and walking frames were found by a plumber fitting central heating at Mike Sutton's home in Bridport, southwest England, soon after he and his wife Teresa moved in. The Limbless Association has now collected the hoard, which includes a mixture of left and right legs in different sizes, most with pristine leather straps attached, and a solitary prosthetic hand.


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