■ CHINA
"Bus accident kills 21
Twenty-one people were killed after a bus plunged into a river in southwest China, as millions of Chinese returned from their Lunar New Year holidays, state media reported yesterday. The accident took place in mountainous Guizhou Province on Tuesday on a road linking the cities of Chishui and Zunyi, Xinhua news agency said. Fourteen people were also injured in the accident and were being treated at a nearby hospital, local authorities said. Guizhou was one of the provinces hardest hit in recent weeks by record snowfalls that wreaked havoc on the country's road and rail networks. The report said it was unclear whether the road where the accident took place was covered in ice or snow.
ts waste and promised corrective measures. The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries said it would amend regulations in June to remove two waste dump areas in the Sea of Japan which are in waters under Japanese jurisdiction. "The government will exclude the two areas ... as waste dump areas," the ministry said in a statement. It stressed, however, that no waste had actually been dumped there since at least 1998 when a bilateral fisheries agreement was signed.
■ CHINA
Hamsters in demand
A sudden spike in the demand for pet rodents, inspired by the start of the "Year of the Rat," has forced the price of hamsters up by as many as six times in China, the People's Daily reported yesterday. Prior to the Lunar New Year, hamsters went for as little as 5 yuan (US$0.70) each, but now they cost as much as 30 yuan, it said in a report posted on its Web site. "More people want rat-like pets," said Yi Xiaoran, an online hamster trader. "I've got at least twice as many customers looking for hamsters now than before Lunar New Year." However, medical professionals warn about health risks as some rodents may carry rabies, Xinhua news agency said.
■ CHINA
Truck spills sulfuric acid
A tanker truck carrying more than 30 tonnes of sulfuric acid has crashed in the southwest, spilling its load into a river and causing "serious pollution," Xinhua news agency said yesterday. The accident occurred on Tuesday, when the truck ran into the guard rail on a highway linking Anning and Chuxiong in Yunnan Province, it said. "Some of the sulfuric acid has flown into a roadside river and has caused serious pollution. Many fish were killed," Xinhua said. No human casualties were reported, but up to 1,000 vehicles were stranded on a section of the highway, it said.
■ INDIA
Mustache firing case heard
The case of a flight steward who claimed the state-run domestic carrier dismissed him because of his handlebar mustache was heard on Monday by the Supreme Court, a report said. Joynath Victor De, a former Indian Airlines employee, said the carrier assigned him to ground duties in 1998 and later compulsorily retired him in 2001 for allegedly not adhering to service rules on uniform and appearance. "How can a person with a mustache be removed? This is a democratic country," said judges H.K. Sema and Markandey Katju, Press Trust of India news agency reported. It was not clear if De, who filed suit in 1998, was seeking reinstatement or compensation.
■ CROATIA
Hoax embarrasses daily
A leading daily was deeply embarrassed when it published an interview with the prime minister that turned out to be a hoax by a journalism student who answered the editor's questions by e-mail. The "interview" with Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, focused on Croatia's drive to join the EU and NATO, was published by the Jutarnji List on Saturday -- only for the government to deny it had taken place. The daily's editor, Davor Butkovic, admitted he had not spoken to Sanader, but said he had exchanged mobile phone messages and agreed to receive answers in an e-mail.
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