■ AUSTRALIA
Rudd taps governor-general
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday named Queensland Governor Quentin Bryce as the country’s next governor-general, the first woman to act as the British queen’s representative in the country. “I am pleased to announce that The Queen, on my recommendation as Prime Minister of Australia, has approved the appointment of Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC as the next governor-general of Australia,” Rudd said. Bryce, who was appointed governor of Rudd’s home state of Queensland in July 2003, will replace Major General Michael Jeffery when he steps down in September.
■ HONG KONG
Milkshake murderer appeals
“Milkshake murderer” Nancy Kissel, serving a life sentence for bludgeoning her high-flying banker husband to death after lacing his drink with sedatives, will appeal the verdict in the territory today. The case is set to re-invigorate interest in the US couple’s bizarre relationship, which included adultery, violence, private detectives, jealousy and above-all, enormous wealth. Kissel was found guilty of killing her husband Robert Kissel in November 2003 after serving him a strawberry milkshake laced with a cocktail of sedatives, before bashing the Merrill Lynch investment banker to death with a lead ornament. She disposed of his body by rolling him up in an old carpet and continued to sleep in the same room as the body for several nights, court testimony said.
■ JAPAN
Shrine officials protest film
Keepers of the Yasukuni shrine have accused a Chinese director of misrepresenting the shrine to Japan’s war dead in a documentary and demanded deletions, adding another problem for a film already dogged by theater cancellations over fears of right-wing attacks. The officials said Chinese director Li Ying’s documentary Yasukuni contained shrine scenes filmed without permission. The film “not only failed to properly observe the permission to film the shrine compound, but contained images and other contents that could misrepresent the facts,” the officials said.
■ SOUTH KOREA
H5N1 outbreak confirmed
Seoul confirmed a fourth outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus in the southwest yesterday, as the tally of birds slaughtered to control the spread of the disease rose to 1.3 million. Government tests confirmed the latest H5N1 outbreak at a farm in Yeoungam, about 380km southwest of Seoul, Agriculture Ministry official Kim Chang-sup said. Quarantine workers have slaughtered 470,000 chickens and ducks at 20 farms within a 3km radius of the site of the outbreak, according to Ryu Chul-hyuk, an official of the South Jeolla provincial government.
■ THAILAND
Bodies found on beach
Two women believed to be from South Korea have been found dead on a beach near the famous Pattaya resort town, a local police chief said yesterday. Both women in their late 20s had apparently drowned, and police are investigating whether it was murder or a double-suicide, Lieutenant Colonel Sumeth Harnvisai said. “Initial forensic reports indicate that there were no wounds on the bodies, and the water found in their lungs suggests they drowned,” he said. They were discovered near each other on Lan Island off the eastern coast early on Friday, he said, and a page ripped from a passport found near the bodies indicated they were South Korean.
■ BELGIUM
Sculpture causes royal furor
RSS