■ CAMBODIA
Phnom Penh to host pageant
The country will play host to Miss Landmine 2009, the controversial beauty pageant's Norwegian organizer said yesterday. Miss Landmine parades beautiful female amputee landmine victims on the catwalk as they compete to win prosthetic limbs. Miss Landmine Angola 2008 was crowned the event旧 inaugural winner this month, and the pageant'sfounder, artist Morten Traavik, says he has his heart set on Cambodia as Miss Landmine's next stop.
■ AFGHANISTAN
Taliban appeals to groups
Taliban insurgents urged the international community and rights groups to stop President Hamid Karzai approving the execution of about 100 prisoners whose death sentences were approved by the Supreme Court. The Taliban, fighting to overthrow the pro-Western Afghan government, have executed dozens of captured troops and civilians since US-led and Afghan forces ousted the Islamist movement in 2001. The Taliban also executed dozens of criminals, often in public, while they were in power from 1996 to 2001.
■ THAILAND
Fish sends 140 to hospital
More than 140 people have been rushed to hospital in Nan Province after snacking on fish balls thought to be made from the highly poisonous puffer fish, local media reported Sunday. Villagers were given a soup containing the fish balls at a funeral, the Bangkok Post newspaper reported, and soon began vomiting, complaining of numbness in the tongue and shortness of breath. After being rushed to hospital, doctors deduced that the funeral-goers had symptoms in line with puffer fish poisoning, which can be deadly, the daily said.
■ MALAYSIA
Shootout suspects arrested
Police have arrested suspects in connection with a shootout and robbery at the country's main airport which left five injured in a hail of bullets, reports said yesterday. The thieves, who ambushed two money changers and their security guard outside the departure hall, escaped with more than US$2 million in cash. Police arrested five men who had firearms on them on Friday in southern Johor state, the New Straits Times quoted sources as saying. "We believe we have solved the case with the arrests of the five suspects," the source said. Another newspaper, the Star, said four suspects were arrested while police seized five automatic pistols and part of the money stolen in the heist, totalling more than 920,000 ringgit (US$287,500).
■ MALAYSIA
PM plans new 'rice bowl'
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has announced plans to increase food security by growing rice on a massive scale in a state on Borneo island amid fears of shortages caused by the global food crisis. The 4 billion ringgit (US$1.29 billion) allocated for the plan will also be used to increase cultivation of fruits and vegetables, he said. To make the country completely self-sufficient, rice cultivation on a massive scale will be taken up in Sarawak, making the state the new "rice bowl" of the country, Abdullah said.
■ EAST TIMOR
I was misquoted: president
President Jose Ramos-Horta said yesterday he had been misquoted by the media and had not intended to blame Indonesia for a role in attacks earlier this year that left him fighting for his life. He was shot in Dili by rebels who separately ambushed Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, who escaped unhurt. Ramos-Horta was last week quoted as saying that elements in Australia and Indonesia were involved in the attacks. On Friday, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he was surprised at the reports. But Ramos-Horta said: "It was a misrepresentation by the media. I always said individuals in Indonesia. These individuals can be East Timorese, or they may already have become Indonesian citizens.�
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