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■BANGLADESH

Judge sent box of cash

A Supreme Court judge was sent a candy box stuffed with 2 million baht (US$60,150) in cash, delivered by a man claiming to be a lawyer for a politician, a court official said yesterday. The box was brought on Tuesday to the secretariat of the Supreme Court by a lawyer who asked for it to be given to the judge handling his client’s case. When security officers checked the box, they found 2 million baht inside. They then alerted the judge, who called the lawyer to take back the box.



■BANGLADESH

Former PM heads for US

Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina left for the US yesterday for medical treatment a day after she was released from jail pending trial on corruption charges, a party leader said. Hasina boarded a British Airways flight yesterday from Dhaka’s Zia International Airport, ATN Bangla television station reported. Syed Ashraful Islam, a close party colleague, confirmed she had left for the US after seeing her off at the airport. She is to be treated for hearing impairment, eye problem and high blood pressure, her Awami League party said.



■PHILIPPINES

Talks reach critical stage

Negotiations for the release of a prominent television journalist and her crew on the southern Philippine island of Jolo have reached a critical stage, sources close to the talks said yesterday. Suspected Muslim extremists seized Ces Drilon, a senior anchorwoman for the ABS-CBN network, two members of her crew and a Muslim academic accompanying them on Sunday. “We know the hostages are all OK,” the source said. “Talks for their safe release have reached a critical stage with the ransom demand going up from 10 to 20 million pesos [US$454,000].” ABS-CBN said in a statement on Wednesday .

■ UNITED KINGDOM

Bomber partner found guilty

The partner of a man who tried to carry out a suicide bombing in London in July 2005 was found guilty on Wednesday of not informing the authorities about his plans and helping him escape justice. Yeshiemebet Girma, 32, was the partner of Hussein Osman, one of four men who unsuccessfully attempted to blow up three underground trains and a bus to replicate attacks two weeks earlier in which suicide bombers killed 52 commuters. The July 21 attack, which authorities said was masterminded by al-Qaeda in Pakistan, only failed because the men’s bombs failed to explode.



■ITALY

Couple repent for booth romp

A couple who were caught having sex in a church confessional box while morning Mass was being said have repented and made peace with the local bishop. The couple, in their early 30s, were detained by police earlier this month after they had made love in the confessional box in the cathedral in northern Cesena. They were cautioned for obscene acts in public and disturbing a religious function. Their lawyer said they had been drinking all night and realized they had gone too far. The lawyer told the area’s local newspaper on Wednesday the couple met with the local bishop on Tuesday night, asked for his forgiveness and that he had given it.



■AUSTRALIA

Rudd accused of gender bias

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was accused by a government colleague yesterday of applying a sexist double standard by insisting that a woman lawmaker seek anger management counseling when male politicians’ similar behavior has been overlooked. Rudd took the extraordinary step on Wednesday after the lawmaker Belinda Neal was the focus of a series of media reports alleging threatening or violent behavior. Neal, a 45-year-old former union leader, has been accused of threatening and abusing staff at a nightclub last week and of kicking an opponent during a recent soccer match.



■KOREA

Wiki entry changes banned

Users of the Korean-language version of online encyclopedia Wikipedia have been banned from editing the entry on South Korean President Lee Myung-bak because most comments are too rude. Lee’s popularity has plummeted in the wake of mass protests against a deal to import US beef which his government signed in April. Opponents claims the public will face risks from mad cow disease. Editing is “protected from June 8 to October 8 due to repeated defamation,” the site said yesterday. Wikipedia articles can normally be edited by any Internet user. Dong-A Ilbo newspaper said one online user had accused Lee of being insane and had added: “He will ruin the country.”



■RUSSIA

Train derailment injures 60

Russian emergency officials say a train derailed in the nation’s far east and 60 people were injured. Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Irina Andriyanova said nobody was killed in the accident yesterday, but 14 of the injured were hospitalized. Russian media reported six were in serious condition. Andriyanova says at least 10 cars from the passenger train went off the rails in the Amur region near the Chinese border. Some of the cars fell on their sides. Russian media said Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered transport and emergency officials to take urgent measures to aid the injured and deal with the accident. The train was headed from a city in Russia’s extreme north to Khabarovsk near the Pacific coast.

■ UNITED STATES

Man survives nail in head

George Chandler said he didn’t know a 6cm nail was driven into his skull until his buddy spotted it stuck through his cap. Chandler said he felt only a sting. “It never did really what you call hurt,” the Shawnee, Kansas, man said on Wednesday on NBC’s Today. Chandler said his friend Phil Kern was using a nail gun to mount lattice on Chandler’s deck when a hose on the tool became caught. Chandler said he stood up just as Kern tried to free the gun and it discharged. At first, they couldn’t locate the nail. An emergency room doctor needed a claw hammer to get the nail out and sent Chandler home with a few stitches.



■MEXICO

Largest drawing completed

He forgot to eat, sleep or even drink water, but artist Filemon Trevino accomplished his lifelong dream of entering the Guinness Book of World Records. In a news conference on Wednesday, Trevino presented a Guinness certificate declaring his 411m pencil drawing as the world’s largest. The Monterrey artist spent 6,000 hours and used 800 pencils to complete his representation of the heart and circulatory system. He says breaking the record became an obsession that led him to neglect his health. He was hospitalized seven times for dehydration, heart and kidney problems and fainting spells. The work was unveiled in March at the Regiomontana University.



■UNITED STATES

Man walks 40km to court

A man facing sentencing on a drunk-driving conviction couldn’t get a ride to court. So he start walking, and walking. Stephen Shoemaker was scheduled to appear at 9:30am on Tuesday for sentencing. Shoemaker, 33, doesn’t have a car or driver’s license. So he started hoofing it from Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, to the Carlisle courthouse 40km away at dawn. He kept walking in 30°C heat. Shoemaker arrived about 3:30pm — after a detour to a hospital, where he was treated for dehydration. Judge Edward Guido had issued an arrest warrant when Shoemaker failed to appear, but he agreed to defer sentencing until next month.



■UNITED STATES

Obscenity trial delayed

A long-awaited obscenity trial opened on Wednesday and was promptly put on hold after revelations that the top federal judge hearing the case had posted sexually explicit material on the Internet. Judge Alex Kozinski agreed to the prosecution’s request for a 48-hour delay so the Justice Department could look into possible issues of prejudice in the case. The Los Angeles Times said Kozinski posted the explicit material on his Web site. Kozinski said he had been unaware that the pictures could be viewed by the public. The Times said he declined to comment when asked if he felt he should excuse himself from hearing the trial of Ira Isaacs, a filmmaker accused of selling criminally obscene sexual fetish videos depicting bestiality.



■UNITED STATES

Kenyan lions in danger

Conservationists raised the alarm yesterday that lions in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park face extinction within a few years. “The situation has reached a critical level,” said Terry Garcia, executive vice president at National Geographic Society. Fewer than 100 lions are estimated to remain in the region. A major reason for the decline of the lions is spearing and poisoning by local Maasai, whose society depends on raising cattle. National Geographic is donating US$150,000 to the Maasailand Preservation Trust for a compensation fund for herdsmen whose livestock are killed by lions.


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