■BANGLADESH Septuplets are not related
A retired police officer could face the death sentence after DNA tests proved seven three-year-old children he brought up were not septuplets nor related to him, a lawyer said on Tuesday. Anisur Rahman had claimed that he and his wife were the biological parents of the four boys and three girls. But a rights group accused them of planning to sell the children, and a Bangladeshi court last week ordered DNA tests after a series of reports by local television stations. “Test results from all seven children show that none of them are related to each other — or to the couple who claim to be their parents,” said lawyer Elina Khan of the Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights.
■SOUTH KOREA Cult leader jailed for rape
A court on Tuesday handed a six-year jail term to a religious cult leader for raping his female followers before spending several years on the run in China. Jeong Myeong-seok — whose JMS sect stands for both Jesus Morning Star and the initials of his name — was convicted of raping or sexually assaulting three women between 2001 and 2006. Jeong, now in his early 60s, fled South Korea in 1999, one day after rape allegations against him were broadcast on national television. He was arrested in Hong Kong in 2003 for visa violations and later fled an extradition hearing. China extradited him to Seoul in February. Former cult members, mostly young girls, have told police they were instructed to undress for health checks and to have sex with Jeong to remove their sins.
■HONG KONG Shop organizes ‘Olympets’
As athletes from around the world sweat it out in Beijing, Hong Kong’s pampered pets are being put though their paces in their own version of the Olympic Games. From rabbit hurdles and parrot rope-climbing to cat agility contests, a Hong Kong pet shop has organized 10 weeks’ worth of events to try to promote sport for animals. Organizer Howard Cheung, who runs the city-center PetMAX store, said he was inspired by the Beijing Games, but also wanted to help owners keep their animals healthy. Cheung said the so-called “Olympets” had proved popular, with 400 animals taking part in the heats held so far.
■JAPAN ‘Dream grapes’ cost US$30
Guests at an upscale hotel had a special treat after dinner: “dream grapes” that are fresh, juicy — and cost nearly US$30 a pop. Kagaya, a renowned Japanese-style inn in the central prefecture of Ishikawa, bought a 0.7kg bunch of Ruby Roman grapes for ¥100,000 (US$910) when the first batch of the new-variety grapes went on a local market. “We served them last evening to our repeat customers who were staying in top-notch rooms,” chief cook Fujio Uko said on Tuesday.
■CHINA Bus accident kills 24
Two dozen students and parents heading for a health check-up died in China’s far northwest on Tuesday when their bus flipped over, Xinhua news agency reported. The bus was on a mountainous road between Akqi County and the small city of Atux in the remote Xinjiang region when it turned over, Xinhua reported. Most of the 24 killed were students “on a health check-up trip after having passed entrance examinations of high schools in the developed eastern areas,” the agency said. It said the cause of the deadly incident was under investigation, but made no suggestion it was linked to recent militant attacks in heavily Muslim Xinjiang.
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