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World News Quick Take

■CHINA

Stabber sentenced to death

A court yesterday sentenced a man to death who was convicted of stabbing to death six police officers at a station in Shanghai, state media said. The Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court convicted Yang Jia, 28, of premeditated murder in the attack on July 1, Xinhua news agency said. Unemployed Yang reportedly told investigators that his attack, which also injured four other people, was in revenge for mistreatment last October by police who accused him of stealing bicycles.



■CHINA

Fake quake man jailed

A university student has been jailed for 18 months for hacking into a government Web site and posting a fake earthquake alert, state media reported. The computer science student, surnamed Jia, was convicted by a court in Shaanxi Province last week for deliberately spreading false information, the Xian Evening News said. Jia hacked into the Shaanxi Provincial Seismic Bureau’s Web site on May 29 and posted a warning that a strong earthquake would hit the province that night. His report immediately caused panic. Jia’s posting had 767 clicks within 10 minutes after its release and the seismic bureau received constant call-in inquiries, the report said.



■HONG KONG

Fire kills 32 home pets

Thirty-two cats and dogs were burnt to death yesterday in an arson attack on the home of an animal lover who took in strays, police said. Ten other animals survived the blaze in the early hours yesterday morning at the home in Kam Tim in the New Territories. Firemen said a total of 42 animals lived with the owner in the house. They said the blaze was started deliberately in several locations simultaneously.



■HONG KONG

Monkey mugs woman

A 25-year-old woman was taken to hospital after being mugged by a monkey for a box of egg tarts at a bus stop, police said yesterday. The primate struck seconds after the woman got off a bus for a Sunday picnic in rural Sai Kung Country Park in the New Territories. The monkey scratched her arm as it grabbed the box of egg tarts, police said. The shocked victim was taken to hospital for treatment for minor injuries, a spokesman said.



■MYANMAR

Leader well, but slimmer

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is well but has lost some weight, her lawyer said yesterday, following reports that she had refused new food supplies since Aug. 15. Kyi Win, who met Aung San Suu Kyi at her Yangon home where she has been under house arrest for five years, said she had not indicated whether or not she was on a hunger strike. “I am well, but I have lost some weight. I am a little tired and I need to rest,” Kyi Win quoted the 63-year-old Nobel Peace laureate as saying during their 30 minute meeting.



■PHILIPPINES

Bus bomb kills four

At least four people were killed and 19 wounded when a powerful bomb ripped through a packed passenger bus in the south yesterday, police and disaster officials said. The blast, caused by an improvised explosive device, tore through the bus owned by Metro Shuttle company, which was parked inside a terminal in the city of Digos on troubled Mindanao island, they said. It was not immediately clear how many passengers were aboard the bus or how many people were at the terminal at the time of the explosion.


■ GREECE

Pagan rite at Acropolis

In what organizers said was the first such ceremony performed at the ruins of the Acropolis in Athens since the ancient pagan religion was outlawed in the fourth century, dozens of pagans huddled near the Parthenon in a downpour on Sunday to worship in protest of a museum being built at the foot of the site. They gathered before the temple’s east wing and prayed to Athena, goddess of wisdom, to protect the Parthenon. “Oh, goddess,” the priestess Doretta Peppa said over an offering of water and olive oil. “We are ready to defend your grounds.” The rite was organized by Ellinais, a group that recently won a court battle for state recognition of the religion. Followers object to the removal of marble pediments from the Parthenon to be installed in the US$190 million museum.



■LEBANON

Imam killed, five wounded

An imam was killed and five people wounded in a gun battle between rival communities in a village in the north on Sunday, a security official said. The shooting erupted between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in the village of Sheikhlar in the northern region of Akkar, he said, adding that rescue workers were unable to enter because of the intensity of the fighting. The official identified the victim as Ezzedin Kassem, the imam of the mosque in a neighboring village. Five other people were hurt in the shoot-out, he said, adding that automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades were used in the fighting, which was triggered by a “dispute between villagers.”



■ITALY

Party funded FARC: report

A communist party helped the Colombian FARC rebels, including by raising funds, a Rome daily reported on Sunday, saying the support was revealed by e-mails found on a slain rebel’s laptop. The support from the Communist Refoundation party spanned several years, including time that the small party served in former prime minister Romano Prodi’s center-left government, La Repubblica reported, citing information found in computers belonging to FARC commander Raul Reyes, who was killed in March in a Colombian military raid. A leader of one of the parties in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s conservative government said he would seek an inquiry into the allegations.



■NIGERIA

Gunmen release Israeli

Gunmen released an Israeli expatriate yesterday, nearly a week after he was kidnapped from his home in the country’s oil hub, police and security officials said. Four gunmen abducted the project manager, who works for Gilmor Engineering Limited, in Port Harcourt last Tuesday. The gunmen demanded a US$12 million ransom for his release, but police denied it had been paid. More than 200 foreigners have been seized in the Niger Delta since early 2006. Almost all have been released unharmed.



■LEBANON

Rally marks disappearance

A prominent politician on Sunday asked Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi to reveal anything he knows about the disappearance of a senior cleric during a trip to Libya 30 years ago. Shiite cleric Imam Moussa al-Sadr and two companions went missing during an official visit in 1978. Lebanese authorities blame Qaddafi for the disappearance. Parliament speaker Nabih Berri urged Qaddafi to reveal the facts. “The disappearance of Imam al-Sadr and his two companions is your personal responsibility,” Berri said at a rally to mark the anniversary of the disappearance.



■ARGENTINA

Argentine pair tops in Tango

An Argentine couple has out-danced 36 pairs from around the world to win first prize in Salon Tango at the World Tango Championships. A jury of professional dancers and choreographers tapped Daniel Nacucchio and Cristina Sosa for a final-round win early on Sunday morning at a Buenos Aires club, awarding them about US$4,100. A “Stage Tango” contest — the second, more formal of the championship’s two categories — was scheduled for yesterday.



■VENEZUELA

Drug czar stupid: Chavez

President Hugo Chavez called White House drug czar John Walters “stupid” for saying drug trafficking through Venezuela has soared in recent years. Venezuela on Sunday rejected US requests to resume cooperation in the war on drugs, insisting it has made progress despite an alleged fourfold gain in the amount of Colombian cocaine passing through its territory. Walters has been attempting for weeks to meet with Venezuelan officials while urging renewed cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Chavez suspended cooperation in 2005, accusing DEA agents of espionage. On Sunday, Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry released a statement dismissing US attempts to renew drug talks as “useless and inopportune,” saying the US should focus on slashing demand for drugs at home.



■UNITED STATES

Eight sick after exposure

One of two Missouri hospital emergency rooms reopened on Sunday, a day after being shut down under quarantine when eight people sickened by a dangerous chemical’s release sought treatment. The chemical, which authorities said was likely the highly toxic material nitroaniline, was released when a barrel was dropped. Seven people were still in the hospital, at least one in serious condition, while an eighth patient was released late on Sunday. SSM DePaul Health Center in Missouri’s St Louis County reopened its emergency department on Sunday afternoon after quarantining it the previous night, spokeswoman Jamie Newell said. At St Anthony’s Medical Center most of the emergency department was reopened on Sunday following decontamination. Nitroaniline is commonly used in the synthesis of dyes, antioxidants, pharmaceuticals, gasoline, poultry medicines and as a corrosion inhibitor.



■ETHIOPIA

Top aid official tours country

The UN’s humanitarian chief is touring drought-affected regions of the country. John Holmes arrived in Ethiopia yesterday for a three-day trip. The UN says more than 4 million Ethiopians need emergency assistance and 8 million need immediate food relief. Besides visiting regions affected by the drought this week, Holmes will hold talks with Ethiopian officials.



■SOUTH AFRICA

Snow, floods bring chaos

A cold front bringing with it snow, storms and freezing temperatures has killed 16 people as well as destroyed thousands of hectares of bush and pasture land, according to local reports yesterday. Highland regions of the West Cape Province around Cape Town were hit by snow, while three other provinces were plagued by bush fires whipped up by strong winds. One official compared the burning areas to a battlefield. Meanwhile a Greek freighter was in danger of being run aground near the coastal town of Gaansbai. The ship was met by waves up to 10m high.


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