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World News Quick Take

PHOTO: AP

■ NEW ZEALAND

Child murderers convicted

Two brothers were found guilty yesterday of murdering a three-year-old girl who was kicked to death after months of abuse, including being hung and spun on a rotary clothes line until she fell off and put in a tumble dryer that was switched on, news reports said yesterday. A jury in the Rotorua High Court took nearly 11 hours to convict Wiremu Curtis, 18, and Michael Curtis, 22, of the murder of Nia Glassie, who died from severe brain damage in August last year, 12 days after being taken to hospital. The girl’s mother, Lisa Kuka, 35, who had been in a relationship with Wiremu Curtis, was found guilty on two counts of manslaughter for failing to provide the necessities of life and not protecting the child from violence.



■INDONESIA

Trader faces jail for rumors

A share trader is facing six years in jail for spreading rumours about liquidity crises in local banks, police said on Monday. Erick Ardiansyah, an equity sales official at PT Bahana Securities, was arrested on Saturday after a bank complained about false rumours circulating in the market, police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira said. “Erick sent out emails saying that several banks were facing liquidity problems and had trouble with their interbank transactions,” he said. “We did our checks and found that these were untrue ... the banks have no such problems. If found guilty, Erick can be jailed for six years.”



■INDIA

16 killed in bus accident

Sixteen people were killed and 31 critically injured when a bus carrying wedding guests crashed into a truck in northern India, police said yesterday. The bride and groom were safe, as they were travelling separately, according to a police spokesman in northern Uttar Pradesh state. Eighty wedding guests were returning from the festivities on the chartered bus. India has one of the highest road death tolls in the world. Lax enforcement of traffic rules, overloaded vehicles and poor roads are often blamed for accidents.



■HONG KONG

Cops pose as prostitutes

Two undercover policewomen posed as potential prostitutes to help crack an international sex syndicate that was sending women to work in overseas bars, a court report said yesterday. The two officers arranged a meeting with a man called Ho after answering an advertisement in a Chinese-language newspaper offering “quick money overseas by being public relationship officers in Japan, Taiwan and the United Kingdom” between December 2006 and June last year. At the meeting the women were told they could earn tens of thousands of dollars a month entertaining and having sex with customers in a bar in Chiba-Ken in Japan.



■INDIA

Pedophilia case probed

Police in the eastern part of the country were interrogating an Australian doctor on Monday who was arrested on suspicion of pedophilia, a police spokesman said. The doctor, a volunteer at the Mary-Ellen Gerber Children’s Village orphanage, had identified himself as Paul Allen, 60, but travel documents showed his name as “Allen Herbert Rose,” police said. “The accused doctor is not cooperating with the police,” Orissa police official Gyana Mohapatra said on Monday. The doctor was arrested in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh state last Wednesday by police acting on complaints from orphanage authorities.

■ AUSTRIA

Skull turns heads

An oversize skull with a built-in sauna is turning heads in Vienna. The white walk-in structure is known as the “Wellness Skull” and also boasts a bathtub and shower On either side of the neck. The skull, the brainchild of Dutch artist Joep van Lieshout, stands about 4.5m tall and is made of wood and synthetic material. It is on display as part of an effort by Public Art Vienna to revitalize and enhance urban space around the capital. Although the skull was built to be fully functional, visitors won’t be able to try it out or witness steam emanating from its eye sockets — something that only happens when the sauna, which fits eight people, is in use.



■FRANCE

MP kills mistress, self

Member of Parliament (MP) Jean-Marie Demange, distraught over losing his post of mayor in elections, shot his mistress dead on Monday before turning the gun on himself, police said. Demange, a member of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s right-wing party, killed the woman in her house in Thionville, where he was mayor for 13 years before losing in elections eight months ago. The 65-year-old physician had a heated argument with the woman, aged 46, before shooting her on the balcony of her apartment, a witness said. “I heard screams and then saw the woman come out on the balcony,” neighbor Rene Rio said. “He beat her for at least 10 minutes” and “shot her at point-blank range in the head. When she collapsed, he went back into the flat. Then I heard a shot.” Demange was also in the middle of a divorce.



■GEORGIA

Russian drone kills two

Two police officers were killed when a Russian unmanned reconnaissance drone exploded after coming down near a village in the Shida Kartli region on Monday, the Interior Ministry said. It said the drone exploded shortly after the police arrived at the scene in the village of Plavi. A senior Russian military source said he knew nothing of the incident.



■UNITED KINGDOM

Fat pets seek diet crown

Eight of Britain’s fattest pets are to embark on a 100-day diet and fitness regime in a bid to be crowned this year’s pet fit club champion. The seven dogs and one cat, who are all more than 30 percent overweight and weigh a combined total of 191kg, were picked by veterinary charity PDSA, which is running the contest. The animals, who need to lose a total of 74kg to reach their ideal weight, will be put on specially tailored diet and exercise programs. The pet who achieves the biggest percentage weight loss and best follows their new regime will be crowned champion, winning their owner a pet-friendly holiday.



■UNITED KINGDOM

Ex-Beckham home for sale

A businessman believes he can help a couple sell their modest east London home for more than US$1 million after proving that soccer star David Beckham once lived there. Colin Evans said Beckham lived in the three-bedroom row house Leytonstone until he was two years old. Evans has listed the house on the online classified Web Site gumtree.com, calling it a “celebrity hotspot.”

■UNITED STATES

Woman hides corpse

A member of a religious sect in Wisconsin pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor after being accused of leaving another member’s corpse in her bathroom so the group could collect her government pension checks. Tammy Lewis, 36, was fined US$350 for obstructing an officer, while prosecution was deferred on the more serious charges against her. She’ll receive mental health treatment and testify against sect leader Alan Bushey at his trial in April, District Attorney Scott Southworth said.



■UNITED STATES

Goodwill finds donor

It took some fancy footwork, but a Goodwill store in Illinois has found the owner of US$7,500 in cash mistakenly donated with old shoes. A newcomer to the US from Bulgaria found the money this month on her first day at the Goodwill store in Glen Carbon. Teodora Petrova turned over the money to management.Goodwill found the family through hints on scraps of paper left in the box. The donor apparently also called the Goodwill office, figuring he was the source of the cash.



■UNITED STATES

S Koreans on visa-free trip

The first of many South Korean tourists arrived in Hawaii under a new program that allows them to enter the US without visas. About 800,000 Koreans visit the US each year, and that number could double next year because of the new program, said Austin Kang, co-chair of the Korean Visa Waiver Committee. In Hawaii, the number of South Korean tourists could double to 80,000 next year and quadruple to 160,000 by 2010, Kang said on Monday. “Korea has been one of the strongest allies to the United States in the fight against communism, so Korea deserves this visa waiver,” he said. The program requires visitors to obtain a new passport with an embedded smart chip, which US security officials use to track foreigners whenever they use their passport during their stay. Anyone who gets this kind of passport is eligible to visit for up to 90 days.



■UNITED STATES

Warden killed in crash

A helicopter crash in Arkansas killed a state conservation officer who was patroling for violators of a ban on deer hunting at night. Sergeant Monty Carmikle, 45, died when the helicopter went down about 1am on Sunday, said Keith Stephens, spokesman for the state’s Game and Fish Commission. Pilot Jerry Fryar was taken to a hospital but his injuries were not considered life-threatening. The two men were the only ones aboard the helicopter. The cause of the crash was not known, Stephens said.



■UNITED STATES

Perfume maker sues Prince

A perfume company is claiming Prince and his music publisher failed to honor a contract to help market a fragrance named for the album 3121. The breach-of-contract lawsuit was filed on Monday by Revelations Perfume and Cosmetics Inc in New York. The company says it licensed Prince’s name, likeness and the album title 3121 to market its fragrance. Revelations says it spent US$2.5 million and agreed to pay Universal half of net profits from sales of the perfume. But it claims Universal and Prince have not participated in various promotions since the frangrance launch in July last year. Universal spokesman Peter LoFrumento calls the claims “completely without merit.” Prince’s music studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota, did not answer several calls.