■THAILAND
General told to dance
A maverick general who has threatened to bomb anti-government protesters and drop snakes on them from helicopters has been reassigned as an aerobics teacher, the Bangkok Post said on Friday. Major-General Khattiya Sawasdipol, a Rambo-esque anti-communist fighter more commonly known as Seh Daeng, reacted with disappointment to his new role as a military instructor promoting public fitness at marketplaces. “The army chief wants me to be a presenter leading aerobics dancers. I have prepared one dance. It’s called the ‘throwing-a-hand-grenade’ dance,” he said.
■PHILIPPINES
Arroyo’s husband stays put
The ailing husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will stay in a Japanese hospital longer to undergo more tests after suffering severe stomach pains during a flight to Peru, a senior official said yesterday. Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said the doctors of Jose Miguel Arroyo have arrived in Japan to conduct the tests. Puno said Mr. Arroyo was in stable condition. The 62-year-old Jose Miguel Arroyo was among the entourage of his wife who will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ summit in Lima. The plane carrying President Arroyo and her entourage made an emergency landing in Osaka late on Friday.
■AUSTRALIA
Malouf wins literary prize
Author David Malouf has beaten Nobel laureate J.M. Coetzee and Japan’s Haruki Murakami to win Australasia’s richest literary prize. Malouf won the inaugural US$68,000 Australia-Asia Literary Award for The Complete Stories. “The Complete Stories is a rich feast of subtle tales which sum up the intense joys and sadness that fill even the most ordinary lives — we were all moved by this fine collection,” judging panel chair Nury Vittachi said. Vittachi, Hong Kong-based founder of the Asia Literary Review was joined on the judging panel by Melbourne literary critic Peter Craven and Pakistani-born author Kamila Shamsie.
■JAPAN
Student violence hits record
Reported cases of violence involving primary and secondary school students hit an all-time high last year with an increase in children who cannot control themselves, a government report said. The number totaled 52,756 cases in the past academic year to March, up 18 percent from 12 months ago, the education ministry said in an annual survey released this week. The survey covered 40,000 schools for students from the first to 12th year of education. Of the cases, 28,396 involved violence between students and 6,959 were targeted at teachers, the report said. There were 15,718 cases of vandalism. Cases involving students at primary schools jumped 37 percent to a record 5,214. Cases at junior high schools for the seventh to ninth years rose 20 percent to 36,803 and those at senior high schools were up 4 percent to 17,039, both totals being all-time highs.
■HONG KONG
Hungry monkey gives chase
A 46-year-old hiker was recovering in hospital yesterday after falling 20m into a reservoir while running away from a monkey trying to steal her food. The woman was hiking with friends on Friday when a large adult monkey tried to snatch a bag of nuts she was carrying, said a spokesman for the emergency services team who rescued her. She ran away and tumbled down a steep bank before ending up in the reservoir. The woman was taken to hospital with injuries to her head, arms and legs.
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