■CHINA
Officials ordered to smoke
Officials in Gong’an County, Hubei Province, have been told to smoke nearly a quarter million packs of locally made cigarettes annually or risk being fined, state media reported yesterday. The Gong’an County government has ordered its staff to puff their way through 230,000 packs of Hubei-produced cigarette brands a year, the Global Times said. Departments that fail to meet their targets will be fined, the report said. “The regulation will boost the local economy via the cigarette tax,” Chen Nianzu, a member of the Gong’an cigarette market supervision team, was quoted as saying. The measure could also be a ploy to aid local cigarette brands such as Huanghelou, which are under severe pressure from competitors in Hunan Province.
■CAMBODIA
Four die in karaoke blaze
A police officer said four women who worked at a karaoke parlor were killed and two other people injured as a fire swept through their room while they slept. Major Thuch Ra said the four, aged 15 to 22, died early on Sunday in the northwestern city of Battambang. Another woman and a 25-year-old man were in critical condition from the blaze, which was believed to have started from faulty electric connections. He said the victims were believed to have been drunk and at least initially were not aware that a fire had broken out.
■CAMBODIA
Princess Eugenie targeted
Thieves tried to rob Queen Elizabeth II’s 19-year-old granddaughter, Princess Eugenie, and her friends while they were traveling in Cambodia, a British newspaper reported yesterday. Royal protection officers had to intervene to protect the princess, the youngest daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, when a thief tried to steal her friend’s purse as they walked through Phnom Penh one night, the Sun said. The two officers tackled the thief but were pelted with stones by another man, forcing them to let him go and focus on getting the princess to safety. They also managed to retrieve the purse.
■INDIA
Nor’wester kills 11
At least 11 people were killed and 15 injured when a powerful nor’wester hit West Bengal, a news report said yesterday. The casualties were caused on Sunday by house collapses and lightning strikes, PTI news agency reported. Seven villagers were killed in the central district of Malda when the storm uprooted trees and electrical poles. Four people died in different areas in the North 24-Parganas district, the report said. Fifteen workers were injured when lightning struck them in Burdwan district. A nor’wester is a type of storm that occurs in West Bengal during springtime or early summer, leading to a cooling effect.
■THAILAND
Four killed in shootings
Four people have been killed and two injured — including a child — in separate shootings in the restive south, local police said yesterday. They said two men on motorbikes shot dead a 59-year-old pork vendor early on Sunday afternoon while he was riding home with his nine-year-old nephew in Narathiwat Province. The child was injured when he fell from the bike. That evening, a 51-year-old construction worker was also killed and his colleague injured in another drive-by shooting nearby. A Muslim defense volunteer was shot dead in the same province later on Sunday night while he was parking his motorbike in front of his house.
■IRAQ
Pope may make visit
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