■HONG KONG
Flu-related death confirmed
The territory has reported its third swine flu-related death after a 58-year-old man who died of a heart attack later tested positive for the H1N1 virus. The Princess Margaret Hospital said in a statement yesterday that the man, who had chronic heart disease, sought hospital treatment on Thursday because he was suffering from a chest infection with a fever. The hospital said he died of cardiac arrest on Friday and that hours later the hospital confirmed that he also had the swine flu virus.
■VIETNAM
Would-be bomber jailed
A state-owned newspaper said a man has been imprisoned for 12 years for trying to bomb and blackmail a luxury hotel in Ho Chi Minh City. Youth newspaper says a court in the southern city convicted 22-year-old Vo Anh Tuan in a one-day trial on Friday. The report yesterday said Tuan hid a homemade bomb in the hotel in May then demanded US$20,000, hoping to recoup stock trading losses. It says police arrested Tuan when he went to collect the money from a hotel representative. It said authorities defused the 0.5kg bomb that Tuan said he made using instructions online.
■KYRGYZSTAN
Russia to post more troops
The Central Asian country yesterday agreed to allow Russia to station more troops on its territory as Moscow seeks to increase its military influence in the region. A memorandum signed by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the country had “approved a proposal by Russia to house an additional Russian military contingent in Kyrgyzstan.” The memorandum, signed at the resort of Cholpon-Ata on Lake Issyk Kul, said the size of the contingent could be up to a battalion. The two sides also vowed to sign a formal agreement by Nov. 1 on the formal status of Russian bases in the country, the memorandum said.
■AUSTRALIA
Piggery quarantined
A piggery was quarantined after a swine flu outbreak, officials said yesterday, amid fears the virus could mutate and return to humans in a more deadly form. An emergency team of vets and health officials shut down the farm and were tracing the movements of animals, people and equipment to determine where the infection started and contain further spread, said Nathan Rees, the premier of New South Wales state. “There is no threat to pork products,” said Rees. “All the appropriate measures are in place.” A sick farmer was believed to have infected the pigs, which began coughing at the 2,000-animal farm in Dunedoo, 360km west of Sydney.
■FIJI
Suva unmoved by ultimatum
The government said yesterday it would not react to the latest suspension threat from the Commonwealth until directly informed of the ultimatum. The Commonwealth has renewed its warning that the country would be suspended from the grouping next month if it failed to commit to holding new elections by next year following a 2006 coup. Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was quoted by the Fiji Village Web site as saying the government had not received official word on the suspension threat and would only comment when there had been talks with the Commonwealth. In a statement agreed after seven hours of talks in London on Friday, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group called for the country to inform it in writing by Sept. 1 that it would hold elections by October next year.
■UNITED NATIONS
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