■AUSTRALIA
Inquiry clears Rudd
A government-commissioned inquiry yesterday cleared Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of accusations that he lied to parliament about giving preferential treatment to a campaign supporter. Observers agreed that if substantiated, the dishonesty charge could have brought down Rudd’s 21-month-old leadership. In June, Rudd commissioned Auditor-General Ian McPhee to investigate whether he or Treasurer Wayne Swan had intervened on behalf of car dealer John Grant earlier this year when Grant asked for government credit to keep his business afloat during the global credit squeeze.
■NEW ZEALAND
Field found guilty
A High Court jury yesterday found a former member of parliament and government minister Philip Field guilty of 11 of 12 corruption charges filed against him. He was also convicted of 26 bribery and obstruction charges out of 35 laid against him. Field faces a prison sentence of up to seven years and was accused of providing immigration favors to Thai people in return for work on his properties, and creating elaborate falsehoods to cover his actions.
■CHINA
Teen dies after beating
A teenager was allegedly beaten to death by trainers at a rehabilitation camp where his parents had sent him to cure his Internet addiction, reports said yesterday. The three supervisors who allegedly beat Deng Senshan, 16, were arrested after the boy’s death early on Sunday, his father Deng Fei told the Global Times. Deng Fei said he paid 7,000 yuan (US$1,000) to give his son a month’s training at the Guangxi Qihuang Survival Training Camp to rid him of his addiction to the Internet.
■THAILAND
Pilot killed in plane crash
A Bangkok Airways plane skidded off the runway and crashed into an old air traffic control tower after landing on Samui yesterday, killing the pilot, an official said. About 10 people were hospitalized with minor injuries after the plane landed in stormy weather and hit the building, Department of Civil Aviation Director-General Kanikka Kemawutanond said. She said the ATR72 twin-turboprop had 68 passengers, two pilots and two crew members on board and was flying from Krabi, another popular resort area.
■NEW ZEALAND
Jogger attacked by dogs
A female jogger “looked like a blob of blood” from multiple bite wounds after eight pig hunting dogs attacked her as she ran past a rural property on North Island, her husband said yesterday. Margit Christensen, 36, suffered scores of bites to her scalp, arms and legs before the dogs ran off. She had nine hours of surgery overnight on Monday, emergency specialist John Bonning said.
■CHINA
Survey ranks trustworthiness
Prostitutes are considered more trustworthy than government officials and scientists, a recent survey of more than 3,000 respondents showed. The online survey of 3,376 people showed that 7.9 percent of respondents considered sex workers trustworthy, putting them in third place after farmers and religious workers, the Insight China magazine said on its Web site. The China Daily said the list showed scientists and teachers ranked “way below, and that government functionaries, too, scored hardly better.” Soldiers and students were ranked after sex workers on the list of trustworthy professions, the magazine said.
■KENYA
Pirates release vessel
Somali pirates freed a German container ship and its crew after the hijackers were paid ransom, maritime officials said on Monday. Pirates released the German vessel Hansa Stavanger and its 24-strong crew after being paid US$2.7 million. It was later escorted from the Somali coast by an EU naval force, said Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers’ Assistance Program. The 20,000 tonne vessel was seized in April.
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