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World News Quick Take

■JAPAN

Prince turns three

The likely future emperor, Prince Hisahito, the first male heir born in four decades, turned three years old yesterday. Newspapers published photos of the prince wearing a kimono embroidered with images of a crane, a symbol of Japan and longevity. TV news showed the smiling boy, nicknamed “Yuyu” and “Yuchan” by his parents, running into his father’s arms. Hisahito is third in line to succeed Emperor Akihito, 75. His uncle, 49-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito, is first in line, followed by his younger brother and Hisahito’s father, Akishino.



■NORTH KOREA

Part II of Kim film released

The government says it has produced the second part of a multi-part documentary chronicling the life of leader Kim Jong-il. The official Korean Central News Agency said in a dispatch yesterday that the second part of the film, dubbed Glorifying the Revolutionary Traditions, focuses on Kim’s efforts to preserve historic and “revolutionary” sites in the country starting in the 1950s. The film is reminiscent of a 20-part documentary made of Kim’s father the year before he died in 1994.



■SOUTH KOREA

Campers reported missing

Police said yesterday that six campers reported missing in the north of the country might have been swept away by a huge wave released by a North Korean dam upriver. The six disappeared at dawn yesterday from their campsite on the banks of the Imjin River in Yeoncheon. A police official said investigators suspected the Hwanggang Dam had released a massive volume of water that swept away the campers because there had been no rainfall in the area recently. TV footage showed police and troops searching for the missing.

■MALAYSIA

McDonald’s back in court

US fast food giant McDonald’s, which has waged an eight-year legal battle with local restaurant McCurry, will today petition the nation’s highest court in its campaign to strip the eatery of the “Mc” prefix. In April, an appeals court overturned a 2006 high court decision that McCurry — whose menu features local delicacies such as fish head curry — had illegally infringed on the US chain’s trademark. “They [McDonald’s] have said that we are passing off as McDonald’s. But the food we serve is different,” McCurry owner Kanages Suppiah said yesterday. Kanages said the family-owned business is hoping the April decision in its favor will be upheld so that they can so they can go ahead with plans to open other branches. “I am keeping my fingers crossed. I hope we will win. We have only one shop. Because of this [legal] problem we have been unable to expand,” she said. The McCurry restaurant, which owners say is short for Malaysian Chicken Curry Restaurant, was established in 1999. McDonald’s has 185 outlets in the country.



■THAILAND

Gunmen kill three Muslims

Gunmen shot and killed three Muslims from the same family in the latest violence in Yala Province, local police said yesterday. A village chief, aged 61, his daughter, 33, and her 42-year-old husband, an assistant village chief, were shot and killed while they were sitting in their house on Saturday night. Police said a group of separatists raided the house and opened fire on the family, before fleeing the scene. The attacks were the latest in a series to hit the region during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.



■VIETNAM

Dual national found guilty

A Vietnamese-Australian has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for heroin possession, state media reported on Saturday. A court in Ho Chi Minh City found Chu Hoang Mai, 47, guilty of attempting to smuggle 215g of heroin on a flight to Sydney, Vietnam News reported. It said customs officers found the drug in three small packages Chu’s body during a routine check at Tan Son Nhat Airport on June 11 last year.



■INDONESIA

Elephants kill farmer

Conversation officials said on Saturday about 15 rampaging wild elephants killed a farmer on Sumatra. The officials say the elephants trampled 27-year-old Rinto Lumbangaol on Thursday in his village of Pauranap in Riau Province.



■NEPAL

Indian priests begin work

Two Indian priests began work on Saturday in one of the holiest Hindu shrines in Kathmandu, a day after they were beaten up by Maoists demanding important religious jobs be given to Nepalis. The two high-caste Brahmins from Karnataka state in India began conducting rituals at the centuries-old Pashupatinath Temple, even as Maoist activists burnt tires on roads, bringing traffic to a halt on several Kathmandu streets. On Friday, some former Maoist rebels entered the temple as the priests, chosen by the government, were performing a purification ceremony prior to assuming their roles. “It was a deplorable attack by the Maoists,” Culture Minister Minendra Rijal said. “We appeal to all to be calm and cooperate with the government in maintaining harmony.” Priests of the temple have been traditionally been picked by shrine authorities from among high-caste Hindus in India and then approved by the government.



■GERMANY

Hitler watercolors sold

Three watercolors believed painted by a young Adolf Hitler were auctioned off for a total of 42,000 euros (US$60,000) in the Bavarian city of Nuremberg on Saturday. Auctioneer Herbert Weidler said the paintings were sold to three different phone bidders. Although the exact number of Hitler paintings is unknown, experts believe there are about 720, including sketches, in existence. “Various clients are interested in these paintings,” Weidler said. “They’re intellectuals, businessmen or just normal people who might have saved some money and wanted such a painting.” The paintings are dated from 1910 to 1911 and originate in Vienna, where Hitler was a struggling artist. He applied to art school in Vienna, but was rejected.



■UNITED KINGDOM

Scotland denies allegations

Scotland rejected allegations yesterday that its decision to free the Lockerbie bomber because he is terminally ill was based on medical advice from doctors paid by Libya. The Sunday Telegraph reported that the Libyan government paid for the advice that suggested Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi was eligible for compassionate release under Scottish law, namely that he had less than three months to live. However, the Scottish government said the prognosis of the three doctors paid for by the Libyans — two of whom are British — came too late to affect Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill’s decision to free Megrahi last month.



■MACEDONIA

Boat sinks, 15 drown

An overloaded sightseeing boat carrying dozens of Bulgarian tourists has sunk in a lake on the western border, killing 15 people, officials said. The vessel, called the Ilinden, sank rapidly on Saturday in just 6m of water in Lake Ohrid, police spokesman Ivo Kotevski said. The vessel split in two and sank about 200m from shore. There were 57 passengers on board, Kotevski said. Of those, 15 drowned and 42 were rescued. Four passengers who were recovered unconscious are still in hospital but are not in danger, he said. Earlier reports had put the number of passengers on the Ilinden at 73. Police later corrected the number.



■SWEDEN

Bad hairdo sparks outburst

A woman bit her hairdresser because she was so upset about a hairdo that went wrong — and has now been ordered to pay the equivalent of about US$3,000, local radio reported on Saturday. The customer bit the hairdresser in the thumb and also smashed up part of the salon in Jonkoping, southwest of Stockholm, the report said. A district court ordered her to pay 9,000 kronor in damages and almost twice that amount in compensation for vandalizing the salon.



■SWEDEN

Illegal immigrant claims prize

An illegal immigrant who scored a big win with a lottery scratch card appeared on TV on Saturday to collect his winnings even though authorities have been trying to deport him. Tesfaldet Tesloy, a 28-year-old Eritrean who has lived in the Nordic country for six years, won a tax-free prize of 1.2 million kronor (US$166,000). But the country’s attempts to deport the man have failed because of his country’s refusal to take him back, highlighting a common problem for immigration officials. Stockholm says it has about 12,000 people awaiting deportation. Of those, Tesloy is one of hundreds living illegally who cannot be sent home because their home countries refuse to have them back.



■UNITED STATES

Aircraft crashes, killing five

A small aircraft plummeted into a park and burst into flames on Saturday after hitting a guide wire from a communications tower, killing all five people on board, investigators said. The six-passenger plane was on its way to Dallas when it crashed amid heavy fog near a baseball field in Tulsa, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lieutenant George Brown said. “The wings came off. The engine came off,” Brown said. “When it hit, it rolled. It did catch fire. It rolled at least a couple of times, ejecting the occupants.” Brown said the victims, who all died at the scene, were pilot Stephen Lester, 48; his wife Dana, 48; daughters Laura, 16, and Christina, 13; and Ken Veteto, 50.



■UNITED STATES

Cougar prowls city park

With a cougar possibly on the prowl, Seattle’s largest park remained off-limits to holiday weekend revelers as state wildlife agents tried to trap the elusive animal. On Friday, wildlife agents set a second trap while most people, including runners, picnickers and other nature-lovers, obeyed orders to stay out of the popular tree-filled urban retreat known for its spectacular views of Puget Sound. In the past week, at least four people have made credible reports of cougar sightings in or near Discovery Park, a 216-hectare preserve northwest of the city’s downtown. The most recent was on Friday morning, by a man who said he saw a cougar on his driveway as he went out to pick up his newspaper, Seattle parks spokeswoman Joelle Ligon said.



■UNITED STATES

Naked Cowboy quits race

The Naked Cowboy of Times Square said he has dropped out of the race for mayor of New York. Robert Burck is a tourist attraction known for strumming his guitar in the square while wearing only white briefs, boots and a cowboy hat. He entered the mayoral race in July with the slogan: “Nobody has done more with less.” He said he had had enough of the red tape that goes with a mayoral run. He said the last straw came when the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board fined him US$250 for failing to file a required financial disclosure form.



■UNITED STATES

Troopers come under fire

Battling an intensely hot fire after a cargo truck crashed on a highway, emergency crews were surprised to find themselves suddenly fired upon — by corks from exploding wine bottles inside. “The corks were popping out of the bottles like the old Jiffy Pop [popcorn] we grew up with,” Wyoming Highway Patrol Lieutenant Scott Keane said. “My trooper got hit in the arm with one.” The fire on Thursday was so intense it burned the trailer down to its axles, melted the tires and damaged about 23m of pavement. Besides the heat and flying corks, firefighters also had to deal with shattering bottles, but Keane said no one was injured and the truck driver escaped the fire.



■UNITED STATES

Jeep smashes into house

Police say a drunken driver sped through a stop sign and hit an earthen mound before going airborne and smashing his Jeep into the second floor of a New York home. The spectacular wreck happened just after midnight on Saturday in East Moriches on Long Island. The Jeep ripped a giant hole in the side of the house, then fell into a foyer on the first floor. It came to rest on its rear end with its headlights pointing skyward. The only person home at the time was asleep on a couch on the first floor. He was not hurt. The driver suffered minor injuries. A passenger walked away unscathed.


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