Print

Mail

wiki links

World News Quick Take

■HONG KONG

Pollution at record level

Air pollution has returned to a record high registered in 2000, triggering a warning for people with heart or respiratory illnesses, the Environmental Protection Department said yesterday. A pall of smog hung over the city, restricting views across Victoria Harbour as pollutants built up because of a lack of wind. Roadside air pollution readings reached a “very high” reading of 174 overnight in Central district, a record high last reached nine years ago. When the index exceeds 101, “persons with existing heart or respiratory illnesses are advised to reduce physical exertion and outdoor activities,” the department said. Air pollution levels were forecast to remain very high yesterday. Emissions from factories in southern China combined with emissions from local power plants and transport generate a thick haze over the city for large parts of last year.



■JAPAN

Wine study backs fish rule

It’s not just culinary etiquette to pair red wine with red meat and not fish: A research team says there is a scientific explanation. Researcher Takayuki Tamura and colleagues from the product development research laboratory of wine producer Mercian Corp found that wine connoisseurs established the rule of thumb because of the flavor clash between red wine and fish. Tamura and his team found that an unpleasant, fishy aftertaste noticeable after drinking red wine with fish resulted from naturally occurring iron in red wine, with some wines having more iron than others. Their study, published in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, found that low-iron red wines might be a good match with seafood.



■HONG KONG
Giant crocodile trapped

It took five men and a tranquilizer dart to remove a monster 5m saltwater crocodile from a trap in the tropical north, park officials said on Friday. The giant reptile was snared near a popular swimming area on the outskirts of Darwin that was closed because of high levels of bacteria in the water, senior ranger Tom Nichols said. “This is the largest crocodile we’ve removed from the area in the last four years,” Nichols said. The reptile was in good condition and was taken by truck to the city’s crocodile farm. The Northern Territory has suffered two fatal crocodile attacks this year. The Northern Territory has suffered two fatal crocodile attacks this year and is estimated to have the country’s largest population of the animals — approximately 80,000.



■MALAYSIA

Mom, baby get free flights

A woman who gave premature birth to a boy on board an airplane minutes before it landed will get free flights for life along with her child, an airline official said on Friday. Liew Siaw Hsia, 31, gave birth on budget carrier AirAsia’s flight from Penang to Kuching on Wednesday. AirAsia spokesman Nazatul Mokhtar said the flight was diverted to nearby Kuala Lumpur for an emergency landing when Liew started labor pains. He said Liew was 27 weeks pregnant, 11 weeks short of the full term. A doctor on the flight helped the woman deliver while the plane was still 600m in the air in its final approach to land. Mother and son were rushed to a nearby hospital after the plane landed, an airline statement said. Nazatul said they were both in good shape and would get free flights on the airline for life.



■UNITED STATES

Police issue unusual tickets

A Texas police chief apologized on Friday after at least 39 people received traffic tickets because they couldn’t speak English. “I apologize to the Spanish speaking, Hispanic community.” Dallas police chief David Kunkle said at a press conference. The situation came to light after a woman went to court to challenge a ticket issued by an officer which cited her for being a “non-English speaking driver.” Kunkle said his department reviewed its records and found that 38 similar tickets had been written in the past three years by six different officers. All fees will be refunded and the police will ask for all convictions to be reversed, he said. The department is also considering dereliction of duty charges against the officers involved and the sergeants who reviewed the citations. Kunkle said the misunderstanding of state law could have stemmed from an effort to shift to an electronic citation system. Lists of citations were distributed which included a federal statute which requires drivers of commercial vehicles to have sufficient proficiency in English to operate the vehicle safely.



■UNITED STATES

Diva causes dining ruckus

An Argentine diva has been charged with creating a ruckus at a Manhattan restaurant. The case against Gabriela Pochinki was adjourned on Friday on contemplation of dismissal. That means the misdemeanor disorderly conduct, criminal trespass and obstructing-government charges will be tossed if she stays out of trouble for six months. A criminal complaint says Pochinki irked fellow patrons by yelling into her cellphone, then screamed at a manager and refused to leave when asked by the manager and a police officer. Pochinki has appeared in leading roles worldwide.



■UNITED STATES

‘War hero’ sentenced to jail

A Marine sergeant has been sentenced to 18 months in prison by a Virginia court martial for pretending to be a war hero who had been seriously injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sergeant David Budwah, 34, pled guilty before the court martial at the Quantico military base to having sought an exemption on the basis of post-traumatic stress disorder, which he did not actually have, court documents showed. He was also found guilty of having worn medals and ribbons he had not earned and obtaining seats at concerts, dinners and sporting events that were intended for wounded US military personnel. He acknowledged having lied during an interview with a journalist from the Herald-Mail newspaper, in which he claimed to have been injured “by a hand grenade filled with glass, nails and other debris. I dove on a buddy to shield him from the blast, and the blast damaged half my face,” he told the reporter. Between 2000 and 2006 Budwah was stationed in Okinawa, Japan.



■UNITED KINGDOM

Prince defends big bonuses

Prince Andrew defended big bonuses yesterday, saying they were “minute” in the grand scheme of things but were an easy target for people angry at the financial crisis. “I don’t want to demonize the banking and financial sector,” the Duke of York, Queen Elizabeth II’s second son and Britain’s special representative for international trade and investment, told the Daily Telegraph newspaper. “Bonuses, in the scheme of things, are minute. They are easy to target. A number [of people] will have abused their privilege of a bonus, so get rid of the excesses, but don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.”


This story has been viewed 586 times.