NO WATER: Reminiscent of the Songhua River incident, the government cut off water supplies after toxic wastewater from a power plant contaminated a river in the south
Toxic wastewater was flushed untreated into a river in southern China, prompting the government to cut water supplies to 28,000 people for at least four days, a local official and the official China Daily newspaper said yesterday.

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Working six-hour days at one of this city's busier intersections, where he cajoles pedestrians to respect the traffic signals, Li Debao has a hard-earned insight.

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Chinese citizens' sense of security has fallen over the past three years as the country's yawning wealth gap widens further, state media said yesterday.

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WASTELAND: Taiwanese rescuers were among those using high-tech equipment to search for survivors of the Philippine landslide, but hopes for success are dimming
High-tech gear has detected sounds at the site of an elementary school buried by a landslide, US and Malaysian officials said yesterday.

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India's best efforts to prevent the spread of bird flu were likely foiled by wild birds, the director of the laboratory spearheading the fight against exotic diseases said yesterday.

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Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra threatened to dissolve parliament if a standoff with his opponents escalates further, but rejected calls for his resignation, a spokesman said yesterday.

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Nearly 100 brightly dressed riders set out at the weekend on the first stage of the sixth annual Tour of Eritrea, the cycling-mad east African nation's top sporting event.

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Police and soldiers patrolled the deserted streets of this northern Nigerian town yesterday, one day after thousands of Nigerian Muslims protesting caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed attacked Christians and burned churches, killing at least 15 people.

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Bird flu continued its advance across Europe on Sunday with more infected birds found in Germany and Italy.

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HOLOCAUST DENIAL: British historian David Irving could face a 10-year spell in jail if a Vienna court finds him guilty of denying Nazi genocide
Tight security was scheduled in Vienna yesterday for the start of the trial of controversial British historian David Irving, who denies the Holocaust took place.

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`BARBARIC' TACTICS: A tape purportedly made by the al-Qaeda leader says there is no longer much difference between the US' tactics and those of Saddam Hussein
Osama bin Laden promised never to be captured alive and declared the US had resorted to the same "barbaric" tactics used by former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, according to an audiotape purportedly by the al-Qaeda leader that was posted yesterday on a militant Web site.

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The cracks are still small in Canada's vaunted public health insurance system, but several of the nation's largest provinces are beginning to open the way for private health care eventually to take root around the country.

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NEW TWIST: The arrest of a journalist after she published a book about an influential businessman is fueling suspicions that the wealthy are using the law to harass enemies
A roiling scandal over the attempts of a state governor to jail a reporter has raised questions about whether the rich and powerful are using their influence with politicians to silence critics.

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whom the US calls a destabilizing force in the region, warned on Sunday he might seek constitutional change to be allowed to seek re-election several times.

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Explosions caused by a bomb left in a bag near laborers waiting for day work in Baghdad and two separate suicide bombings killed at least 20 people yesterday and wounded more than 25, police and hospital officials said.

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■ Hong Kong
Truck driver freed
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