SIGN OF THE TIMES: In a society traditionally dominated by men, new legislation is beginning to make itself felt, particulary in how it affects victims of domestic violence
Magistrates in India are becoming involved in the intimate living arrangements of unhappily married couples as they struggle to enforce a new law against domestic violence.

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South Korea will offer North Korea rice aid even though Pyongyang may miss a deadline for shutting down its atomic reactor under an international disarmament agreement, a South Korean official said yesterday.

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Playboy Indonesia's editor-in-chief did not violate indecency laws in the world's most populous Muslim nation and will not serve jail time, judges ruled yesterday, angering many religious hardliners.

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WARNINGS: Aid workers warned that diarrhea, malaria and cholera may infect thousands in the wake of Monday's tsunami, which has already killed 34 islanders
Tsunami survivors and aid workers in the Solomon Islands complained yesterday that relief efforts were chaotic and slow as the disaster's scale became more clear, and the UN warned that thousands faced the threat of dangerous diseases.

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POSSIBILITIES: Wu Shengli's visit was his first overseas, meeting with his Western counterparts who were eager to discuss the future of Sino-American naval relations
The US on Wednesday asked China to join a global effort to maintain international maritime security, as the Pentagon welcomed Beijing's navy chief Vice Admiral Wu Shengli (吳勝利) on a rare visit.

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Top US defense policymaker for Asia Richard Lawless has quit at a critical time for the administration of President George W. Bush, which is under pressure to devise a strategy to counter China's military ambitions.

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A Chinese company accused of selling chemical-tainted wheat gluten that has been linked to the deaths of at least a dozen pet cats and dogs in the US said yesterday that it sells most of its wheat gluten within China.

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Thailand's decision to ban video-sharing Web site YouTube highlights a growing crackdown by the junta against political comment online, media rights groups said yesterday.

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Indonesia is forging ahead with plans to build its first nuclear power plant in the shadow of a dormant volcano, despite mounting opposition from environmental groups who fear a catastrophe in a country beset by earthquakes and natural disasters.

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RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT: Most countries polled were in favor of a UN-led military intervention in Darfur to end genocide, with 76 percent of Chinese supporting the idea
There is widespread public support for UN-led military intervention in cases of genocide and other severe human rights abuses, a multinational survey released yesterday showed.

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A stranger tomb is hard to imagine. For more than eight years the lost property office of London Underground -- a basement filled with tens of thousands of glasses, gloves, iPods, mobile phones, pushchairs, scarves, schoolbags, toys, umbrellas and wallets -- has hosted a highly incongruous object. An urn containing human ashes.

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STALEMATE: The opposition called upon the government and parliament to stand firm against Yushchenko's order to dissolve government and hold early elections
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko moved to quell a political rebellion against his rule yesterday amid trenchant opposition to his order to dissolve parliament and hold early elections.

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Rolling Stones member and lead guitarist Keith Richards was joking when he claimed to have snorted his father's ashes along with cocaine, a spokesmanfor the band said on Wednesday.

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The supposed remains of 15th century French heroine Joan of Arc were, in fact, those of an Egyptian mummy, said an international team of researchers, who used high-tech science to expose the fake.

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Pope Benedict appeared to reach out to the anti-globalization movement on Wednesday, attacking rich countries for having "plundered and sacked" Africa and other poor regions of the world.

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ATTACKS CONTINUE: In Iraq a US helicopter was downed after coming under fire from a Sunni stronghold south of Baghdad, while Basra was rocked by two roadside bombs
US President George W. Bush said on Wednesday he knows the US is weary of war and of wondering if they can win.

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CLIMATE CHANGE: The planet has had an unusual number of planet-darkening storms over the last 30 years and surface temperatures have been increasing fast
Global warming could be heating Mars four times faster than Earth because of a mutually reinforcing interplay of wind-swept dust and changes in reflected heat from the sun, according to a study released on Wednesday.

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Thousands fewer seals were killed in the first phase of Canada's controversial hunt compared to previous years, indicating that melting ice has depleted much of the herd in the southern Gulf of St Lawrence, an official said.

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'CHARTING' AHEAD: The firm has tailored its tools for a mass audience in order to make 'mashups' easier to produce, hoping to create a new database
Google Inc is calling on its millions of users to chart a new direction for its online maps.

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The "boyfriend" of a 14-year-old girl who lived with her and her family for more than a year was actually a 30-year-old woman, police said.

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■ China
Police flush out suspect
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