■ Vietnam
Man drowns in sewer
A man drowned in a sewer on Friday night in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City after workers left a soak hole uncovered, a city official said yesterday. Ly Anh Tuan, 23, was driving his motorbike with two passengers on board when the trio unexpectedly plunged into the four-metre deep hole which had been left uncovered and unmarked by warning signs, the official said. The hole was filled with water after several days of rain in the bustling southern city. Workers at the site alerted the police to the accident but the motorcyclist had already drowned. The two passengers survived the accident.
■ Japan
Producer bribes audience
In an attempt to artificially inflate the viewer ratings of his shows, a Japanese television producer paid people to watch his programs, his employer Nippon Television Network Corp said. The producer paid between 5,000 yen (US$45) and 10,000 yen (US$90) in gift certificates and cash to each household that agreed to watch his programs, NTV said on Friday. The 41-year-old, who produced programs about celebrities, used a detective to track down households whose televisions were being monitored by Video Research Ltd, which has a monopoly on calculating Japanese TV ratings.
■ Philippines
Beauty throws off burka
For Vida Samadzai, it has been a long journey from underneath an all-encompassing burka in Afghanistan to baring nearly all by a Manila swimming pool in a red bikini. The first Afghan entrant in an international beauty contest for 30 years, and the first since the fall of the hardline Islamic Taliban government in 2001, joined more than 50 other women at a posh hotel in the Philippine capital this week to fight it out for the Miss Earth title. The only other Miss Afghanistan was Zohra Daoud, who joined the Miss Universe contest in 1972.
■ Malaysia
PM slams Oz politicians
Outspoken Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told Australian politicians yesterday that they were too fond of making unwelcome remarks and should not assume they know everything. "We have fairly good relationships with Australia but Australian politicians are very fond of passing unwelcome remarks and that of course strikes us wrongly and we respond likewise," he told reporters at a joint press conference with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare. "They seem to assume that we do not know how to run our country, and that they know better ... we are all sinners, there is no perfect man, don't go around assuming that you know everything and other people don't know anything," Mahathir said.
■ China
Two might go into space
The chief engineer of the rocket which shot China's first man into space has revealed the next mission may carry two men, state media said yesterday. The "Long March 2F" rocket, which lifted China's first manned spacecraft Shenzhou V into orbit earlier this month, would be powerful enough to carry at least two astronauts, Zhang Baokun said according to the China News Service. China said after its first manned space launch earlier this month that the next Shenzhou mission would take place in one or two years.
■ Switerland
Train crash kills one
Two crowded passenger trains collided at rush hour in a Zurich suburb, overturning one car onto a 16,000-volt power line and detailing two more, officials said. At least one person was killed and 32 injured. Meinrad Lienert of city rescue services told reporters that a woman died and eight people, including a child, were seriously injured in the Friday evening accident. The remaining injuries were moderate to light, Lienert said. Hans Mundwiler, chief of the Zurich fire department, said the overturned passenger car landed on a 16,000-volt power line.
■ United States
Twins get first look
Egyptian twins formerly conjoined at the head saw each other for the first time since surgery to separate them two weeks ago, their doctor said on Friday. Two-year-old Mohamed Ibrahim was more awake than brother Ahmed and seemed to recognize his sibling after he was wheeled in a red wagon into Ahmed's room, said Dr. James Thomas, chief of critical care at Children's Medical Center. "He was clearly delighted by the ride and when he saw his brother for the first time since surgery he stared at him intently," Thomas said in a statement.
■ United States
Con artist fakes cancer
Brookelyn Walters had a shaved head and a Web site that asked people for donations to help her cover the cost of her cancer treatment. But Walters, 24, didn't have cancer, say authorities, who have charged her with theft and forgery, the Muncie, Indiana, Star Press reported on Friday. Walters, a former Ball State University student, convinced people she had cancer and was deaf in order to get donations from "good-hearted" people, authorities say. The former Ball State University student received hundreds of dollars in services from the university and US$1,000 from a sorority that held a hog roast to raise money to support her fight against cancer.
■ Germany
Dead mom hidden in bath
A German man hid his dead mother in a bathtub under a heap of rubbish in their back garden and then continued to collect her pension, police said. Police investigating the woman's disappearance found the 63-year-old's corpse wrapped in clear plastic under garden waste and roofing felt after her unemployed car mechanic son, 36, had told them she was taking a holiday for her health. The man, who is under investigation for fraud and suspected murder, said he had found his mother dead at home one day in the summer.
■ Brazil
Jail switch goes bad
A jobless Brazilian man who agreed to impersonate a convicted robber and serve his prison sentence to cover a US$275 debt wound up doing time of his own for the ruse. An investigator in Sao Paulo said that Denival Santos, an unemployed baker's assistant, spent three months in a prison cell this year posing as the robber, Rene Coelho Honorato, before authorities caught on. Santos, 21, was recently released after serving an additional four months for impersonating Honorato, also 21, who remains at large. While Santos sat in prison, Honorato was stealing money bags from vehicles transporting cash, police said. An investigation led them to Santos, who had dyed hair and fake documents. Santos told police he had crashed Honorato's motorcycle and owed him US$275 for repairs.
■ United States
Troop withdrawal demanded
About 50 anti-war protesters and members of soldiers' families held a vigil at the Vietnam War Memorial here late Friday to demand a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. Members of the groups Veterans for Peace and Military Families Speak Out also denounced the USA Patriot Act, a post-September 11 law that significantly broadened the powers of law enforcement agencies in combating terrorism while drawing criticism from civil libertarians. "Let's bring 'em home now," "UN in, US out," "In defense of liberty, repeal the Patriot Act," read some of the placards carried by participants.
■ Brazil
Killer bees unleash panic
Bees sting man to death
A man was killed on Friday when he was stung some 2,000 times in an attack by bees, a newspaper reported. The attack occurred in a suburb of Sorocaba in the state of Sao Paulo, the O Globo newspaper's news service reported. The victim died en route to the hospital when his heart stopped, the report said. The attacking bees unleashed panic among hundreds of people and pets in the suburb. Two other people were injured; two dogs also died after being stung.
■ South Africa
Gang hijacks ambulance
A patient was shot dead after an armed gang hijacked the ambulance taking him to hospital in eastern South Africa, later leaving the vehicle abandoned, police said on Friday. Spokesman Vishnu Naidoo said Sibusiso Makhanya, 38, was shot in the back and left for dead at a food shop in Umlazi, south of the east coast port city of Durban, on Thursday. An ambulance arrived shortly afterwards and was driving Makhanya to hospital when it was hijacked. It was found abandoned a short while later with Makhanya's body, with two new bullet wounds -- one in the head and the other in the arm -- still inside, Naidoo said. Police are examining the possibility that the two shootings may have been linked.
■ Russia
Singing prisoners pardoned
Six prisoners competing in a national song contest for convicts pleased the judges enough to win pardons, the Interfax news agency reported on Friday. The six were among 23 finalists chosen from more than 800 prisoners who submitted tapes of self-composed songs for the contest, which was held at a Moscow theater. The report did not give the names of the winners, the terms they were serving or what crimes they were convicted of, but said two of the six were women. Interfax said the pardons must be approved by courts in the regions where the convicts were incarcerated and it was not clear when the winners would get their chance to walk away with songs in their hearts.
■ United States
Drunken officer acquitted
A former police officer accused of driving a patrol car off a rooftop parking lot was found innocent of drunken driving and other charges in Philadelphia. Walter Jernigan, 55, was guarding equipment stored on a roof for a parade in 2001 when the car plummeted four stories and landed in a busy intersection, narrowly missing a pedestrian. Jernigan's blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit for driving, authorities said. Prosecutor Lynne Abraham said she was incensed the judge found Jernigan innocent Friday. Judge Marsha Neifeld said Abraham's comments were unwarranted, and that she listened to testimony carefully and reviewed the evidence.
BUYING TIME: Russia is estimated to have suffered over 100,000 casualties in its push to capture the strategically insignificant town, giving Ukraine time to ready its troops Whether Bakhmut has fallen or not, Moscow is being pulled deeper into an ever more costly fight for the frontline city as Kyiv readies a major offensive, experts said. Russia’s claim to have conquered the destroyed city, which Ukraine rejected on Sunday, does not mean significant new terrain from which to launch attacks nor harden defenses. However, Moscow has made the eastern city’s capture a key aim and has fought the war’s longest battle, as well as one of its deadliest, to try to win what it would like to bill as a significant success. US President Joe Biden, speaking from the G7
DEEPFAKE: Using AI to change their face and voice, a fraudster convinced a businessman that they were his friend and needed 4.3 million yuan for a public tender A scammer in China used artificial intelligence (AI) to pose as a businessman’s trusted friend and convince him to hand over millions of yuan, authorities have said. The victim, surnamed Guo, received a video call last month from a person who looked and sounded like a close friend. However, the caller was actually a con artist “using smart AI technology to change their face” and voice, said an article published on Monday by a media portal associated with the government in Fuzhou City. The scammer was “masquerading as [Guo’s] good friend and perpetrating fraud,” the article said. Guo was persuaded to transfer 4.3
A Malaysian comedian better known for mocking attempts by Western chefs at Asian cooking has had his Chinese social media account suspended after making jokes about China. Nigel Ng (黃瑾瑜), who uses the name Uncle Roger, is the latest comedian to feel the consequences of jokes that could be perceived as reflecting negatively on China under increasingly intense censorship and rising nationalism. Last week, a Chinese comedian came under police investigation for a joke about stray dogs. Ng on Thursday posted a video clip from an upcoming comedy special in which he pokes fun at Chinese surveillance and Beijing’s claims of sovereignty over
TIME TO TALK: Among China’s grievances were economic and trade issues related to Taiwan, but both countries emphasized the need to maintain communication US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) on Friday raised complaints about China’s state-led economic policies during a meeting with Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao (王文濤), who objected to US tariffs and trade policies, as well as issues related to Taiwan, their offices said. However, statements from the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) office and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce emphasized the need for Washington and Beijing to maintain communication on trade. “Ambassador Tai highlighted the need to address the critical imbalances caused by China’s state-led, non-market approach to the economy and trade policy,” the USTR said in a statement released after the
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