■ South Korea
Scientists saved in Antarctic
A South Korean scientist
was killed in Antarctica and four were rescued following a freezing swim to shore after their boat capsized in rough waters near their country's polar research station, officials said yesterday. The drama began when three scientists went missing on Sunday as they were returning to South Korea's polar research base on King George Island after seeing off 24 colleagues heading home to Seoul, officials said. A second vessel carrying five people left to search for them and also disappeared. A Russian patrol then found the group that had set out to rescue
the first team, on another nearby island. The fifth person in that group died -- it was not clear how.
■ Cambodia
`Gasoline boy' returns home
A boy, who was used to pay for three liters of motorbike gasoline by an uncle who had forgotten his wallet, was finally re-united with his family three months later when another uncle claimed him, police said yesterday. Three months ago Dy, 9, was on a trip with his uncle to visit his mother in central Cambodia, said police, but when the uncle filled up his motorbike with gas he realized he had forgotten his wallet. He then convinced gasoline seller Chem Thy, 70, to accept his nephew as collateral while he went to fetch money. Police said the uncle never returned and the woman decided to raise Dy as her own grandson, but then another uncle returned to claim him.
■ Hong Kong
Girl, 11, jumps to her death
An 11-year-old schoolgirl jumped to her death from her family's 11th floor apartment during a row over homework, police said yesterday. Tai Suk-wah is the fourth student to commit suicide within a month in Hong Kong, raising concerns over the pressure school-children in the territory are under. She was taken unconscious to hospital where she was declared dead, a police spokesman said. Twelve schoolchildren killed themselves in the last school year and five have so far killed themselves this academic year.
■ China
Woman strips for electricity
A female customer stripped naked in front of staff at a power company in Jilin Province to force them to reconnect her electricity supply, a Hong Kong news-paper reported yesterday. The power company cut off the woman's power over a 13,000 yuan (US$1,570) debt and refused to reconnect her until she paid up, the South China Morning Post reported. She stripped off in front of staff at the com-pany's offices. Staff called police who persuaded the woman to get dressed. As soon as police left, staff proceeded to reconnect her supply without payment, the newspaper said.
■ Singapore
Family welcomes bats
A Singapore home sheltering a couple, their two daughters and more than 40 bats is turning into an excursion spot in the city state. Every morning the bats fly in through the front door, zip up three flights of stairs to the master bedroom and exit from the windows, just to hang upside down from the eaves, The Straits Times reported yesterday. Twelve hours later, they fly back
and exit through the main door. Albert and Regina Davamoni, both teachers, said the routine has been going on for years starting with only four bats. Elementary-school students often visit the house, which is also home to 50 birds and a rabbit.
■ Iran
European tourists kidnapped
Three European tourists have been kidnapped in a southeastern province of Iran plagued by rampant drug smuggling, western and Iranian officials said on Monday. The two Germans and an Irish citizen were on a cycling trip in the Sistan-Baluchistan province. It appeared the kidnappers had no political motive and were seeking a large ransom for the release of the tourists, officials said. The hostages were apparently taken by the same bandit groups that kidnapped three Spanish and an Italian tourist in 1999. An Iranian official said that the group Schiruk was demanding a 5 million euro (US$6.1 million) ransom.
■ Canada
Theater collapses, kills one
A historic theater in downtown Toronto collapsed while undergoing renovation, killing one person. Another person was believed still to be trapped under rubble after two others believed missing were found safe outside the building, authorities here said on Monday. Fire service officials said one adult had been pronounced dead at the scene while 14 victims, including three children, had been transported to different city hospitals. A number of youngsters were next door at the Yorkville English Academy, a school teaching English to adults, when the wall of the vintage Uptown Theatre -- built in 1920 -- collapsed on top of the academy.
■ United States
Arnie sued for libel
A woman who alleged sexual harassment by Arnold Schwarzenegger filed a libel lawsuit against the governor, saying his staff falsely suggested in an e-mail that she was a convicted felon. Rhonda Miller, who alleges the actor groped her when she was working as a stunt woman, says she has never been arrested. Within hours of her groping allegations being made public on Oct. 7, the Schwarzenegger campaign sent an e-mail to reporters directing them to the Los Angeles Superior Court Web site and instructing them to type in "Rhonda Miller." That produced court records for a woman with a long criminal record.
■ United States
Encephalitis research aided
A US$27 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will go toward combating Japanese encephalitis, which affects mostly children in Southeast Asia. The money will fund disease surveillance, research on an improved vaccine and integrating a vaccine into immunization programs. "Our program supports efforts to improve clinical surveillance of this disease, so that the magnitude of the problem can be understood," Julie Jacobson, Children's Vaccine Program director of the new project, said in a statement.
■ United States
Congressman convicted
Congressman Bill Janklow, a dominating figure in South Dakota politics for nearly 30 years, was convicted of manslaughter for speeding through a stop sign at a rural intersection in his hometown and killing a motorcyclist. Janklow announced that he will resign from Congress. "I wish to inform you that I will resign from the House of Representatives, effective January 20, 2004," the Republican wrote in a letter that he said was to be sent to House Speaker Dennis Hastert yesterday. That is the same date Janklow is scheduled to be sentenced. A jury convicted him of second-degree manslaughter, reckless driving, running a stop sign and speeding for the Aug. 16 crash that killed Randy Scott, 55, a farmer.
■ United States
Eminem irks Secret Service
The US Secret Service has looked into reports that rapper Eminem wrote lyrics that said "I'd rather see the president dead," but it doesn't plan a formal investigation. A spokesman cautioned such lyrics
can have unintended consequences on others.
"We are concerned about communications that can be interpreted in a manner perhaps not intended by the artist, and the potential peripheral impact that such lyrics can have on other individuals," he said. The Secret Service made preliminary inquiries because of lyrics in Eminem's song, We As Americans which read "F**k money, I don't rap for dead presidents, I'd rather see the president dead."
■ United States
State Dept gets funky
US Secretary of State Colin Powell has named James Brown, the so-called "Godfather of Soul," to a new and unusual, but apparently fictitious, senior diplomatic position, the State Department said on Monday. Spokesman Richard Boucher confirmed that Powell had indeed appointed Brown to be the first US "secretary of soul and foreign minister of funk" but said the job description for the post had not yet been drawn up. Powell made Brown's appointment public on Saturday while hosting a dinner for winners of the Kennedy Center Honors -- awarded to US artists and performers for outstanding work -- of which Brown was one this year.
■ United States
Commission cancels trip
A federal commission that supports religious freedom said on Monday it had postponed a scheduled trip to China because of what it called unacceptable conditions imposed by the Chinese government. It was the second time this year that the US Commission on International Religious Freedom had canceled a visit because of a dispute over access to Hong Kong. In July the Chinese government insisted that the commission drop Hong Kong from its itinerary, the panel said in a statement. This time, the Chinese agreed to allow a stopover in Hong Kong
but insisted no meetings be held.
■ Portugal
Cheating wife fakes kidnap
A Portuguese woman who sneaked away from her husband during a movie so she could visit a lover faces a possible year's jail after she justified her disappearance with a claim she had been kidnapped. The 21-year-old wife told her husband she was going to pop into a nearby shop on Saturday night during intermission, but she never returned, a TV report said on Monday. The next morning the woman called her husband, saying two men from eastern Europe had taken her by force from the shopping center where the movie was showing.
■ France
Marianne gets makeover
French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin launched a nationwide contest on Monday to make over the symbol of France as she appears on national postage stamps. Marianne has been France's leading lady for centuries, an anonymous image of beauty and virtue who came to symbolize the republic in the aftermath of the French Revolution. The postage stamp was last given a new Marianne face in 1997. For the first redesign of the 21st century, amateur artists will have a chance to take a crack. The original Marianne is believed to have been modeled after a poor country girl.
It began as a satirical online project. Now millions of young people in India are flocking to it as an outlet for their frustration. A parody political party called the Cockroach Janta Party, with the insect as its symbol, has exploded across India’s social media by turning absurdist humor into protest. Memes and short videos mocking corruption, joblessness and political dysfunction have flooded social media sites, where millions of users are embracing the cockroach — known for its ability to survive harsh conditions — as a tongue-in-cheek symbol of endurance. The online movement’s rise has been unusually rapid. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)
SPEAKING OUT: After Siranudh Scott’s allegations surfaced, celebrities and public figures took to social media to share their own experiences of sexual misconduct and abuse A high-profile alleged sexual abuse case within a wealthy Thai beer brewing family has prompted a wave of painful accounts from survivors of unconnected abuse in the conservative nation. Siranudh Scott, a member of the billionaire Thai family that founded the ubiquitous Singha beer brand, posted an emotional video this month accusing his elder brother Sunit of repeatedly abusing him when he was a teenager. Sunit, who is in his 30s, later denied the allegations in a video posted online, but Singha parent Boonrawd dismissed him from his executive role with the company on Tuesday last week. “I felt I needed to speak
A Hong Kong astronaut is to join a Chinese space mission for the first time as part of a three-person crew launching today, as Beijing edges closer to its goal of landing people on the moon. The Tiangong space station — crewed by teams of three astronauts that are typically rotated every six months — is the crown jewel of China’s space program, boosted by billions in state investment in a bid to catch up with the US and Russia. The Shenzhou-23 mission is to blast off at 11:08pm from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, carrying three astronauts to
UPGRADED ALERT: The risk inside DR Congo is now considered ‘very high,’ while neighboring countries face a ‘high’ threat as the outbreak continues, the WHO said Ebola is spreading faster than responders can track it in eastern Congo, where health workers managed to follow up with barely one in five identified contacts in a single day. Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) reported 83 confirmed infections, 746 suspected cases and 1,603 identified contacts as of Thursday, but health workers were able to follow up on only 342 contacts that day — about 21 percent of the total under monitoring — data released by the DR Congo Ministry of Public Health on Friday showed. The figures suggest the response is falling behind the outbreak itself,
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