Mon, May 17, 2004 page6

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  ■ Indonesia

  Arrests in train heist

  Police said yesterday they have arrested nine people suspected of robbing valuables and cash from a carriage-load of train passengers in what officials said was the largest heist ever carried out in Indonesia. The thieves threw one passenger off the train for resisting the robbery Thursday. He was taken to a hospital and treated for minor injuries. "It's the most number of passengers robbed in one single incident. It's bad," said police Captain Iwan Ridwan Saleh, adding the value of goods stolen was uncertain. The train was traveling from Jakarta to Kroya in Central Java province.

  ■ China

  Prison in Falun Gong case

  A court in southern China has sentenced a Hong Kong follower of Falun Gong to three years in prison for distributing leaflets about the persecution of the group in China, a spokeswoman for the group said yesterday. Fu Xueying, who is in her late 20s, was sentenced April 30 by secret trial in the Chinese border city of Shenzhen, where she was caught handing out information about China's crackdown on Falun Gong, group spokeswoman Carol Chan said. Beijing banned Falun Gong as an "evil cult" in 1999, but it is allowed to practice freely in Hong Kong, a former British colony that enjoys freedom of speech under Chinese rule. Falun Gong says at least 949 followers have died in Chinese custody and many thousands more have been detained.

  ■ Hong Kong

  Painter dies

  Renowned traditional Chinese artist Yang Shen-sum, a master of the Lingnan school of painting, died in Hong Kong at age 92, police said yesterday. Yang, who is based in Canada, was found unconscious in bed by his wife early Saturday morning. A newspaper reported he died of a suspected heart attack. Yang was born in 1913 in Taishan, Guangdong Province, the report said. He moved to Hong Kong in 1930 and briefly pursued art studies in Kyoto, according to the report. Yang moved to Canada in 1988 and was in Hong Kong on a visit when he died.

  ■ Hong Kong

  Dolphin on the mend

  Hong Kong veterinarians are nursing a rare dolphin back to health after it was mysteriously washed up on an isolated beach in poor health, reports said yesterday. The 2.1m-long, 10-year old mammal was being treated for serious unspecified illnesses, according to reports in Hong Kong's newspapers. Experts at Ocean Park told the South China Morning Post they were unsure why the dolphin had been stranded but said it was severely underweight. It is being treated with antibiotics. Scientists are baffled how the single dolphin got here. Rough-tooth dolphins usually live in tight family groups and are rarely seen in Hong Kong's waters.

  ■ Australia

  Fishing leads to killing

  A dispute over fishing lures between two of Australia's best-known amateur anglers ended with one of them shot in the chest and the other taking his own life with the same weapon. The pair were competing in an international fishing competition in Sydney when an argument erupted into violence, the Sun Herald newspaper reported yesterday. Joe Priest, 50, is believed to have shot John Knol, 43, with a pistol which he then used to commit suicide. "I can't understand it," the event organizer was quoted as saying. "Why would he even bring a gun to an event like this?"

  ■ Russia

  Missiles found next to road

  More than 200 anti-aircraft missiles have been found alongside a major highway in Russia's Far East, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported yesterday quoting military officials. There was no immediate explanation as to how the missiles, which fit a 57mm launcher, ended up at a fork of a busy highway close to the town of Nakhodka. The missiles, found late on Saturday, have been taken to a nearby military base and an investigation into the incident has been launched, the news agency reported. Sappers were due to examine the area where the missiles were found later yesterday, it said.

  ■ Haiti

  French minister on visit

  French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier Saturday night wrapped up a 24-hour official visit to Haiti, the first in the impoverished Caribbean island state's 200-year independence from France, in which he promised cash, reconstruction aid and goodwill. "You don't need supervision, but we are there for you," he told Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, who expressed pleasure in seeing his country "establish a new type of relations with France." In the course of his visit, Barnier also met with interim President Boniface Alexandre and Haiti's ministers of economy and finance, and foreign affairs.

  ■ United Kingdom

  Theater ceiling collapses

  A theater ceiling has partly collapsed during a show in London's West End, injuring up to 15 members of the audience, British police said yesterday. Parts of the Theatre Royal's ceiling fell into the auditorium during Saturday evening's performance of When Harry Met Sally after a chandelier dropped 1.2m before being caught by a safety rope. "About 15 members of the audience were injured, with cuts, bruising and shock," a police spokesman said. "The majority were taken to hospital and the rest of the audience were evacuated." The stage version of the 1989 classic film features two Hollywood stars, former Beverley Hills 90210 actor Luke Perry and Buffy The Vampire Slayer actress Alyson Hannigan.

  ■ Germany

  Bombing victims want cash

  Attorneys for victims of the Libya-linked bombing of a Berlin discotheque in 1986 were expected to issue an update late yesterday in negotiations for a financial settlement of the case. The club, La Belle, was popular with US soldiers stationed in the then-divided German capital. A blast there killed three people and injured 200. In retaliation, the US carried out air raids against targets in Libya in April 1986, a few weeks after the disco attack. A Berlin court later found the Libyan intelligence services jointly culpable for the La Belle bombing. Attorneys for the Berlin victims are seeking US$98 million in damages.

  ■ United States

  Stem cell research cheaper

  The Bush administration has acknowledged that additional lines, or colonies, of embryonic stem cells could speed scientific research, a statement that advocates for patients say could mark the first step toward easing limits on taxpayer financing for the studies. The acknowledgment was tucked into a carefully worded letter sent on Friday by Dr. Elias Zerhouni, the director of the National Institutes of Health, to 206 members of Congress who are pressing President Bush to alter his stem cell policy.
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