■ AFGHANISTAN
Taliban fugitives extradited
Pakistan has extradited 14 Taliban fugitives to Afghanistan, the first such move by Islamabad since US-led forces overthrew the radical Islamist government in 2001, officials said yesterday. Taliban spokes-men Abdul Latif Hakimi and Mohammad Yasar were the most senior members of the group of 14 men sent back by military plane to Afghanistan on Wednesday, they said. The fugitives, who were blind-folded for the trip, will be tried by a court over their role in violence against the Afghan government and foreign troops based in Afghanistan, officials said. Afghanistan has repeatedly complained that Taliban guerrillas and their allies, such as members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, operate and organize their attacks in Pakistan against the Afghan government and US-led troops. Some officials even say the Taliban's elusive leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and bin Laden are in Pakistan.
■ AUSTRALIA
Fake tanners claim record
A bunch of Australian spray-tan fanatics claimed a world record yesterday after honeying 67 formerly pasty bodies in an hour at Mel-bourne's Federation Square. Judges examined each body for streaks or light patches, sending back one in five for another going-over. First-in-line Mary Minogue, a keen artificial tanner, said she could tell the gunners were up against the clock. "It was much quicker, and you could tell they were panicking," she said. The first man to go under the gun, Auryn Pike, said a life in musical theater had prepared him for undressing in front of an audience and proved the path to beauty is not always a glamorous one. "It's hot in here," Pike said. "My hands are a bit streaky from the sweat."
■ INDIA
Building collapse kills 13
Thirteen people, including five children, were killed and 30 injured when an old building collapsed in the northern city of Kanpur after a gas cylinder exploded. Officials said the toll could rise as six of the injured were in critical condition after the century-old, two story building fell on Wednesday night.
■ SOUTH KOREA
Asylum seekers seek refuge
About 10 people believed to be North Koreans took refuge at a South Korean school in Qingdao, China, yesterday in an attempt to seek asylum, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said. The group entered the school in the morning and were demanding they be allowed to travel to South Korea, said Kim Hyung-kil, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry. An official at the Qingdao City Government office said he had not heard of the incident. Earlier this month, eight alleged North Koreans entered the same school for the same purpose and were taken to the South Korean consulate, an indication that they would be allowed to travel to South Korea.
■ CHINA
Golfer's shot nets `eagle'
A golfer scored an unorthodox "eagle" on a course in eastern China when his ball hit and killed a passing bird of prey. The golfer's shot at a club in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, went high in the air and hit a young eagle that was gliding past, killing it instantly. An assistant tried in vain to revive the 15cm-long eagle, the Hong Kong edition of the China Daily reported. The newspaper did not say if the golfer was awarded a free shot. An "eagle" in golfing terms is a score of two strokes below par on any single hole, as in a par-three hole-in-one. A "birdy" is a score of one stroke below par.
■ CHINA
Forgery gang on trial
A 13-member gang suspected of forging passports and bribing airline and customs officials are on trial in Guangzhou for helping 199 illegal immigrants get to Europe through Paris, officials said yesterday. A verdict could take as long as 40 days, the officials said. According to the Beijing Times, the gang is being tried for allegedly masterminding an elaborate scheme in which illegal immigrants boarded flights in China with legal documents and tickets bound for Latin America via Paris. After boarding, the immigrants would be handed fake passports and documents allowing them to deplane in Paris, where they would move onto other destinations throughout Europe. Airline officials from an unnamed carrier and customs officials were suspected to be part of the scheme, the paper said.
■ NEW ZEALAND
Landmark statue stolen
A life-size bronze statue of a legendary bare-breasted Maori young woman known as Pania of the Reef which has been a feature of the port of Napier for 51 years has been stolen, it was reported yesterday. The statue, 1.5m high and weighing about 70kg, had been jimmied off its foundations on the Marine Parade of Napier, during the night. Maori legend says Pania was a member of the Sea People living on a reef off Napier who fell in love with a young chief called Karitoki, but was eventually compelled to return to her ocean home. Police suspect it could be a copy cat theft after a valuable bronze sculpture by famous New Zealand sculptor Paul Dibble was stolen from outside a restaurant at Waikanae, north of Wellington, was returned on payment of a ransom recently.
■ UNITED KINGDOM
Contract killer wife jailed
A British woman who tried to arrange the contract killing of her husband was jailed for five years on Wednesday. But Karen Quinton's sentence could have been heavier -- the judge said he took into account the fact that the couple were now reunited. Quinton wanted her husband Alan killed and negotiated a deal of ?15,000 (US$26,650) with a hitman after she became "besotted" with another man. But the man she hired was an undercover policeman. Passing sentence at Court, Justice Evans said he had taken into consideration the couple's reconciliation.
■ UNITED STATES
Dope department planned
The Santa Cruz, California, city council voted to create a department to coordinate the distribution of medical marijuana and vowed to fight federal drug regulators in court to establish it. Officials in Santa Cruz said the office will be formed only with federal approval. "We're going to wait for a court resolution before we begin to plan how to implement this ordinance," Mayor Mike Rotkin said on Wednesday. A case is under way in San Jose challenging the federal government's right to restrict states from allowing medicinal marijuana use, he said. California law has allowed medical marijuana use since voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996.
■ SOUTH AFRICA
Tourist train crashes
Dozens of passengers, including two Japanese tourists, were injured when the luxury Blue Train smashed head-on into another train overnight, police said yesterday. The accident involving the train, which transports mostly wealthy tourists between Pretoria and Cape Town, occurred near De Aar in the semi-arid southern Karoo region. Police said the accident was caused by a signal failure and that no one was killed. Local radio reported five people were seriously hurt. "Around 44 passengers and 30 staff on the Blue Train were slightly injured," said police spokesman Zandisile Makhuphula, adding most escaped serious harm.
■ BULGARIA
Tycoon shot in the street
One of the country's richest men was shot dead on Wednesday in the latest in a series of killings to jolt the country. Emil Kyulev, 49-year-old owner of the nation's largest insurance and banking group, was gunned down on a central Sofia boulevard. A former police officer, Kuylev founded Rosexim bank in 1994 and acquired the state insurance company DZI in 2002, making his business the country's largest banking and insurance firm. The shooting was the eighth gangland killing since the new government took office in August.
■ SOUTH AFRICA
Business school opens
British tycoon Richard Branson launched a business school aimed at entrepreneurs from poor backgrounds. "The economy is dependent on entrepreneurial activity for creating future economic growth and jobs," Branson said on Wednesday at the launch of the school at CIDA City Campus. "I hope to up the percentage of successful companies in South Africa." The school is a collaboration between Branson's Virgin Group and CIDA, a privately funded university that offers education to impoverished students at a fraction of the normal cost. Unemployment is officially 27 percent but believed to be much higher.
■ SOMALIA
`Fatwa' issued
Prominent Somali clerics took the unusual step on Wednesday of issuing a fatwa against the prevalent practice of female genital mutilation. Speaking at a press conference organized by the Somali Religious Umbrella at a local hospital, the clerics condemned the practice as being against the Islamic faith. All who practised it should be punished, they said. The practice -- widely carried out on girls aged between seven and nine under the guise of religion -- is a leading cause of birth complications at delivery, and can lead to death of mothers. However, powerful clan allegiances rule the lawless country and differences between Somalia's religious leaders are rife, leading many to doubt how enforceable the fatwa is.
■ IVORY COAST
Protesters warned off
President Laurent Gbagbo has called on young militants and protesters to keep off the streets this weekend as tensions mount in the West African country over Gbagbo's right to remain in power. A presidential ballot was to have been held on Sunday, but Gbagbo canceled the vote last month saying the nation was not ready. Both rebels who control the north and opposition leaders agreed, but they reject Gbagbo's claim the Constitution allows him to remain in power after Sunday. Opposition and pro-Gbagbo youth militants are preparing rallies on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, in the main city, Abidjan, to celebrate the national soccer team's qualification for the 2006 World Cup. But many fear the rallies will quickly turn political -- and violent.
■ THE NETHERLANDS
War criminal pleads guilty
A Bosnian Croat war crimes suspect pleaded guilty to four war crimes charges on Wednesday as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors. Ivica Rajic, 47, a former militia commander, agreed to plead guilty to the charges, which include killing, sexual assault, looting and wanton destruction, and forgo a trial in exchange for prosecutors' recommendation of a 12 to 15-year sentence. The UN court's judges, who are not required to follow sentencing recommendations, accepted the plea and issued a conviction on Wednesday. Sentencing is to be held in November.
■ CANADA
Cree villagers to be airlifted
Ontario will airlift about 1,000 residents out of a remote northern community because of contaminated water on the native Indian reserve, a spokeswoman for the provincial government said on Wednesday. In declaring a medical emergency, the central Canadian province said it would evacuate about half of the 2,000 residents of the Cree village of Kashechewan on the shores of James Bay, about 1,000km north of Toronto. It is accessible only by air. The community's water has been contaminated by E. coli bacteria and residents are suffering from nausea, diarrhea, parasites, and blistered skin.
■ POLAND
Talks at an impasse
Coalition talks to form a government hit a serious obstacle when the leader of the pro-market Civic Platform party said he could see "no possibility" of continuing after the dominant Law and Justice party forced through its own parliamentary speaker. But Donald Tusk later appeared to leave open the possibility of resuming the negotiations, saying he will be "very sensitive to conditions for a good, wise coalition." Law and Justice leaders said that they were sticking by the plan to form a coalition.
HOLLYWOOD IN TURMOIL: Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton and Cary Elwes lost properties to the flames, while awards events planned for this week have been delayed Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton, and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events, while at least five people have died. Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week’s Oscar nominations have been delayed, while tens of thousands of city residents had been displaced and were awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city’s most famous denizens. More than 1,900 structures had been destroyed and the number was expected to increase. More than 130,000 people
THE ‘MONSTER’: The Philippines on Saturday sent a vessel to confront a 12,000-tonne Chinese ship that had entered its exclusive economic zone The Philippines yesterday said it deployed a coast guard ship to challenge Chinese patrol boats attempting to “alter the existing status quo” of the disputed South China Sea. Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said Chinese patrol ships had this year come as close as 60 nautical miles (111km) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon. “Their goal is to normalize such deployments, and if these actions go unnoticed and unchallenged, it will enable them to alter the existing status quo,” he said in a statement. He later told reporters that Manila had deployed a coast guard ship to the area
A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand more than one decade ago said that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back. Forty-three Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation. “We could be imprisoned and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from
Some things might go without saying, but just in case... Belgium’s food agency issued a public health warning as the festive season wrapped up on Tuesday: Do not eat your Christmas tree. The unusual message came after the city of Ghent, an environmentalist stronghold in the country’s East Flanders region, raised eyebrows by posting tips for recycling the conifers on the dinner table. Pointing with enthusiasm to examples from Scandinavia, the town Web site suggested needles could be stripped, blanched and dried — for use in making flavored butter, for instance. Asked what they thought of the idea, the reply
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