■ South Korea
US bases seriously polluted
Much of the land at US military bases set to be closed in South Korea is seriously polluted with oil and lead, a news report said yesterday. The high pollution levels will require restrictions on use of the land until it is cleaned up, the Hankyoreh newspaper said, citing an Environment Ministry document. The ministry tested soil at 15 US bases last year and found excessive levels of oil and lead at 14, the newspaper said. Their average "total petroleum hydrocarbons," a measurement of oil pollution, exceeded 2,000mg per kilogram -- well over the 1,200mg per kilogram that bars the land from any use until it is cleaned up, the newspaper said. Last month, South Korea's Defense Ministry said the US military was refusing to clean up pollution at bases set for closure.
■ Philippines
Four die in violent land feud
Fighting between Christians and Muslims over land in the southern Philippines has killed at least four people and forced more than 240 to flee, officials said yesterday. The fighting broke out after suspected Muslims fatally shot a former village official and his female companion, both Christians, on Jan. 29 in Pulunoling, a village in South Cotabato Province, an army spokesman said. Suspected Christian gunmen retaliated on Monday, strafing a house owned by a local commander of the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). No one was hurt. On Tuesday, suspected Christian attackers killed a MILF member and his wife, prompting a retaliatory attack by suspected Muslim men who fired shots near the site of the killing, causing no injuries. The army deployed about 60 soldiers and a number of police in the village and local officials have imposed a curfew.
■ New Zealand
Diver found after three days
A former New Zealand Navy diver who disappeared on Sunday in the sea off Porirua, near Wellington, was found alive yesterday after 72 hours in the water, police said. Robert Hewitt, 38, a father of three, was spotted by a police launch after an extensive search off the west coast of the lower North Island. Hewitt, who failed to surface from a recreational dive 200m from an offshore island, was reported to be conscious but dehydrated and needing medical attention.
■ Australia
`Condom trees' blossoming
An initiative to overcome sexual inhibitions of Aborigines by leaving supplies of free condoms in trees has worked so well that "condom trees" are springing up all over the Outback, reports said yesterday. The condoms are packed in PVC pipes hung from trees in public parks and other out-of-the-way places where Aborigines gather. The initiative means the sexually active can obtain condoms without recourse to a sometimes embarrassing face-to-face meeting at a health clinic in town. The idea first surfaced a couple of years ago in the Western Australian town of Derby and has been copied elsewhere in remote regions. Jacki Mein, head of the Kimberley Public Health Unit, told the Australian newspaper that chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhea plagued Aboriginal communities in the Outback.
■ Russia
Spill heads toward Japan
The toxic materials from the slick that oozed into the Amur river from China may reach Japanese shores in spring, Russian officials in Khabarovsk warned yesterday. "The pollution will have negative impact not only on the Khabarovsk region, but also most likely Sakhalin, the Kurils, Hokkaido and shores of continental Russia south of the Amur and Korea," the chief of the region's external economic policy department Alexander Kiryanov said. That may include persistent components that are likely to spread wide once the Amur washes them into the sea and which may reach humans, as "some toxic materials cannot be flushed out of the human body," Kiryanov warned.
■ New Zealand
Crafty butcher nabs thief
A 17-year-old thief was nabbed when a butcher posted a security camera photograph of her with a "lucky shopper" label that offered a prize, a newspaper reported yesterday. Amy Adams, who had stolen three packets of chicken pieces in the Palmerston North shop, was arrested when she went back to claim her prize, the Manawatu Standard reported. Adams pleaded guilty on Tuesday in the local court to shoplifting and was sentenced to 40 hours of community work.
■ Philippines
Sex workers wait for troops
Dozens of prostitutes are heading to a southern island where 250 US soldiers have arrived for a monthlong joint exercise with their Filipino counterparts, a report said yesterday. Acting Jolo Mayor Al-Kharmer Izquierdo was quoted by the Philippine Star newspaper as saying dozens of women have been camping outside the Army's 104th Brigade headquarters on Jolo island, where the US troops are stationed. Nayda Julkarnain, a health department officer in charge of monitoring sexually transmitted diseases on the predominantly Muslim island, said while prostitution is strictly forbidden in Islam, "the reality is they are there, we cannot do away with the situation."
■ South Africa
Sleepy bus driver kills 12
Twelve people were killed and at least 41 injured when the bus in which they were traveling veered off the road after its driver reportedly fell asleep behind the wheel, news reports said yesterday. The bus had been traveling from Cape Town to Umtata in the country's Eastern Cape Province early yesterday when it crashed between the towns of Aberdeen and Beaufort West, the South African Broadcasting Corporation said. Rescue workers at the scene said their efforts were being hampered by heavy rains in the area. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals.
■ United States
Man jailed over teen wife
A 23-year-old Falls City, Nebraska man was sentenced on Tuesday to 18 to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to a sexual assault charge filed after he impregnated and then married a 14-year-old girl. Probation was not an option in Matthew Koso's case because he continued to have sexual relations with his underage wife, Crystal, now 15, Richardson County District Judge Daniel Bryan said. Nebraska law prohibits people 19 or older from having sex with those under the age of 16. "Marriage is one of our most sacred institutions," Bryan said. "But it can't cover up a crime, and it can't make it go away."
■ United States
Atkins lauds candy strikers
The widow of Robert Atkins, who promoted a diet rich in protein but low in carbohydrates, said she will donate US$16,000 to an elementary school where some students refused to sell candy as part of a fundraiser. The North Side Elementary students said selling the chocolate bars and potato chips went against what they were taught in school about healthy eating. They were raising funds for a field trip to Washington. "I was so proud when the children said you're telling us not to go out and eat sugar and then you ask us to sell it," Atkins, 68, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Tuesday.
■ United Kingdom
Llamas offered for Valentine
Stuck for romantic inspiration with Valentine's Day just a week away? Then consider llamas. A charity with the slogan "get calmer with a llama" is offering romantic country strolls for the lovelorn, leading a llama together around the picturesque Lake District in northwestern England. "Chatting over a llama is certainly a novel way to meet people in a relaxed environment, and participants can enjoy a romantic picnic afterwards -- carried by the ever obliging llamas in their backpacks," said owner Mary Walker. Walker is keen to assure people that contrary to their bad press, the South American relatives of the camel do not habitually spit at or bite people but are friendly and docile.
■ Russia
Gas explosion kills 12
Twelve people were killed and 22 injured when an explosion ripped through a two-story military barracks in Chechnya, the Emergency Situations Ministry said yesterday. Preliminary investigations indicate that a natural gas leak triggered the blast that caused the building to collapse, said Oleg Ugnivenko, a spokesman for the ministry's southern regional office. Military prosecutors opened a criminal investigation on charges of violations of fire safety regulations and negligence. The blast occurred at the base of a special Defense Ministry security force in Kurchaloi, some 30km southeast of the Chechen capital, Grozny.
■ Mexico
Cuban eviction row builds
The government said on Tuesday it will apply the "full force of the law" against the Sheraton Hotel following last week's eviction of 16 Cubans participating in a conference with US businessmen. The Cubans were ordered to leave the Mexico City hotel, owned by US-based Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc, after the US Treasury Department informed the chain they were violating the terms of the US economic embargo against Cuba. The 44-year-old embargo makes it illegal for US companies to provide services to Cubans in third countries, but has mostly been unenforced. The hotel could face fines of up to US$500,000 dollars or be closed down for violating investment and trade protection laws, according to Mexico's Foreign Relations Department.
■ United States
Ranch killer convicted
Jurors convicted a 16-year-old boy of killing his family and hiding their bodies in a manure pile on newsman Sam Donaldson's ranch in southern New Mexico. Cody Posey was found guilty of murder on Tuesday in the deaths of his stepmother and stepsister and voluntary manslaughter in the death of his father, who worked as Donaldson's ranch foreman. Posey hung his head and wept as the verdicts were read, and defense attorney Gary Mitchell offered consolation by putting an arm on the teen's shoulder. "I just held him like I would my own son," Mitchell said. The jury, which heard three weeks of testimony, began deliberating on Monday.
■ Colombia
Paramilitary group disarms
Colombia's oldest paramilitary group laid down its weapons on Tuesday after 29 years of fighting. The demobilization ceremony for the 990-strong Peasant Self-Defense Forces of the Magdalena Medio was held in Puerto Triunfo with representatives of the Catholic Church, government and Organization of American States attending. The city 145km northwest of Bogota was where Ramon Isaza, who also surrendered his arms on Tuesday, founded the right-wing militia group in 1977. Bogota has been negotiating with paramilitary groups since mid-2004 to disarm.
■ Costa Rica
Vote-counting crawls on
Costa Rica's two leading presidential candidates shunned the spotlight on Tuesday, waiting quietly for the results of a laborious manual vote count that could take weeks to determine the winner of one of the closest races in the country's history. With 88 percent of polling places counted, former President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias had 40.5 percent of the vote compared to 40.2 percent for Otton Solis. Twelve other candidates split much of the rest. One of the main issues of the campaign has been the candidates' positions on a free-trade accord with the US.
■ United States
Guilty plea entered for fire
The former tour manager for the heavy metal rock group Great White pleaded guilty to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter for setting off the pyrotechnics that caused one of the deadliest nightclub fires in US history. Daniel Biechele, 29, will serve no more than 10 years in prison under the plea deal, which comes two weeks shy of the three-year anniversary of the fire at The Station nightclub in Providence, Rhode Island. Sentencing was scheduled for May 8, and Biechele was released until then. Biechele stood with his hands clasped and answered "Yes, your honor" in a soft voice as a judge asked if he understood Tuesday's proceedings.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
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