■ CHINA
Russians still missing
Rescuers were able to narrow their search yesterday for six Russians missing in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region after locating canoes and clothing apparently abandoned by the group, state media said. Chinese rescuers searching the upper reaches of the Yurungkax river by helicopter found red canoes, clothing and iron bars used to fix canoes at two separate sites along the river, the official Xinhua news agency said. The group planned to paddle down the Yurungkax using three canoes for 12 days, but failed to meet up with their local Russian interpreter, Zhang Hong, as scheduled on Sept. 2, earlier reports said.
■ CAMBODIA
Woman attacked with needle
A man was jailed yesterday for injecting a woman with his own blood after she spurned his romantic advances, police said. Lonn Sopheaktra, 22, was arrested on Tuesday, a day after he injured a 21-year-old woman in the town of Battambang, police official Tan Sophal said. The man allegedly injected a syringe filled with his own blood into her rib cage and waist as she was riding a motorbike to school. "He confessed that he injected her with his blood because he loves her so much, but she refused his love," he said. "The man hinted that if he could not have her, at least his blood would stay inside her body."
■ MALAYSIA
Judge pays house call
To serve justice, a judge decided she can go any distance -- even if it means driving down to the house of the accused to determine the truth. Judge Nurmala Salim was told by a defense lawyer on Wednesday that Khalid Arshad, on trial for improper business practice, couldn't be in court because he was bedridden after suffering a stroke, the Star daily reported on Thursday. Nurmala decided to verify the claim personally and went to Khalid's house along with the lawyers, the investigating officer and others, the Star said. It did not say if the house call satisfied Nurmala about Khalid's condition.
■ INDONESIA
British man sentenced
A Bali court sentenced the brother of British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay to 10 months in jail on Thursday for drug possession. Ronald Watson Ramsay, 39, was arrested on the tropical tourist haven in February for possessing of 100mg of heroin. Prosecutors had recommended that he be jailed for 14 years. Judge Wayan Merta said Ramsay was "guilty beyond any doubt with possession of narcotics" as he meted out his sentence, which also included a fine of US$500 or else a further six months in jail. Ramsay's lawyer, Erwin Siregar, told the court his client needed more time to decide whether he would file an appeal.
■ PAKISTAN
Militants target Buddha
Islamic militants tried to blow up an ancient statue of Buddha carved into a mountainside, but failed to damage the structure, officials and witnesses said. A group of armed men arrived in Jehanabad in the North West Frontier Province on Monday saying they would blow up the 7m statue, villager Amir Khan said. "I told them that there are houses near to the rock and any blast could put our lives in danger, but they pointed their weapons at us," Khan said. Abdul Nasir, assistant curator of the museum in the nearby town of Swat said: "Islam teaches us to respect other religions and faiths, but unfortunately some elements are disturbing the peace in the Swat valley."
■ UNITED KINGDOM
Smoking ban brings benefits
The number of people being taken to hospital with heart attacks in Scotland has fallen significantly since a smoking ban was introduced, a study has revealed. Researchers found a 17 percent drop in the number of people admitted for heart attacks since the ban came into force in March last year, compared with an average 3 percent reduction a year over the previous decade. The reduction was most marked among non-smokers, with a 20 percent fall, compared with a 14 percent drop among smokers. The finding, gleaned from an analysis of heart attack admissions at nine hospitals, was revealed on Monday at a conference studying the impact of the ban on smoking in enclosed public places on non- smokers.
■ RUSSIA
Make love, not work
The governor of a central province urged couples to skip work on Wednesday and make love instead to help boost the nation's low birth rate. And if a woman gives birth in exactly nine months time -- on Russia's national day on June 12 -- she will qualify for a prize, perhaps even winning a new home. Regional governor of Ulyanovsk Sergei Morozov told employers to contribute to a Kremlin campaign to boost the birth rate by giving couples Wednesday off to have sex.
■ GERMANY
Treaty initiative launched
Berlin is launching an initiative to rescue the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty which Russia turned its back on earlier this year, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Wednesday. "I will be just as annoyed as you if this treaty is suspended," Steinmeier told members of the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament. "We cannot permit a treaty like this one aimed at limiting conventional arms, one which was developed over a long period of time, to be scrapped," he said. Steinmeier said Germany would host a conference in October to discuss the CFE, a landmark post-Cold War pact limiting conventional military strength on either side of the old Iron Curtain.
■ NORWAY
Wayward ballot saved
For the postal service, every vote counts and the mail must go through. So it spent 15,000 kroner (US$2,700) rushing a single wayward ballot by airliners and chartered helicopter to the right polling station before it closed in Monday's local elections. "This was a very unique case," Kjell Rakkenes, spokesman for Norway Post, said by telephone on Wednesday. "We believe strongly that every vote should count, and it's even more important in local democracy." The ballot was discovered on election day by postal officials in the wrong town, Trondheim, too late to forward it through the regular mail.
■ ITALY
Groups call for Pasta strike
Italians will soon be paying up to 20 percent more for their pasta and consumer groups called for a one-day pasta strike yesterday to protest. Producers say the strike is wrongheaded because the price is linked to a global rise in the cost of grains. "There is no dish that costs less," Furio Bragagnolo, the vice president of the Italian pasta manufacturers association said. "Whoever decides to strike against pasta will spend more on whatever they buy instead." The increase in the price of pasta is being driven by rising wheat prices worldwide, economists and producers say.
■ UNITED STATES
Fake sneakers ring busted
Federal authorities said they dismantled a criminal operation that smuggled hundreds of thousands of pairs of counterfeit Nike sneakers from China into the US, where they were sold at street corners in several cities. A grand jury in Buffalo, New York, indicted 21 people in New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Rhode Island, Texas, Wisconsin and Illinois on charges of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods. Most of the suspects had been arrested by Wednesday afternoon, US Attorney Terrance Flynn said. In a probe that began in April, authorities traced fake Nikes sold in Niagara Falls back to a Chinese supplier and identified the operation's New York City-based importers and distributors.
■ IRAQ
US military frees detainees
The US military has begun releasing between 50 and 80 Iraqi prisoners a day as a gesture during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the military announced yesterday. The US military, working with the Iraqi government, yesterday launched a venture dubbed "Operation Lion's Paw" to expand detainee releases during Ramadan, the military said in a statement. An impartial board will review the cases of eligible prisoners to determine whether they can be released as part of the program, it said. The releases will continue through the end of Ramadan, on Oct. 13, the statement said.
■ UNITED STATES
Wildlife importer charged
A Houston US federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted a Virginia-based hunting outfitter accused of importing trophy parts from wildlife illegally shot from helicopters in Russia. In the case involving a prominent energy executive, the US Department of Justice said that Robert Kern, president of the Hunting Consortium, and the company were accused of violating the Lacey Act, which prohibits the importation into the US of wildlife taken in violation of a foreign law. Dan Duncan, chairman of Enterprise Products Partners LP, one of the US' largest oil and gas operators, hunted with Kern in Russia and testified before the grand jury, but his lawyer said he does not expect Duncan to be indicted.
■ UNITED STATES
`Car thief' shows up in court
A woman who went to court to pay a traffic ticket drove there in a stolen car and ended up behind bars, South Carolina authorities said. Clarendon County sheriff's deputies received a tip that Amber Renee Helton was going to be in a stolen car when she paid the ticket, chief deputy Joe Bradham said. They arrested her as she opened the door of the 2001 Dodge Intrepid on Tuesday morning, authorities said. Helton, 21, and her passenger, Terry Lynn Alvery, 35, were charged with possessing a stolen vehicle, Bradham said.
■ CANADA
NATO ready for France
NATO is ready to discuss bringing France back fully into the fold after signals from Paris that it may reverse its decision 41 years ago to quit the alliance's military structures, officials said yesterday. French President Nicolas Sarkozy set the tone with a foreign policy speech last month insisting NATO was no rival to France's ambition of a robust EU defense capability. "Any initiative by France to get more involved and to get back into the integrated military structure could only be welcomed by NATO," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said, stressing any move would have to come from France. "There will be no decision until ... France puts it on the table," another official said.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
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