■ NORTH KOREA
Pyongyang thanks US
Pyongyang offered a rare note of thanks to the US for helping its sailors fend off an attack by pirates off the coast of Somalia. "We feel grateful to the United States for its assistance given to our crewmen," the North's official KCNA news agency said in a report late on Thursday. "This case serves as a symbol of the DPRK [North Korea]-US cooperation in the struggle against terrorism," it said. Late last month, the US dispatched a destroyer to help a North Korean cargo ship, which had sent out a distress signal after it was raided by pirates.
■ AUSTRALIA
Stumping can be dangerous
Prime Minister John Howard may have been hoping to bowl over voters during a campaign stop yesterday, but not literally. A woman was knocked to the ground by a horde of security and media personnel following Howard during a lunchtime campaign tour through a shopping mall in western Sydney. The woman, who was not identified, hit her head and lay motionless on the ground for several seconds as a member of Howard's security staff knelt beside her, media reports said.
■ CHINA
Two-timing man poisoned
A Guangzhou businessman who had two families has died after apparently being intentionally poisoned, the Southern Metropolitan Daily reported yesterday. Xu Weijie, 43, died in a hospital more than a week after he checked in complaining of feeling ill, the newspaper said. Tests found that his urine contained 4,000 times the normal amount of thallium, a highly toxic substance often used in rat poison. About 15 years ago, Xu became involved romantically with two women. He emigrated to New Zealand with one of them and their child, while the other woman moved to Hong Kong with her children.
■ HONG KONG
Assailant scales 24 floors
A man scaled 24 floors to stab an ex-girlfriend as she slept, the South China Morning Post reported on Thursday. The woman was stabbed repeatedly on Wednesday, the daily said. The woman's mother, who was also in the apartment, heard a scream. When the attacker saw the mother, he climbed out of the window. "We believe the man abseiled down to the 17th floor with a climbing rope and then climbed down the drainpipes to ground level to escape," police said. The woman was in critical condition in hospital.
■ VENEZUELA
Chavez's sex-appeal rises
President Hugo Chavez calls himself ugly and his looks earned him the nickname "Goofy" in the military, but his image is changing -- he is now considered one of the country's sexiest men. A poll said on Thursday the fifth-most desired man was Chavez, whose large nose, protruding lips, forehead mole and gap in his front teeth are easy fodder for caricature artists in a nation obsessed with beauty. Chavez is well known for his flirtation with female supporters on live television. Nips-and-tucks are common here, where an annual beauty pageant draws more viewers than any other TV event.
■ UAE
Dubai bridge collapses
At least seven people were killed and about 15 injured on Thursday when a bridge under construction in Dubai collapsed near luxury hotels and high-rises in the Gulf trading and tourism hub. Construction workers said about 40 people were on the bridge when it collapsed. Nine workers were rushed to hospital with serious injuries, a police officer at the site said. Matar Saeed al-Tayer, head of Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority, said the incident apparently happened when an excessive amount of steel was placed on a bridge segment during a crane movement.
■ UNITED STATES
Haute chocolate up for sale
This is one rich cup of haute chocolate: A New York eatery is offering a US$25,000 dessert bulging with top-grade cocoa, edible gold and shavings of a luxury truffle. The Frrrozen Haute Chocolate was declared the most expensive dessert in the world on Wednesday by the Guinness World Records. The dessert is a frozen, slushy mix of cocoas from 14 countries, milk and 5 grams of 24-carat gold topped with whipped cream and shavings from a La Madeline au Truffle. It is served in a goblet with a band of gold decorated with 1 carat of diamonds and served with a golden spoon diners can take home.
■ UNITED STATES
Reagan items missing
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library has been asked to carry out a full inventory and improve security after an audit found tens of thousands of mementos unaccounted for. National Archives Inspector General Paul Brachfeld said on Thursday that the Reagan Library complex, outside Los Angeles, could account for only 20,000 of an estimated 100,000 items in its collection. "This does not automatically mean the approximately 80,000 remaining items are missing. ... Some of these items may be missing or stolen, or none of these items may be missing or stolen," Brachfeld said. The library commemorates Reagan's life through exhibits of papers, political gifts, letters and other items.
■ CANADA
Girl convicted of murder
The youngest Canadian ever convicted of multiple murder, who killed her parents and brother when she was only 12, was sentenced on Thursday to the maximum punishment of 10 years in prison. The girl, now 14 and not identified because she is a minor, will serve four years in a psychiatric institution and then be freed on conditional, supervised release. The girl was convicted in a jury trial in July for the stabbing and slashing to death of her parents and eight year old brother in Medicine Hat, Alberta in April last year after they opposed her having a relationship with a boy ten years older. The boy, Jeremy Steinke, now 24, will be tried next year for premeditated murder.
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
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
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
RSS