Sun, Nov 18, 2007 page5

• World News Quick Take

  • AGENCIES
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  ■ Thailand

  Grenade kills drunken man

  A drunken Cambodian fishermen dropped a hand grenade in a karaoke bar near Bangkok early yesterday, killing himself and injuring 10 others, police said. The man, who was not identified, had been drinking with friends at the karaoke bar in Samut Prakan, Police Lieutenant Chalermsak Komolwasi said. It was unclear why he was holding the hand grenade, but the incident appeared to be an accident, Chalermsak said. "A drunken Cambodian fisherman took out a hand grenade from his pocket before it fell to the ground and exploded," Chalermsak said.

  ■ Thailand

  Pilot collects mushrooms

  An air force pilot has been suspended from flying duties after allegedly landing his helicopter in the countryside to collect wild mushrooms for his mother, a spokesman said on Friday. The air force ordered the suspension and began investigating after villagers in Kanchanaburi Province reported the incident, said spokesman Captain Monthon Satchukorn. Villagers said that a helicopter had circled a jungle clearing on Wednesday before landing, and when some of them went to investigate, they found that the pilot had gone. When the pilot eventually returned, he told them he had been collecting mushrooms for his mother.

  ■ INDONESIA

  Earthquake rattles Sumatra

  A moderate undersea earthquake struck Sumatra early yesterday, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said. No damage or casualties were reported after the 5.3-magnitude earthquake, the agency said. The quake was centered 10km underground, about 212km northwest of Sinabang, a main town on Simeuleu island in Aceh Province, the agency said. The US Geological Survey recorded the quake's preliminary magnitude at 5.1 and said the epicenter was about 1,665km northwest of Jakarta.

  ■ SOUTH KOREA

  Sailors return home

  Four South Korean sailors have returned home after six months held in captivity by Somali pirates, officials said yesterday. The four arrived at Incheon airport late on Friday, officials said, adding they then traveled to Busan by train for family reunions. Han Seok-ho, 40, skipper of the two South Korean-owned vessels hijacked by Somali pirates in May off Somalia, and three other crew members all looked healthy, they said. All 21 sailors, including the four South Koreans and other nationals, were released last week. "I'm so glad to return alive. I thank all the Korean people for their interest in our release," Han said.

  ■ MALAYSIA

  EU diplomat criticized

  Malaysia has sent a protest note to the EU condemning critical remarks by the group's outgoing envoy as meddling in the affairs of the Southeast Asian nation, state news agency Bernama reported. The diplomat, Thierry Rommel, said this week that Malaysia was living under an effective state of emergency after police used tear gas and water cannons last weekend to break up the biggest anti-government protest in a decade. The note came on Rommel's last day in Malaysia. Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said: "As a diplomat, [Rommel] should be more cautious when issuing statements," adding that Rommel had not helped enhance ties between Malaysia and the EU. "We feel that it is appropriate that his term has ended. We are very happy that he has left Kuala Lumpur," Syed Hamid said.

  ■ UNITED KINGDOM

  Security adviser tells all

  A newly appointed top British intelligence adviser raised eyebrows on Friday after colorful and indiscreet details of his personal life, including his home address and his wife's mobile number, were revealed on his own Web site. Alex Allan, appointed on Thursday as chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, details his love for the cult US band The Grateful Dead and reveals a picture of him in 1969 with microphone hair, flares and Paisley-print cravate strumming on a guitar. A spokesman for Allan told the Daily Telegraph he would not be commenting but the personal information would be removed.

  ■ UNITED KINGDOM

  Scientist changes method

  A British scientist who led researchers in creating Dolly the Sheep is to abandon cloning using embryos for a rival method which makes stem cells without them, the Daily Telegraph reported yesterday. Professor Ian Wilmut of Edinburgh University has decided against pursuing a license to clone human embryos which he was awarded two years ago in favor of a method pioneered by professor Shinya Yamanaka at Kyoto University, Japan, who has managed to create stem cells from fragments of skin in mice without using embryos. Yamanaka is now believed to have done the same with human cells, the paper reported. Wilmut said the new concept was "easier to accept socially" as well as being "extremely exciting and astonishing."

  ■ UNITED KINGDOM

  World's best liar crowned

  The "world's biggest liar" has been crowned after telling a tale about a German World War II submarine invading Britain to capture digital TV decoders. John "Johnny Liar" Graham won the annual competition of tall tales, which is held at the Bridge Inn in Santon Bridge in Lake District. The 69-year-old claimed he stumbled across the U-boat as it prepared a raid on the nearby town of Whitehaven, which has become the first in Britain to switch from analog to digital TV. Graham had won the title five times before.

  ■ italy

  Mafia figures imprisoned

  A court in Palermo imposed stiff sentences on Friday in a Mafia trial in which a restaurant owner Vincenzo Conticello rebelled against paying "protection" money to the Cosa Nostra and identified an extortionist in the courtroom. Conticello is one of the owners of Antica Focacceria San Francesco, a popular eatery that opened in 1834. The Cosa Nostra also tried to make Conticello hire two workers the Mafia had planted in a failed bid to muscle its way into financial control of the business, prosecutors said. Giovanni Di Salvo was convicted of extortion and sentenced to 14 years in prison. Also convicted were Francolino Spadaro, who was given a 16-year sentence, and Lorenzo D'Aleo, who received a 10-year prison term.

  ■ cyprus

  Sorceress' on trial

  A woman in Cyprus is on trial for sorcery after pledging to shake off a curse apparently plaguing a man's relationship with his wife and mother-in-law. The suggested remedy consisted of an egg, a spoon, a nail, some pubic hairs and underpants, local media reported on Friday. "She cracked the egg into my underpants," the 37-year-old man told a district court in Nicosia. The elderly woman wanted some 5,000 Cyprus pounds (US$12,195) for her efforts, the man said, so he went to police.

  ■ UNITED STATES

  Ritzy eatery infested

  A Manhattan restaurant that unveiled a record-breaking US$25,000 dessert last week has been forced to shut its doors temporarily because of an infestation of mice and cockroaches. Serendipity 3 on the Upper East Side failed its second consecutive health inspection in a month on Wednesday night after health officials found a live mouse, mouse droppings in multiple places, flies and dozens of live cockroaches, the Heath Department said. "We're rectifying it as quickly as we can," owner Steven Bruce said, adding the restaurant would then be allowed to reopen.

  ■ MEXICO

  Activist starts hunger strike

  A migrant-rights advocate deported from the US said she began a hunger strike on Friday to push her government to demand its citizens receive better treatment north of the border. Elvira Arellano, who turned to activism during a yearlong fight to stay in the US, said she was holding the hunger strike "because I want our government to listen, to act, to defend our migrant families." On the opening day of the "First Parliament of Mexican Migrant Leaders Who Live in the US" Arellano decried US treatment of migrants. The two-day conference kicked off on the floor of the lower house of Congress.

  ■ UNITED STATES

  Mother gets 60 years in jail

  A woman convicted of killing her three-year-old son by plunging him into scalding water as punishment for soiling his diaper was sentenced on Friday to 60 years in prison. Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Authorities said Valerie Kennedy, 32, plunged Jaquez Mason into the water on Dec. 25, 2005. The boy suffered severe burns and went a week without treatment before dying. Kennedy's mother, Annie Williams, had custody of Jaquez and his siblings at the time. Kennedy had lost custody of them because of child abuse allegations. Prosecutors allege Williams allowed Jaquez to spend Christmas at his mother's apartment.

  ■ UNITED STATES

  Wife wants part of church

  The estranged wife of a pastor claims her husband blended his professional and personal finances so thoroughly that his church should be counted as an asset in their divorce. A judge agreed in a decision published this week to hear arguments on the claim and he ordered a financial appraisal of the church. The wife argues that her husband used his Brooklyn, New York, church as a "personal piggy bank," setting his own income and spending the congregation's tithes as he pleased. The couple's names were redacted from the decision. The wife said US$50,000 of the couple's money went into starting the church and that the church property is partly hers.

  ■ CANADA

  Glitch causes flight delays

  Roughly 1,000 frustrated passengers were grounded at the country's largest airport on Friday morning after a glitch with a major airline's computer reservation system caused flight delays. The problem occurred at around 4am at Toronto Pearson International Airport when Air Canada's booking system experienced a communications error between the airline's central reservation system and computer systems at airports across Canada, said John Segaert, Air Canada's general manager in Toronto. The airline was unable to print boarding passes. The problem caused delays of between 30 and 60 minutes.
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