■ Australia
Fish flattens fisherman
In a fishy tale with a different ending, an angler yesterday described how a 1.5m mackerel jumped into his boat, injured him -- and then got away. Glen Hopper said he suffered bruised ribs and cuts to his face and arms when the mackerel flattened him. "I remember it coming out the water and the next thing I knew I'm in the back of the boat winded, trying to get my breath." Hopper, 43, estimated that the mackerel weighed about 30kg. It shot into his boat, hitting him in the chin and chest, before spearing back into the water.
■ Hong Kong
Chinese police discovered
A Chinese man facing deportation from Hong Kong claims police from China pursued him to the territory and tried to arrest him, the Apple Daily reported yesterday. Though Chinese police have no jurisdiction over Hong Kong, there have been repeated claims that they are operating here. Police arrested seven people, including two Chinese police officers last June after the group was seen acting suspiciously in an upscale neighborhood.
■ New Zealand
Iraqi diplomat told to leave
The government said yesterday it will clamp down on undesirable immigrants after admitting that an ex-diplomat in former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's regime had entered the country and applied for residency. "We will act to defend our borders" against immigration cheats, Prime Minister Helen Clark said after the unnamed man and his wife were ordered to leave the country. She said New Zealand had to be vigilant for migrants "who are determined to cheat" to get into the country.
■ South Korea
Vice minister resigns
Vice Construction Minister Kim Se-ho offered his resignation yesterday to take responsibility for the scandal over a failed oil project in Russia that is under investigation by prosecutors. President Roh Moo-hyun was expected to accept Kim's resignation. Kim was in charge of the Korea Railroad agency when it agreed to invest in a botched oil development project in Sakhalin Island. The agency lost at least US$6 million when Moscow later denied approval for the project.
■ Hong Kong
Two jailed for rock theft
Two men were jailed yesterday for stealing rocks that were to be used to help build an artificial lake at Hong Kong's Disneyland theme park. Tung Chung village chief Law Kam-fai, 63, was sent to prison for two years for masterminding the theft of about 800 tonnes of boulders and rocks from a river on Lantau island. Wong Yat-wah, 52, whose firm excavated the rocks, was jailed for 21 months.
■ Cambodia
No guarantees for politician
Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that he could not guarantee the freedom of opposition leader Sam Rainsy if he returned home, apparently backpedalling on an assurance he made last week. Sam Rainsy fled the country in early February after he and two of his deputies were stripped of their parliamentary immunity, opening the way for him to be arrested on defamation charges. "If you want to come back, you can come back by yourself. No one will hurt you [but] I cannot guarantee your safety," Hun Sen said. He said Sam Rainsy had "better wait until his next life" if he was hoping for a letter of guarantee that he would remain free.
■ Latvia
Killer blames upbringing
A man being tried on charges of murdering 30 elderly women said on Monday his upbringing was partly to blame for the four-year killing spree. Kaspars Petrovs, 27, is on trial in Riga Regional Court for robbing and strangling the women between 2000 and 2003. He claims he strangled them only so they would lose consciousness. "All my life I have felt that I am different," Petrovs told the court. "I missed attention and tried to compensate for it with my pranks and mischief. I sought consolation in books and created my own world of fantasy, until I could no longer discern fantasy from reality," he said.
■ Netherlands
Ten charged for trafficking
Ten people convicted on charges of human trafficking were handed down sentences ranging from three months to five years at a court in the western Dutch city of Alkmaar yesterday. Prosecutors said the ring had houses in The Hague and Rotterdam where people from China and Pakistan were hidden before continuing their journeys, often to Spain or Britain, only after their families had forwarded large sums of money. Two people accused of being members of the ring were acquitted.
■ Germany
Three to be given prize
Former US president George Bush, one-time Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and former German chancellor Helmut Kohl will be the first recipients of a new German prize for their efforts to end the Cold War, the prize's trustees said on Monday. The Point Alpha Prize is named for a Cold War-era US Army observation post on the heavily fortified border between East and West Germany, which is now a memorial.
■ United States
Alerts tagged as spam
Emergency managers in a Florida hard-hit by hurricanes last year thought the best way to get out weather alerts was by e-mail -- until they learned that Internet service provider America Online was tagging the messages as spam, or junk mail. "Because we send out mail in large numbers, it becomes a pattern for spam senders," said Basil Dancy, a computer software engineer for Indian River County. The problem started last year with frequent alerts during an unusually busy hurricane season when four major storms hit Florida, including two -- Frances and Jeanne -- that swept over Indian River County with winds above 160 kph.
■ Canada
Greenpeace co-founder dies
Canadian Bob Hunter, who co-founded Greenpeace and used his savvy as a journalist to turn the environmental group's fight to an international cause, died on Monday after a battle with prostate cancer, the organization said. He was 63. Hunter, a columnist for the Vancouver Sun in the 1960s and most recently an ecology broadcaster for Canadian media, first came to prominence in 1971 with the launch of Greenpeace and its protests against nuclear testing. He brought public attention to the hunting of whales and seals, as well as the dumping of toxic waste into the oceans. Hunter boarded a small fishing boat, dubbed the Greenpeace, in 1971 to set off to Alaska to protest US nuclear testing. "I thought I was going to be a reporter, taking notes," Hunter later said, according to a news release from Greenpeace. "In reality, I wound up on first watch."
■ Somalia
Bomb explodes in stadium
A bomb exploded in Mogadishu's soccer stadium yesterday just as the new prime minister began to address a rally intended to build support for his exiled government, leaving at least one person dead. Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi was not injured and was immediately rushed away from the scene, where it appeared at least 11 people were seriously injured. Government officials told reporters that Gedi was taken to "a safe location" north of Mogadishu. Hundreds of people had gathered in the stadium to hear Gedi discuss plans to bring the government to Mogadishu.
■ Germany
Smoking ban urged
Several German lawmakers want to ban smoking while driving, saying it's hazardous. "The dangers of causing an accident rise drastically when you smoke and drive," said Peter Danckert of the ruling Social Democrats. "I want a complete ban on smoking for drivers." Danckert and Katherina Reiche of the opposition Christian Democrats told Germany's best-selling newspaper, Bild, they will push for legislation to outlaw smoking for drivers. Reiche noted parliament had passed a law outlawing the use of cellphones for drivers.
■ United Kingdom
Report says Africa is bad
Africa is the worst place on earth to be a mother or child, according to a study published yesterday by the British-based charity Save the Children, with Mali, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia being the worst countries. The "State of the World's Mothers 2005" report studied 110 countries and details health and educational opportunities for mothers and their children. One in eight children will die before they reach their first birthday in Mali, while 10 percent of women will die during childbirth. In Burkina Faso, less than one in 10 women can read and write. In Ethiopia just 25 percent of the population has access to clean water.
■ Luxembourg
Italy triumphs over EU
The EU's top court said yesterday that EU law could not overrule an Italian law partially decriminalizing false accounting, in an apparent victory for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice further ruled that EU rules could not increase penalties provided for in the Italian law, which critics of Berlusconi say was tailor-made to protect him from prosecution. The complex ruling was summarized in a press release, which said: "A [EU] directive cannot -- by itself and independently of national legislation adopted by a member state for purposes of its application -- have the effect of determining or increasing the criminal liability of an accused person."
■ South Africa
`Chili man' sets record
With tears in his eyes and rendered too breathless to talk, Johan Hattingh acknowledged the applause of fellow South Africans after eating a world record 51 red hot chili peppers. The feat at a local town fair means the Pretoria man beat by one the previous record of 50 registered in the Guinness Book of Records, the Star newspaper reported on Monday. Hattingh out-ate 19 fellow competitors who all tackled a pile of extra-strong Habanero chilis -- his nearest rival quitting shortly before notching up a half century. Hattingh, who also picked up a 3,000 rand (US$400) prize, was rendered speechless by the fiery experience. Asked if he would ever enter that sort of contest again, he could only shake his head.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
Ireland, the UK and France faced travel chaos on Saturday and one person died as a winter storm battered northwest Europe with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice. Hampshire Police in southern England said a man died after a tree fell onto a car on a major road near Winchester early in the day. Police in West Yorkshire said they were probing whether a second death from a traffic incident was linked to the storm. It is understood the road was not icy at the time of the incident. Storm Bert left at least 60,000 properties in Ireland without power, and closed
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