■ China
Gas leak plug attempt fails
An attempt to use mud to plug a gas leak in Qinxi, Sichuan Province, that forced more than 12,000 people from their homes on Dec. 21 has failed, as the leak reappeared within an hour, the Xinhua news agency said yesterday. Workers spent more than four hours pumping nearly 300m3 of mud into the gas well and had almost extinguished flames fed by the leak. But in less than an hour the leaking gas was burning more fiercely than before, Xinhua said. A previous attempt to cap the leak with 181 tonnes of cement failed. Authorities are now planning to build an emergency pipeline to divert the gas.
■ Japan
Phones tell on drunk drivers
KDDI Corp has developed a combined breathilizer and telephone that will let bus and taxi companies know if their drivers can take the wheel. When drivers blow into a tube on the machine, the device measures their level of intoxication and immediately sends the results to their company's computer via the phone. The phone also transmits snapshots of the drivers' faces and details on their location. Yesterday the National Police Agency proposed stiffer penalties for drunk driving -- up to five years in prison or a fine of up to ¥1 million (US$8,400), compared with three years and ¥500,000 now.
■ India
Jewelers to ban veils
Women wearing the burqah and other face-concealing veils could be banned from jewelery stores in Pune, Maharashtra state, after a wave of thefts involving burqah-clad customers. The jewelers said yesterday that they have asked authorities asking for permission to stop serving customers who refuse to show their faces to surveillance cameras from Jan. 1.
■ China
Body of US climber found
The body of a US climber missing for more than a month has been found on a remote mountain in the southwest while a second climber is still missing and presumed dead, a rescue coordinator said. Christine Boskoff, a top female climber, and Charlie Fowler, a well-known climber, guide and photographer, were reported missing after they failed to return to the US on Dec. 4. "They don't know which body yet. The rescuers were told to take pictures without disturbing anything. They will go back up in the morning with shovels," Arlene Burns, a friend of both climbers, said on Wednesday. "The other body could be under the snow or could be connected by a rope," Burns said.
■ China
Killer of 10 executed
A farmer who was sentenced to death for killing 10 people at a Taoist temple was executed yesterday, state media reported. Qiu Xinhua (邱新華), 47, was charged with killing the abbot of the Tiewadian temple in the northern city of Ankang, along with five staff members and four pilgrims on July 14. He reportedly believed the abbot had flirted with his wife. Qiu appealed on the grounds that he was mentally ill. But the Shaanxi provincial high court ruled that the attacks were carefully planned and that "he did not suffer from mental illness because his escape from police pursuit demonstrated his ability to carry out rational and independent action," Xinhua said.
■ Indonesia
Mystery killer illness
Health officials are investigating the deaths of 22 people from an unidentified illness characterized by high fever over a two-month period in the capital Jakarta. Samples from the patients have been sent to the US Naval Medical Research Unit 2 in Jakarta, but the cause of death remained a mystery, said Nyoman Kandun, a senior health ministry official. "We have not been able to conclude if this is or is not a new emerging disease," Kandun told reporters on Wednesday. "But after experiencing both bird flu and SARS we do not want to take any chances," he said.
■ Germany
Man wedged in drain
Berlin police said on Wednesday they had rescued a motorist who ended up wedged upside down in a drain after trying to retrieve car keys he had dropped. The 48-year-old man was seen by a bystander falling into the street drain late on Tuesday after he removed the manhole cover. Police were at first unable to find the man but later discovered him wedged in a drainage pipe below ground. He was at first unconscious and did not appear to be breathing. After police hit him on the back he began coughing up water and breathing again.
■ United Kingdom
Math help for shoppers
For millions of shoppers struggling to calculate how much of a bargain they are getting in the winter sales, help is at hand, the government said on Wednesday. About 14.9 million adults in England do not have the math skills expected of an 11-year-old and may have problems working out even basic deals like "20 percent off" or "buy one, get the second half-price," the Department of Education and Skills said. Teams commissioned by the department will hit the high streets to offer tips on savings and help people brush up their math, as part of the government's "Get On" campaign.
■ United Kingdom
Helicopter crashes, six killed
A helicopter transporting gas rig workers crashed into Morecambe Bay in northwest England, killing six. Rescuers in helicopters and boats searched early yesterday for one more person who was missing. Lancashire police, coordinating the search, and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, said six bodies had been found by searchers in the cold water of the large bay within hours of the crash on Wednesday night. The search for the other person aboard the helicopter, which was carrying five Centrica PLC employees and two crew when it went down 39km off the coast at around 6:40pm, would go on.
■ France
Death penalty censured again
Parliament is to vote next month on a bill that would revise the Constitution to include the fact the death penalty is illegal, judicial officials said on Wednesday. Although France abolished capital punishment with a 1981 law, President Jacques Chirac has said he wants to go further by making the policy part of the Constitution. Judicial officials said the bill was still under study by the Council of State, France's highest administrative body. The issue would be on the agenda when both houses of parliament meet at the Chateau of Versailles outside Paris to vote on constitutional revisions, the officials said. An exact date for the meeting of France's Congress has not yet been set.
■ Nigeria
President, VP in legal spat
President Olusegun Obasanjo and his vice president each launched legal proceedings on Wednesday in a spat over the legality of the deputy maintaining his office after accepting an opposition party's nomination to run in Nigeria's presidential elections. Vice President Atiku Abubakar maintains that only impeachment or the expiration of his elected term can end his official duties, while Obasanjo says the Constitution stipulates that changing parties should nullify his position. The two camps each filed a suit on Wednesday at an appellate court in the capital, Abuja. The ruling party expelled Abubakar on Friday after he declared his candidacy in next year's presidential elections.
■ United Kingdom
Thief steals car, gifts, owner
A callous thief ejected an elderly woman from the car he had just stolen after realizing she was hidden among the piles of Christmas gifts in the back of the vehicle. The youth hoping for just a Christmas gift haul was apparently taken by surprise after leaping into the Volvo car parked outside a house in Redditch, central England. After driving 100m along the road he noticed the woman in the rear-view mirror with the gifts she had just been given by her family, stopped the car and dragged her out on to the pavement. "Although the woman was not hurt she was obviously left very shaken," policeman Matthew Hunt said.
■ Germany
Woman fabricates kidnapping
A 21-year-old woman who did not feel like going to work at a fast food restaurant sent her parents a text message saying she had been kidnapped. Police in the Bavarian town of Straubing said on Wednesday they had launched a massive search throughout the region for the woman who disappeared last Saturday but turned up unscathed the following morning, saying the kidnapper had set her free. A spokesman said the woman was questioned over the Christmas holiday and admitted she made up the story because she owed a colleague 25 euros (US$33) and did not have the money to pay her debt. She now faces a fine of up to 1,000 euros.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
PINEAPPLE DEBATE: While the owners of the pizzeria dislike pineapple on pizza, a survey last year showed that over 50% of Britons either love or like the topping A trendy pizzeria in the English city of Norwich has declared war on pineapples, charging an eye-watering ￡100 (US$124) for a Hawaiian in a bid to put customers off the disputed topping. Lupa Pizza recently added pizza topped with ham and pineapple to its account on a food delivery app, writing in the description: “Yeah, for ￡100 you can have it. Order the champagne too! Go on, you monster!” “[We] vehemently dislike pineapple on pizza,” Lupa co-owner Francis Wolf said. “We feel like it doesn’t suit pizza at all,” he said. The other co-owner, head chef Quin Jianoran, said they kept tinned pineapple
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