Thu, Jan 24, 2008 page4

• World News Quick Take

  • AGENCIES
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  ■ MALAYSIA

  `Princesses' to stand trial

  Two sisters who claim to be princesses from an ancient Indonesian empire were acquitted of charges of entering the country illegally, their lawyer said. However, the court ordered Puteri Lamia Roro Wiranata, 21, and Puteri Fathia Reza, 23, to stand trial on a charge that they stayed in Sarawak State's Miri town without the required stamps in their passports. The women said they had been living "in exile" in Switzerland and Germany and that they were using passports "issued by the Sunda Democratic Empire," Shankar said, referring to monarchies from centuries ago.

  ■ CHINA

  Coal shortage looms

  The biggest electricity provider has asked the government to help ensure coal supplies and avert a looming power crisis, state media reported yesterday. The State Grid Corp issued the call for help after stockpiles of coal, which provide about 70 percent of the country's power needs, dwindled to a week's supply in recent days, the China Business News said. The supply crunch was caused by recent cold weather and heavy snowfalls that have disrupted coal distribution, it said. Authorities have responded with a promise to ensure coal supplies by banning coal deliveries not related to power production.

  ■ INDONESIA

  Earthquake kills one

  A strong 6.2-magnitude quake rattled the remote island of Nias off the west coast of Sumatra early yesterday, leaving one person dead and four others injured, police said. An 11-year-old boy was killed after the ceiling of a newly built dormitory collapsed during the quake, First Sergeant Muri of the North Nias district police said.

  ■ CHINA

  Hu gives publicity pep talk

  President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) has urged the Chinese Communist Party to step up its propaganda as the country prepares to face the world as host of the Summer Olympics, state media reported yesterday. "The publicity and ideological work is one of the important components of the work of the party and the state," Hu said at a national conference on publicity and ideological work, Xinhua said. "Efforts should be made to advocate things that are helpful to the prosperity of the country, the rejuvenation of the nation, the happiness of the people and the harmony of the society." Hu said.

  ■ CHINA

  Ancient skull found

  An almost complete human skull dating back 80,000 to 100,000 years was unearthed in Henan Province, the China Daily reported yesterday. The skull, consisting of 16 pieces, was dug out last month after two years of excavation at a site in Xuchang, it said. The pieces were fossilized because they were buried near the mouth of a spring whose water had a high calcium content, the report said. It is rare to find a nearly complete skull of that age. Besides the skull, more than 30,000 animal fossils and stone and bone artifacts were found in the past two years in an area of 260m2.

  ■ SINGAPORE

  F-16s intercept Cessna

  The national airport was closed for nearly an hour as two military jets were scrambled to intercept a small civilian plane headed toward the city-state's airspace without permission, authorities said yesterday. Two Republic of Singapore Air Force F-16s were deployed late on Tuesday to escort the single-engine turboprop Cessna 208 to land at Singapore's Changi Airport, Defense Ministry spokesman Darius Lim said in an e-mailed statement. The plane was heading toward Singapore's airspace "without an approved flight plan," Lim said. The statement did not elaborate, but police said their investigations revealed no criminal intent and no arrest was made.

  ■ AUSTRALIA

  Man shoots croc, colleague

  A man rescued his colleague from the jaws of a crocodile but accidentally shot the unlucky co-worker in the process, police said yesterday. Two crocodile farmhands were collecting wild crocodile eggs on a riverbank on Tuesday in Northern Territory when a crocodile snatched one of them, Jason Green, by the arm, the Northern Territory Police said in a statement. "The male colleague shot at the crocodile, causing it to let go of the victim's arm, but a further shot hit the victim in the upper right arm," the statement said. Police Commander Bob Harrison said Green's injuries were not life-threatening. "He's going to be very sick and sorry and have a very good story to tell," he said.

  ■ NEW ZEALAND

  Fifteen stranded whales die

  Fifteen pilot whales died in beach strandings yesterday on South Island, while rescuers refloated another 15 and monitored their progress toward safer waters, conservation officials said. The whales -- which ranged in size from calves to 6m long -- were found beached at two locations on Farewell Spit, Conservation Department ranger Nigel Mountfort said. Fifteen of the whales were already dead, while rescuers helped refloat the remaining 15, but they were not out of danger as they remained in a tidal area where they risked beaching themselves again, Mountford said. A worker was sent aboard a plane to watch for whales at risk of further stranding, he said.

  ■ ARGENTINA

  Friar's heart stolen

  The heart of a revered 19th century friar and patriot was stolen from an urn in the Franciscan monastery where it was kept for years as a religious relic, a church official said. Whoever scooped up friar Mamerto Esquiu's heart on Tuesday left the urn it was stored in behind, said Jorge Martinez, head of the San Francisco monastery in the northwestern province of Catamarca. "The theft was carried out because of the heart -- nothing else was stolen," he told reporters. "It's very sad." Witnesses reported seeing a bearded man run from the monastery around the time the heart went missing, but no one had been arrested, the Catamarca daily El Ancasti said.

  ■ RUSSIA

  Car explodes in Ingushetia

  A car packed with explosives blew up in the country's violence plagued Ingushetia region on Tuesday, killing one person who was apparently the driver, officials said. At about the same time, gunmen opened fire on a minibus carrying officers of a federal agency, killing one and wounding three others, authorities in Ingushetia said. Officials said they did not believe the two incidents in Ingushetia's main city, Nazran, were linked.

  ■ UNITED STATES

  Elderly man fatally beaten

  A 94-year-old man was found fatally beaten early on Monday in a thicket of bushes in Morristown, Tennessee, his left hand cut off, and three people were arrested in what might have been a botched robbery, authorities said. Willie Lee Morgan, who was reported missing on Saturday, "died a horrible death," Hamblen County Sheriff Esco Jarnigan said. Two butcher knives and a left hand were found in one of the suspects' cars. Darrell Nance, 22, was charged with murder and Jessica Lane, 23, was charged with accessory to murder.

  ■ UNITED STATES

  Panty thief sentenced

  A man is facing a sentence of one-and-a-half months after admitting he stole 42kg of women's undergarments. Garth Flaherty, 24, was charged with first-degree theft and burglary in the stealing of 1,613 pairs of panties, bras and other women's underwear from laundry rooms. Under an agreement with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Friday in Whitman County Superior Court to 45 days in jail. He may serve 30 days of his term in community service, court officials said. Flaherty was arrested March 24 after police received a report of a man hanging out in an apartment complex laundry room. In his bedroom, police said, they found enough women's underwear to fill five garbage bags.

  ■ VENEZUELA

  Opposition wants drug test

  Opposition politicians are demanding that leftist President Hugo Chavez take a drug test after he said he chews coca leaves to keep up his energy. The anti-US leader has repeatedly defended the use of coca leaves despite accusations by the US that he is turning Venezuela into a "haven" for drugs from Colombia. "We are going to ask that the President of the Republic take a toxicological exam, as would any baseball or football player," said Antonio Ledezma, of the Brave People's Alliance party. "This is an apology for the consumption of drugs." Chavez said during a speech this month that Bolivian President Evo Morales, a close Chavez ally and outspoken supporter of legalizing the cultivation of coca, sends him coca paste.
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