Three people were killed and 20 others reported missing when the side of a mountain in north China came tumbling down early yesterday, burying more than 10 homes, state press reported.
Rescuers have dug out about 20 survivors of the landslide in Shaanxi province, which took place shortly after midnight, and were continuing to search for the missing, Xinhua news agency said. AFP
Thailand's Suvarnabhumi Airport, which was besieged by protesters in 2008, said yesterday it had made contingency plans in case the anti-government "Red Shirts" protest this weekend.
The plans were to deal with travel disruption or a possible blockade from March 11-23, the period when a special security law is in place to counter protests by backers of the deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
"There are concerns that travelling plans of passengers may be disrupted," a statement from the airport said.
It advised international travellers to check in three to four hours before flying. AFP
South Korea yesterday opened a kimchi research centre to raise global demand for its iconic dish (picture) and for the country's cuisine in general.
The agriculture ministry said the world kimchi laboratory, sited at the Korea Food Research Institute in Bundang, south of Seoul, would undertake detailed research into lactic acids created by fermentation and operate a pilot plant to make prototype foods.
The spicy side dish has inspired its own museum in Seoul and an annual festival. It was even blasted into space with the country's first astronaut in 2008. AFP
The British government is proposing that all dogs in Britain be compulsorily microchipped so that their owners can be more easily traced under a crackdown on dangerous dogs.
Many pets in the United Kingdom are already fitted with microchips. The devices allow Britons to more easily locate wayward pets.
A microchip the size of a grain of rice is usually injected between the shoulder blades of the animal.
When the chip is "read" by a handheld scanner, the code number is revealed and the details can be checked on a national database. AP, The Guardian
The sacked head of Indonesia's anti-corruption commission had appealed against his 18-year jail sentence for murder, his lawyer said yesterday. Former Corruption Eradication Commission chief Antasari Azhar, 56, was found guilty by a South Jakarta court last month of organising the murder of businessman Nasrudin Zulkarnaen, his suspected rival for the affections of 22-year-old golf caddy Rhani Juliani.
"We felt the decision was not based on truth ... The evidence presented by the prosecutors in court had been made up," Antasari's lawyer Mr Juniver Girsang said. AFP
Twenty-one years after he accidentally drove over a child and fled, a Saudi man turned himself in saying nightmares had plagued him ever since, a local newspaper said yesterday.
Yahya Al Asmari, 38, walked in to the office of the National Society for Human Rights to confess that he killed a small child he estimated to be under five years old. "Since then I've been moving from one job to another and have never found any sort of stability of professional success. I spend most of my time in tears of remorse." AFP
Britain is to give 42 million condoms to South Africa in response to a request for an extra billion as part of an Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention drive before the 2010 World Cup, the government will announce today.
The request for British help in stockpiling sufficient condoms for the expected influx of thousands of football supporters in three months' time was made during President Jacob Zuma's recent visit to the United Kingdom to meet the Queen.
Last week South Africa's Central Drug Authority warned that 40,000 prostitutes were expected to arrive for the month-long tournament. The Guardian
Philippine talk show host Kris Aquino (picture) has apologised after she provoked a fellow celebrity into launching a campaign against her brother Benigno, who is running for President in the May 10 elections.
Showbiz celebrity mum Annabelle Rama had complained about the way Ms Aquino interviewed her daughter Ms Ruffa Gutierrez on her planned move to a rival television station. Ms Gutierrez walked out of the show on Sunday, at her mother's prodding. Ms Rama later called on her family's supporters not to vote for Mr Benigno. AGENCIES
South Korean researchers yesterday launched an environmentally friendly public transport system using a "recharging road" - with a vehicle sucking power magnetically from buried electric strips.
The Online Electric Vehicle (OLEV) went into service at an amusement park but if the prototype proves successful, there are plans to try it out on a bus route in the capital. OLEV needs a battery only one-fifth the size of conventional electric vehicles and eliminates the need for major recharging. It also avoids the need for overhead wires used to power conventional trams or trolley buses. AFP