Canberra denies 'flying squads' plan
Canberra denies 'flying squads' plan
AUSTRALIA: Australian police denied on Wednesday reports that it planned to deploy "flying squads" of counter-terrorism agents in Southeast Asia.
The denial came a day after Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad warned Australia its policemen would not be welcome in his country.
In response, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) issued a statement on Wednesday denying reports in Australian newspapers the previous day that it wanted a long-term counter-terrorism presence in other countries.
The AFP also denied that Australian police commissioner Mick Keelty would attend a meeting of regional police chiefs later this month in Manila to discuss expanding Australia's police presence in the area. --AFP
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. ATW-SKorea-card-suicide Suicides dramatize cost of South Korean credit card debt JP/10/ATW
Suicides mark cost of credit card debt
SOUTH KOREA: Three young men in the southern port city of Busan saw suicide as the only escape from mounting card debts, a problem shared by millions of South Koreans, police said on Wednesday.
Two died after hanging themselves on Wednesday on a small hillside while the third was found unconscious nearby, with his throat cut and wrists slit.
"Credit cards are like this rope tightening around my neck moment after moment," said one of the dead men in a suicide note left at the scene and released to the media by the police. "I used credit cards too light-heartedly."
Police said the three had been unable to repay card debts of between 40 million won and 100 million won each (US$30,000 -US$83,300).
They are not alone, according to the Korea Federation of Banks, which estimates the number of credit delinquents in South Korea at an all-time record of 3.08 million as of the end of April. --AFP
;AP;KOD; ANPAi..r.. ATW-Russia-fire deaths Fires killed about 55 people a day in Russia last year JP/10/ATW
Fires killed about 55 people a day
RUSSIA: Some 20,000 people died last year in fires in Russia, about 55 people every day, the head of the country's top emergency response official said on Wednesday.
Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu told Russia's lower house of parliament that the amount of housing destroyed in fires last year was equivalent to that of a town with a population of 250,000.
Most of the victims, which included 750 children, died at home, "which suggests that apartment buildings and private houses are not property protected from fire," Interfax quoted Shoigu as saying.
Fire fatalities in Russia have skyrocketed since the end of the Soviet Union. Experts blame lower public vigilance, a disregard for safety standards and a dramatic rise in the number of homeless desperate to keep warm during icy winters. --AP