YANGON, Myanmar

A prominent poet in Myanmar (Burma) has been arrested after authorities deciphered a poem that contained a hidden message criticising junta leader Than Shwe, who turned his troops on Buddhist monks last September to global condemnation. Saw Wai was arrested a day after his poem "February 14" was published in a popular weekly magazine. The eight-lined poem written in Burmese was about love and romance, but if read vertically, the first word of each line formed the phrase: "Power crazy senior general Than Shwe."

TOKYO, Japan

A three-year-old Japanese boy whose heart stopped beating for up to 30 minutes after he fell in a frozen pond has made a miraculous recovery. Hikaru Tamakoshi's body temperature was only 28°C when he was taken into Shizuoka Children's Hospital, and he spent five days in a coma, but he recovered with no ill effects and even flashed a victory sign as he left the hospital last week with his beaming father.

HONG KONG

A manhunt for a murderer was launched in Hong Kong last week after a woman's mutilated body was found dumped in a dog's kennel. The dead woman, who has not been identified, was found in the kennel in the territory's rural Sheung Shui district near the Chinese border. An examination showed she had been murdered and police are investigating whether the woman was killed and then dumped in the kennel to make it appear dogs savaged her.

PYONGYANG, N. Korea

North Korea is closing its embassy in Canberra because the communist state cannot afford the cost of maintaining a mission in Australia's national capital. The embassy is located in a large house in the well-heeled southern Canberra suburb of O'Malley, but spokesman Pak Myong Guk last week said his country, savaged by floods last year, has “financial problems” and can no longer sustain its diplomatic abode. The reclusive nuclear power will continue diplomatic relations with Australia via its embassy in Jakarta.

BEIJING, China

Hailed as the greatest discovery since Peking Man, an almost complete human skull fossil that could date back 100,000 years has been unearthed in central China. The fossil, discovered among 30,000 animal bones in Xuchang, in the central province of Henan, consists of 16 pieces and features protruding eyebrows and a small forehead. Chinese scientists are most excited about a fossilised membrane on the inner side that will allow them to study the nerves of our Paleolithic ancestors.

SEOUL, S. Korea

Thousands of people hit by South Korea's worst oil spill staged a protest rally in central Seoul to demand swift compensation. Some 3,000 marine farmers and other residents dramatised their plight by displaying oil-coated oysters, fish, anchovies and seaweed. They demanded that parliament and the Samsung Group, South Korea's biggest conglomerate and operator of a barge that caused the 10,900-tonne, 110-kilometre beach slick, swiftly compensate them for their threatened livelihoods. Three people in the worst hit district have committed suicide following delays by local officials in making payments.

SHANGHAI, China

A Chinese couple is suing the operators of the Shanghai metro after video footage showing them kissing at a tube station appeared on the Web. The couple says their passionate embrace was taped by metro staff and uploaded onto video-sharing websites with mocking comments in the background. Over 15,000 people viewed the clip within two days of it being put online. The red-faced lovebirds say they are taking legal action to protect the privacy rights of all passengers. The operators of the Shanghai metro say they are investigating the incident.

DHAKA, Bangladesh

In a bid to save the rare and endangered Olive Ridley turtle near the coastal town of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladeshi officials plan to hunt and destroy stray dogs. Hundreds of the turtles, which normally live deep in the sea, come ashore from September to March to lay their eggs in the sand. The hungry canines have taken a fancy to the eggs and hatchlings, and have even begun raiding hatcheries for a midnight snack of tender turtle. Officials plan to capture 300 strays with long hooks and inject them with poison.

TOKYO, Japan

A night of debauchery at a girlie bar has had a sobering end for a Japanese teenager who downed dozens of pricey drinks before staff found he had no money to pay his $3,500 bill. The underage 16-year-old, posing as an IT entrepreneur, ordered two bottles of Dom Perignon and 60 glasses of whisky and cocktails for himself and five mini-skirted hostesses who kept him company for six hours last week at the bar in suburban Tokyo. “I went crazy as it felt so good being with hot girls,” he told investigators, who are pursuing charges.