SINGAPORE
Doctors have come under the scrutiny of the Singapore Health Ministry amid an increase in people seeking cosmetic treatments. At least 20 doctors have been questioned to ensure those offering Botox and collagen injections popular in the West are appropriately trained. Botox is used to get rid of wrinkles. Treatments are usually once in three months. In one case, A 28-year-old woman seeking fuller lips was injected with too much of the wrong type of filler and collagen, and ended up looking like a "duck," a newspaper said.

KOCHI CITY, Japan

The oldest person in Japan has died at age 113 of natural causes, her nursing home said at the weekend. Tsuneyo Toyonaga, died in a hospital in Kochi city in southern Japan after being transferred there a week ago after feeling sick. According to media reports, Toyonaga was cheery and had a sense of humour which was widely appreciated at the facility named “Home of Dreams,” where she moved when she was aged 101. Toyonaga is survived by five children and ten grandchildren. More than 28,000 Japanese are 100 years or older, up from a mere 1,000 at the start of the 1980s

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia

A Malaysian man has filed a 5 million ringgit ($1.47 million) negligence suit against two local companies and a major British retailer after discovering the chickens he bought were not slaughtered according to Islamic ritual, despite being labeled and certified as halal. Zainuddin Mohamad Zin, 55, a civil servant in KL, made the discovery a day after the purchase when he was about to cook the chicken. He said that that a raid carried out by the religious officers weeks later confirmed that the chickens were not slaughtered according to Islamic rites.

JAMSHEDPUR, India
A seven-year-old tribal girl in the eastern state of Jharkhand has married a stray dog as part of traditional rituals to ward off an evil spell. The dog was made to wear sunglasses and was brought to the venue under a decorated umbrella, while an estimated 150 guests danced to the beating of drums and drank home-made liquor. The girl, Pushpa, had to be married because she had a tooth rooted to her upper gum which is considered a bad omen by her tribe. Villagers said the marriage would not affect Pushpa’s life as she would be free to marry again later and did not need to divorce the canine.

MANILA, The Philippines

The death toll in flashfloods and landslides brought on by unusually heavy rains in The Philippines has risen to 32 with 10 more people missing. The National Disaster Coordinating Council said most of the fatalities were from the impoverished province of Eastern Samar, 630km south-east of Manila, where several towns have been submerged by floodwaters. More than 4,000 houses have been destroyed in at least nine provinces, and the government estimated the damages to agriculture and infrastructure to reach $30 million.

BEIJING, China

Spongebob SquarePants, Mickey Mouse and Pokemon will be officially persona non grata on Chinese prime time beginning May 1. China is banning all foreign cartoons from airing during “the golden hours” between 5 pm to 9 pm in a bid to protect its fledgling domestic cartoon industry. In recent years, a huge influx of foreign cartoons have flooded the airwaves, becoming highly popular with Chinese children. China has sought to compete, promoting its own children's programming. Among the more popular cartoons is 3000 Questions for Blue Cat, also known as Lan Mao, which is aimed at popularising science among youngsters. Earlier this month, China banned programming containing contain horror or the supernatural.

PYONGYANG, N. Korea

North Korea has denounced an upcoming U.S.-South Korean joint military drill as “an intolerable crime”that will put a brake on inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation. The March 2-7 joint exercise will be the first to test Seoul's ability to wage war under a scenario in which S. Korea has regained wartime control of its troops from the U.S. But N. Korea insists the aim of the exercise it to “ignite a war against the North” when a chance presents itself. A U.S. Stryker platoon of armoured combat vehicles has already begaun conducting the first firing drills near the heavily fortified border.

CEBU CITY, The Philippines
A jilted young Filipino bride has sued her errant groom, who walked out on her in the middle of their wedding.The bride and groom were in the process of exchanging vows when a woman appeared at the back of the church and shouted her objection. The groom casually walked out of the church and took a cab with the unidentified woman, while the wedding guests watched the scene dumbfounded. The jilted bride has filed a complaint against her runaway groom before the city prosecutor's office seeking 550,000 pesos (nearly $15,000) in damages.

JAKARTA, Indonesia
At least 2.5 million abortions are performed annually in Indonesia, although the practice is illegal in the predominantly Muslim country, state-run media reported this week. More disconcerting are the number of non-medical abortions conducted, said Jurnalis Uddin, a professor who presented the numbers to government. In urban areas, 70 per cent of the cases were conducted in stealth by medical practitioners, while in rural areas 84 per cent of the cases were performed by shamans, Uddin said. Most of the women were under 29 and listed rape-induced pregnancy, detected genetic defects and socioeconomic conditions among the reasons given.