SEOUL, South Korea

Korea’s communist leader Kim Jong-il has promoted his youngest son to a key post, in a possible sign of grooming him as a successor, South Korean media reports said. The secretive family dynasty has ruled the nuclear-armed north of the peninsula since 1948, and there is increasing speculation about the health of the 67-year old leader. South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that son Kim Jong-un has been appointed to a junior position on the National Defence Commission.

BANGKOK, Thailand

Thai police have arrested a suspected thief who left his toes at the scene of the crime, media reports said. Atthapol Maenkrathok, 42, was arrested at a hospital in Uttaradit province where he was being treated for a severed foot. Atthapol told police he had snagged his foot under the wheels while jumping off the train in Uttaradit. Police tracked him to the nearby hospital after finding his telltale toes.

TOKYO, Japan

Hong Kong pop star Jill Vidal was given a suspended two-year jail sentence in Japan for heroin possession. About 100 reporters and photographers were at Hong Kong International Airport to see Vidal, 26, also known as Wei Si, arrive home after two months in custody. Vidal pleaded guilty to possession of heroin. She was arrested with fellow Hong Kong pop star Kelvin Kwan, who was later released without being charged.

SINGAPORE

A Singapore court has sentenced a serial molester who sexually assaulted girls as young as nine to 32 years in jail. Huang Shiyou, 22, was also ordered to be caned the maximum 24 strokes, after he pleaded guilty, the online edition of Straits Times newspaper reported. Between April 2007 and July 2008, the full-time national serviceman trailed girls into lifts, threatened them with a knife and then forced them to secluded spots where he assaulted them.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia

Officers from Malaysia’s Wildlife Department seized more than 800 turtles and 160 protected snakes that were being smuggled into Thailand, news reports said. Customs officers near the Thai border found the reptiles on a truck under 2.3 tons of garlic, meant to mask their smell. Among the animals found were king cobras and 814 turtles, the Star daily reported.

NEW DELHI, India

Indian-born businessmen Shandip and Ketan Shah are scoring it big in Britain with a new vegetarian condom that has proved to be a runaway success with health stores. The brothers’ Fusion condoms are manufactured without any milk-based casein and have now been officially registered with Britain’s Vegan Society. All new Fusion condoms packets will carry the official vegan logo - a move that the Shahs hope will persuade more British youngsters to use condoms.

HANOI, Vietnam

A Vietnamese woman has died from bird flu, a doctor said last weekend, making her the country’s fourth victim of the disease in 2009. Communist Vietnam has the world’s second-highest bird flu death toll after Indonesia, with 56 deaths. Vietnam’s agriculture ministry has said the risks associated with avian flu are “significant,” and that the public “generally does nothing to protect itself.”

YANGON, Myanmar

Two members of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party were arrested and charged with insulting religion after they prayed for the release of political prisoners. Both took part in a prayer service for political prisoners, held at a pagoda in the township, about 32 kilometres south of Yangon. Myanmar’s military, which has held power since 1962, tolerates no dissent. The current junta came to power in 1988 after crushing a nationwide pro-democracy uprising.

HONG KONG

One of Hong Kong’s skyscrapers has declined to host a Dutch charity exhibition of clogs because of worries the clunky footwear will bring bad luck. The Cheung Kong Centre refused to host the show, organized by the Dutch consulate, because of feng shui, a diplomat told the Sunday Morning Post. The tower’s management said the show would cause bad luck, because the Cantonese word for shoes — hai — sounds similar to a sigh of exasperation.

SHANGHAI, China

A major Chinese meat processor has recalled 100 boxes of luncheon meat containing a banned chemical, Chinese media reported. China Yurun Food Group destroyed the products, made of unspecified minced meat from a Chinese slaughterhouse. The meat was contaminated with clenbuterol. Farmers in China have been known to feed pigs clenbuterol to reduce their fat, but it is banned as a food additive because it can be fatal to humans.