MALE - A Maldives court has sentenced a 15-year-old alleged rape victim to 100 lashes and eight months under house arrest after she admitted having had premarital sex in a separate incident. During a police investigation into allegations that the girl had been raped by her stepfather, investigators uncovered evidence that she had had consensual sex with another man. The child's stepfather faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. AFP
HAGATNA - A Guam man who killed three Japanese tourists and injured 11 in a frenzied knife attack pleaded not guilty yesterday to murder on the grounds of mental illness. Chad Ryan Desoto, 21, was arrested on February 12 in the Pacific holiday destination. He attacked the tourists with 30-centimere knives in each hand after ploughing his car into them. AFP
BANGKOK - Thai police vowed to investigate possible links between the murder of a village headman and his work to expose toxic-waste dumping, as rights groups called for the killers to be brought to justice. Prajob Nao-opas was gunned down by unknown assailants in broad daylight in Chachoengsao province, east of Bangkok. He had led a campaign to expose illegal waste dumping from nearby industrial estates. AFP