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[One-Minute World News] from [BBC NEWS]

[Asia-Pacific]
Page last updated at 04:37 GMT, Monday, 7 September 2009 05:37 UK
Flood prompts South Korea protest
South Korea has protested to North Korea after an apparent dam discharge from the North created a flash flood that swept away six people.

Rescuers are still searching for the victims after floodwater hit five campers and a fishermen on Sunday.

Seoul has demanded an explanation and called on its neighbour to give prior warning of any dam water releases.

The incident happened as cross-border ties were improving after more than a year of tensions.

"The government has expressed regret that a North Korean dam along the Imjin River released water yesterday without prior notice and caused big damage, including six of our citizens going missing," South Korea's unification ministry said.

Thousands of troops have been mobilised to search for the missing. Rescuers reportedly found the dead body of one of those missing.

Unintended consequences

Members of South Korea's ruling Grand National Party have demanded an apology for the discharge, describing it as "an unpardonable criminal act".

At this point, we still wouldn't quite call it a water assault

South Korean defence ministry spokesman
When North Korea first broke ground on a major dam in 1986, South Korea was preparing for its hosting of the 1988 Olympics and expressed fears that dam water could be released to deluge the South.

However, Seoul said on Monday that it did not view the latest incident as deliberately provocative.

"At this point, we still wouldn't quite call it a water assault," defence ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae told a briefing. "There has to be intention present for us to be able to do that."

North Korean dams have previously released water without prior announcement, damaging agriculture south of the border. Sunday's incident was the first to claim lives.

South Korea's unification ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said the South was requesting an explanation from the North and had "strongly urged" North Korea not to repeat similar incidents.

The North last month freed five South Korean detainees, eased border curbs, and sent envoys from Pyongyang for talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak.

Although the cause of the flood has not been confirmed, the BBC's John Sudworth says concerns have been raised in the past that North Korean dams could cause both droughts and floods in the South, depending on the time of year.


[Asia-Pacific]
Page last updated at 02:41 GMT, Monday, 7 September 2009 03:41 UK
Samoan cars ready to switch sides
Drivers in Samoa in the South Pacific are preparing to switch from driving on the right side of the road to the left after a rule change by the government.
By Nick Bryant

The move survived a late legal appeal by the protest group People Against Switching Sides (Pass), who have argued that it will cause chaos.

The government brought about the change to bring Samoa into line with other South Pacific nations.

It is the first country since the 1970s to bring about such a change.

The switchover is due to start at 0550 on Monday (1650GMT), when radio messages will broadcast telling drivers to stop and to prepare to overturn 100 years of motoring tradition.

At the top of the hour will follow a second instruction: to move from the right to the left side of the road.

Import driver

Critics of the plan claim it will bring mayhem to the highways and byways of this remote South Pacific nation.

{ Cars are going to crash, people are going to die - not to mention the huge expense to our country
Tole'afoa Solomona Toa'iloa
Samoa lawyer}

Bus drivers have also protested that their doors will now open on the wrong side, in the middle of the road.

But the Samoan government introduced the change to end its reliance on expensive, left-hand drive imports from America.

It hopes that Samoan expatriates in Australia and New Zealand will now ship used, more affordable vehicles back to their homeland.

To minimise the chaos, a two-day national holiday has been declared to keep cars off the road, and prayers have been said at the country's churches in the hope of blessing the changeover.


[Asia-Pacific]
Page last updated at 15:30 GMT, Sunday, 6 September 2009 16:30 UK
China warning to syringe stabbers
China has warned anyone found guilty of syringe attacks that led to protests in the western city of Urumqi could face the death penalty, state media reports.

Harsh punishment would be meted out to those who carried out stabbings with hypodermic needles, the Xinhua news agency said.

Twenty-five people have reportedly been held over the attacks in the capital of north-western Xinjiang region.

Chinese officials have blamed Uighur Muslim separatists for the incidents.

At least five people have died this week in ethnic unrest triggered by the stabbings, with thousands of angry Han Chinese staging daily mass protests.

Heavy security presence

The Xinhua report, citing a notice from the municipal court, said penalties for those who stabbed others with syringes containing poisonous or harmful substances would range from three years in jail to the death sentence.

Correspondents said Urumqi was calmer on Sunday, although the security presence was still heavy.

Riot police have withdrawn from positions around the city and state television showed local officials visiting residents and hearing grievances.

On Saturday, Urumqi Communist Party leader Li Zhi and Xinjiang provincial police chief Liu Yaohua were both sacked as Beijing sought to bring the crisis under control.

China's Public Security Minister, Meng Jianzhu, has said the syringe attacks were a continuation of unrest in July in which 200 people - mostly Han Chinese - were killed in ethnic riots.

Xinjiang's population is evenly split between Uighurs and Han Chinese - the country's majority ethnic group. But Hans make up three-quarters of Urumqi's population.