World Briefs

Less than a month after China put into effect a new law supposed to boost government transparency, most Chinese want to know one thing - how much officials get paid.

China passed regulations last year demanding the government disclose information about issues affecting the public interest in a bid to combat rampant corruption and discourage cover-ups enabled by often secretive decision-making processes.

But money appears to be on the top of many people's minds, the China Youth Daily said, citing to a survey it jointly conducted with popular web portal sina.com. "About 77.5 per cent of people chose 'assets of government officials' as the information they most wanted to know about," the newspaper said.

Land seizures, house demolitions and how the government reacts to "sudden public incidents" were also high on the list of information citizens wanted to know, the report added.

Survivor poked shark in the eye

An Australian swimmer who survived a great white shark attack poked the creature in the eyes as it dragged him through the water after badly savaging his left leg.

Jason Cull was swimming off a beach on Australia's southwest coast on Sunday when the four metre shark attacked.

"Initially I thought it was a dolphin," Mr Cull told The Australian newspaper yesterday. "I just remember being dragged along backwards. I was trying to feel its gills but I found its eye and I stuck my finger in and that's when it let go."

The shark tore two chunks from Mr Cull's left leg, ripping off half his calf and leaving him with deep lacerations to his knee and thigh. A local surf lifesaver heard Mr Cull, 37, screaming and raced into the surf to rescue him.

Chavez hits out at Merkel

The German government yesterday brushed off a verbal attack from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in which the leftist leader said Chancellor Angela Merkel was a political descendant of Adolf Hitler and German fascism.

Mrs Merkel sets off for her first trip to Latin America today, part of which she will spend at a summit of heads of state from Europe and Latin America in Peru.

German government spokesman Thomas Steg said Ms Merkel was looking forward to the meeting in Peru and to bilateral talks there despite Mr Chavez's comments on Sunday.

The Venezuelan President condemned her for urging Latin American leaders to distance themselves from him and he demonstrably just stopped short of telling her to go to hell.

Cashing in on torch euphoria

Missing the patriotic frenzy that has so far accompanied the Olympic torch relay on its China leg? The southern city of Guangzhou may have the answer − a one-day tour along its route to relive the moment.

Travel agents in the capital of the booming province of Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong, could start offering that service soon, the official China Tourism News said yesterday. "Retracing the torch relay not only would let tourists ponder anew its ardent atmosphere, it would also guide them through the city," the newspaper said.

"The nine-hour route took in almost all of Guangzhou's famous landmarks," it added. "It was like a silver thread shuttling its way through the ancient city and would be perfect for a one-day tour of Guangzhou."

King facing imminent ouster

Nepal's King Gyanendra, facing imminent ouster from the throne, made perhaps his last royal public appearance at a shrine outside Kathmandu yesterday and offered annual prayers to Kali, the Hindu goddess of power. The 60-year-old king was accompanied by Queen Komal to the temple of Dakshinkali perched by the side of a stream in a jungle-clad ravine 25 kilometres south of Kathmandu.

King Gyanendra, facing the abolition of the 239-year-old monarchy after the Maoists emerged as the biggest party in assembly elections in April, offered prayers to the "family deity".

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, called the constituent assembly to begin its session on May 28, signalling an early end to the monarchy. Under an agreement between the Maoists and the government, the first meeting of the assembly is supposed to declare an end to the monarchy and turn Nepal into a republic.

Earlier at the shrine, the king sat crossed-legged in front of the deity and offered prayers as five animals - a buffalo, a goat, a lamb, a duck and a rooster - were sacrificed to goddess Kali, a common practice among Hindus, to please the deity.

Latin resurrected on Vatican website

The Catholic Church's official language of Latin has finally made it onto the Vatican website alongside Italian, English, French, Spanish, German and Portuguese.

While it lost the title of a living language centuries ago, the new Latin section on www.vatican.va is entitled Sancta Sedes (Holy See) and archives Biblical texts and other core documents including the catechism. It also highlights the writings of individual popes from the 10th century John XIII to the present-day Benedict XVI.

The Vatican will not, however, translate its media releases into Latin, after a June 2007 incident when a new decree concerning the election of future popes − handed out only in Latin − caused confusion among journalists.