World Briefs

Taiwan began a process of legalising prostitution yesterday making the island the latest place in the world to decriminalise the world's oldest profession.

In six months, authorities will stop punishing Taiwan sex workers after prostitutes successfully campaigned to be given the same protection as their clients, a government spokesman said.

"Now the client gets off free, but the prostitute gets punished, and that's not fair," spokesman Su Jun-pin said.

Taiwan's Cabinet will issue regulations within six months, covering locations in Taiwan approved for prostitution. Local religious groups, however, have opposed the move.

Taiwan outlawed prostitution 11 years ago, but older sections of the capital Taipei still teem with underground sex workers in bars and night clubs on the upper floors of high-rise buildings.

The Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters, a Taipei-based advocacy group, estimates that 600,000 people are involved in sex-related jobs.New Zealand allowed brothels to operate freely in 2003, when Parliament narrowly voted to overturn 100-year-old sex laws. A court in Bangladesh decriminalised the trade in 2000, but for women only.

Kids' 'toy' sparks radiation alert

A toy nuclear power plant built by two six year-olds sparked a public alert in Germany, only for authorities to discover the would-be security threat was the shell of a computer with a radiation warning sign stuck to it.

Fire services and police cordoned off several streets and told residents to stay indoors in Oelde after the two boys left their mock power station on the street when they went home for dinner on Monday evening.

"It wasn't a prank, they were just playing," a local police spokesman said. "The boys tried to go back later to carry on but the fire brigade wouldn't let them through."

The lock-down of the area began when a passer-by saw the metal object with the yellow and black symbol on it, took fright and alerted authorities. Police sent out warnings on local radio for residents to remain in their homes while a radiation detector was rushed to the scene to investigate the old computer casing and the warning sign, which the boys had printed out from the internet.

The monkey and the President

A monkey urinated on Zambian President Rupiah Banda as he spoke to journalists at a news conference yesterday.

Mr Banda softly shouted: "You (monkey) have urinated on my jacket," and paused as he looked up to see the animal playing in a tree just above his chair.

"Perhaps these are blessings," he said continuing his address amid laughter from the audience of journalists and diplomats at the State House presidential offices.

Several monkeys play around the grounds of Mr Banda's residence and his office.

Star-faced teen lied about tattoo

The Belgian teenager who made headlines across the globe after claiming a tattoo artist had drawn 56 stars on her face, rather than the three she asked for, has admitted she lied.

Kimberley Vlaeminck from Kortrijk, northwest of Brussels said she fell asleep during the procedure, and woke up in pain when her nose was being tattooed.

But the 18-year-old was caught off camera on Dutch TV when she said she quite liked the tattoo, but lied about asking for all 56 stars when she saw her father's furious reaction.

Tattoo artist Rouslain Toumaniantz said Ms Vlaeminck initially liked her new look, and that she got what she asked for.

Russian communists turn to Stalin

Russian communists have put up giant billboards of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in a southern city, promoting his tough methods as the best remedy for the world economic crisis.

Stalin killed millions of people during his 30 year rule until his death in 1953, but many in recession-hit Russia have grown nostalgic for his strong leadership, and he was voted the third most popular historical figure in a nationwide poll.

"Everybody knows that under Stalin our country achieved the highest rate of economic growth and development in other spheres, and the great victory (over Nazi Germany)," Sergei Rudakov, a senior Communist party official in the town of Voronezh, said.

Local communists paid an advertising agency 80,000 roubles ($2,534) to plaster Stalin's image for one month on 10 huge billboards around the city of Voronezh.