Hawaii fishermen have found a 16-foot Japanese skiff swept out to sea by last year’s tsunami and brought it to Honolulu.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources said the crew of the fishing boat Zephyr found the boat intact and floating north east of Maui.

The Japanese consulate in Honolulu said the boat is registered in Iwate, a north eastern prefecture hit by the tsunami.

N. Korean soldier defects

A North Korean soldier has killed two of his officers and defected to South Korea across their heavily armed border.

A South Korean Defence Ministry official said the defection took place around noon yesterday across the western section of the Demilitarised Zone.

Droppings will not delay case

It appears a mould and rat problem at Guantanamo will not delay planned legal proceedings in a terrorism case.

A US military judge has ordered the Government to ensure offices used by defence lawyers on the US base in Cuba are free of unhealthy mould and rat droppings.

If not, the Government must find suitable office space elsewhere.

Human rights activist dies

Serbia’s leading human rights and pro-democracy activist Vojin Dimitrijevic has died. He was 80.

His family said he died on Friday and the cause of his death was not specified.

Dimitrijevic was an expert on international law and in the 1990s founded the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, one of the most prominent rights groups in Serbia.