An Indonesian man dubbed the "tree man" because of the gnarled warts all over his body said on Friday his condition had worsened again, although he still hoped to recover and find a job.
Dede, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, returned home from hospital in August after six kilograms of warts were surgically removed from his body. He has been treated as an out-patient since.
"Those (warts) that were removed are growing again and started to reappear after I returned home," Dede told Reuters, adding that for a time he could go fishing and use a cell phone but now needed assist-ance again for such activities.
An American doctor has previously said the warts were the result of severe Human Pappiloma Virus (HPV) infection, but the disease is not life-threatening. Doctors say his case is thought to be the worst of its type in the world.
Jailed politicians can contest
About two dozen senior Bangladesh politicians in jail for corruption will be allowed to contest the country's elections on December 29, election officials said yesterday.
The commission ordered the reprinting of over four million ballot papers following the decision by the Supreme Court to accommodate the candidates, including former ministers in the governments of both Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina.
More than 150 senior political figures have been detained or jailed on corruption charges in the last two years by special courts operating under emergency rule.
But many were released on bail or had their sentences quashed in the run-up to the elections, as the interim government sought to appease participating parties.
Pilot 'unqualified' to land plane
A British passenger plane was forced to turn back minutes before landing in Paris because the pilot of 30 years' experience was not qualified to land in fog, Flybe airline confirmed yesterday.
Speaking over the address system as the flight approached Charles de Gaulle airport, the pilot announced to startled passengers "I am not qualified to land the plane" and turned back to Cardiff.
The low-cost airline said the pilot was "an experienced aviator with more than 30 years of commercial aviation experience flying a number of different passenger aircraft types".
The pilot had relatively recently transferred his "type-rating" from a Bombardier Q300 to a Bombardier Q400 and has not yet completed the requisite low-visibility training.
"The captain therefore quite correctly turned the aircraft around and returned to Cardiff, a decision which the company stands by 100 per cent," a Flybe spokesman said.
Doctor cannot be forced from UK
London's High Court ruled yesterday that a doctor who says she was forced into a marriage in Bangladesh cannot be removed from Britain without her consent.
Humayra Abedin, 32, who lives in east London, said she was tricked into returning to Bangladesh after hearing her mother had fallen ill. She was then held captive by her family who had chosen a man for her to marry against her will.
Last week, the High Court in Bangladesh ordered that the trainee doctor should be freed, allowing her to return to Britain.
"I shall grant further orders to protect Dr Abedin and prevent her being removed from this country again without her consent," High Court judge Justice Coleridge said.
Drugs smuggled on inaugural flight
About 30 kilos of smuggled party drug ketamine arrived on one of the first direct cargo flights between political rivals China and Taiwan following six decades of hostile relations, a Customs official said.
Airport Customs agents in Taipei found the popular powdered hallucinatory drug on Thursday packed in eight boxes on a Chinese cargo plane, Customs officials said.
"Our expectation was that direct cargo links could possibly lead to drug smuggling," said Lin Shu-chi, deputy Taipei Customs Office head.
The ketamine was worth T$930,000 (€19,460), Mr Lin said.
Martian water suitable for life
Mineral evidence of a water environment capable of supporting life has been discovered on Mars, scientists said. Deposits of carbonate, formed in neutral or alkaline water, were spotted by Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the scientists told a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
Carbonate is formed when water and carbon dioxide mix with calcium, iron or magnesium. Its discovery counters the theory that all water on Mars was at one time acidic.