BEIJING: A 2.55-metre Chinese man who is among the world’s tallest living people has been hospitalised for a hip replacement, reports said yesterday. Wang Fengjun has been measured as 29 centimetres taller than China’s towering former NBA basketball player Yao Ming. Wang’s hands are 30 centimetres long and he wears specially made size-75 shoes. Chinese media widely describe him as Asia’s tallest man. Wang, 37, from the province of Henan, developed gigantism due to a tumour on his pituitary gland. He has been suffering from osteonecrosis of the hips and was offered free treatment by a Henan hospital. China’s Yao Defen was the world’s tallest woman at 2.34 metres when she died last year, aged 40.
Buddhists jailed for murders
YANGON: Myanmar has sentenced two Buddhist men to seven years in prison for murders during religious violence in March that left dozens of people dead, officials said yesterday. They were convicted after separate trials at the district court in Meiktila for their part in rioting in the town, which targeted Muslims and sparked religious unrest across the country. One man, 24, was sentenced on June 28, becoming the first Buddhist known to be sentenced for a serious offence over the rioting, which left 44 people dead. The second, 21, was handed an additional one year with hard labour for his part in the killings.
‘Godfather of Heroin’ dies
YANGON: A crony of Myanmar’s former junta, dubbed by the US the “Godfather of Heroin” after decades as a global trafficker, has died, aged 80, his family said yesterday. Lo Hsing Han, a major trafficker since the 1970s, avoided a death sentence in his early drug career. Along with his business partner and son Steven Law, he was targeted by the US with sanctions from 2008.
Myanmar frees child soldiers
YANGON: Myanmar has discharged 42 children and young people from its armed forces, UN agencies said yesterday, urging more efforts to free child soldiers as the country emerges from military rule. The former junta-run nation, vilified for rights abuses committed by its “tadmadaw” military, has decreased, but not yet stopped the recruitment of children to the armed forces, the UN said.
American killed over taxi fare
BANGKOK: A 51-year-old American working at the US Caterpillar plant in Bangkok was hacked to death by a machete-wielding taxi driver in a dispute over a $1.60 fare, police said. Troy Lee Pilkington was cut with a 12-inch machete on Saturday night. The driver, Chidchai Utmacha, 32, confessed and faces charges of murder and carrying a weapon in public without reasonable cause.
Leader to end self-exile
PHNOM PEHN: Cambodia’s charismatic self-exiled opposition leader has vowed to return ahead of this month’s general election to challenge the 28-year rule of Prime Minister Hun Sen. The government said yesterday that Sam Rainsy is welcome home but could face arrest. Rainsy is barred from running for office. Agencies
