WORLD briefs

PM Abhisit Vejjajiva

LIMA. Peruvian police expecting to find a shipment of cocaine hidden in a crate holding two live turkeys were surprised to discover the drug surgically implanted inside the birds. Acting on a tip, officers stopped a Turismo Ejecutivo SRL bus outside the city of Tarapoto in the state of San Martin, officials said Monday. A veterinarian extracted 11 oval-shaped plastic capsules containing 4.2 pounds of cocaine from one turkey and 17 capsules with 6.4 pounds from the other.

GOHEUNG. South Korea launched its first rocket Tuesday, just months after rival North Korea's launch drew international anger, but space officials said the satellite it carried failed to enter its intended orbit. The two-stage Naro rocket — delayed several times since July due to technical glitches — lifted off Tuesday from South Korea's space center on Oenaro Island, about 465 kilometers south of Seoul, about 5 p.m. The rocket was built with Russian help

MARSEILLE. A French security guard said Tuesday he had received a faceful of glass when the screen of his iPhone exploded, the second such reported incident in France. France's official competition, consumer affairs and fraud watchdog, the DGCCRF, said Tuesday it had opened an investigation after a French teenager suffered an eye injury in a similar iPhone incident earlier this month.

BANGKOK. Thailand's government passed a security law Tuesday that clears the way for the military to be brought in to control a planned rally by supporters of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), plan to demonstrate Sunday outside Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's office, calling for his resignation. Abhisit said he imposed the temporary law, which takes effect from August 29 to September 1, after receiving intelligence that trouble-makers may incite violence.

LOS ANGELES. A US jury has ordered tobacco giant Philip Morris to pay $13.8 m to the daughter of a lifelong smoker who died of lung disease. The jury in Los Angeles decided in favour of Jodie Bullock, whose mother Betty died of lung cancer in 2003 aged 64. She had smoked for 47 years. Betty Bullock had sued Philip Morris in April 2001 on the grounds of fraud and product liability.

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