World briefs 9/14/04

Mexicans plan worldwide sing-along of anthem

MEXICO CITY -- Warning: If a co-worker or stranger suddenly jumps up and starts singing Wednesday, don't be alarmed. They aren't crazy. They are just Mexicans participating in a worldwide call to song to celebrate 150 years of their national anthem. An ad campaign is calling on all Mexicans -- wherever they are -- to stop what they are doing at noon Wednesday, the eve of Mexico's Independence Day, and sing the rousing ode to war and country. While the campaign is primarily aimed at celebrating the anthem, it has another motive: uniting a country increasingly divided by everything from politics to crime.

Japan confirms new case of mad cow disease

TOKYO -- Japan has confirmed a new case of mad cow disease, the third discovery of the brain-wasting illness in the country this year, an official said Monday. The 5-year-old dairy cow tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, on Friday at a slaughterhouse in Shisui town, in southern Kumamoto prefecture (state) about 565 miles southwest of Tokyo, prefectural spokesman official Toshinori Takano said. More precise tests at a state-run infectious disease research institute confirmed the finding on Monday, Takano said. It was Japan's 12th case of mad cow.

Protester 'Batman' scales Buckingham Palace

LONDON -- Holy intruder! A protester dressed in a Batman costume scaled the front wall of Buckingham Palace on Monday and perched for more than five hours on a ledge near the balcony where the royal family appears on ceremonial occasions. The protester's success in climbing the wall in front of the queen's main residence prompted fresh questions about the much-criticized and recently overhauled royal security operation. Two police officers in a cherry-picker crane removed the protester, Jason Hatch, from the ledge at about 7:15 p.m., 5 1/2 hours after he climbed up.

Killer of eight children in Japan executed

TOKYO -- Japan on Tuesday executed a man convicted of killing eight children in a 2001 knife attack at a school in western Japan, NHK and Kyodo News reported. Mamoru Takuma was found guilty of barging into a crowded classroom and wildly slashing children in an attack that shocked Japan. The Justice Ministry, which is often secretive about the workings of the country's law enforcement, confirmed it executed two prisoners but refused to identify them. In Japan, names of executed criminals are not released, nor are executions announced beforehand.-- From wire reports

The government lifted a four-year moratorium on capital punishment in 1993. But until 1998, it refused to publicly acknowledge executions.

Seven girls and one boy, ages 6 to 8, were killed in the June 2001 knifing, and 13 other students and two teachers were wounded.

It was Japan's worst mass killing since a deadly nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subways in 1995 and was part of a series of fatal slashings in a country that has strict gun laws and has prided itself on a low crime rate.

News reports at the time of the killing said Takuma -- a man with a history of mental illness -- launched his killing spree just hours before he was to be interrogated about a fight last year in a hotel in Osaka, Japan's second-largest city.

Takuma was sentenced to death after the judges agreed he was able to tell right from wrong, even though psychiatrists reportedly testified he was fit to stand trial.

He showed little remorse for his act, reportedly telling the court he could have killed more children if he had attacked a kindergarten.

-- From wire reports