Singapore  - A Singapore mother faces a four-year jail term and a fine for having her 10-year-old son caned about 100 times during a marathon beating in 2007, the Straits Times reported Tuesday.

The woman, 39, had handed two rattan canes to her husband, the boy's stepfather, which he used to hit the boy on the buttocks, arms and back for two hours on September
15, 2007, in the family's apartment located in the northern Singapore public housing estate.

The boy was hospitalized for eight days after the lashing, a punishment for lying to his school teacher.

Taipei  - A Taiwan watch thief has been arrested after sending the stolen expensive watches to their owner to estimate their value, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

Tsai Chin-hsin, 37, broke into a house on December 28 in Hsinchu, west Taiwan, and made off with nine watches and some jewellery, the China Times reported.

Believing the watches might be quite expensive, he asked an associate identified by his surname, Chuang, to take the stolen timepieces to a watch shop in Hsinchu to be appraised.

- Pirates off the Nigerian coast have seized a French ship and taken its nine crew members hostage, the ship owners said Monday in Paris.

The ship, which conducted transport of materials and personnel for oil companies, was taken Sunday night, shipping company Bourbon said.

The crew includes five Nigerians, and men from Ghana, Cameroon and Indonesia. They were reportedly in good condition.

Nigeria is Africa's most important oil producer, with reserves estimated at 36 billion barrels.

Athens - Unknown attackers fired multiple shots at a police watch post in Athens early Monday morning, leaving one police officer wounded with life threatening injuries, local radio reported.

Melbourne, January 3: An Australian man, charged with possessing a prohibited drug, allegedly cocaine, and restricted substance, allegedly Viagra, told police that he had been en route to pick Paris Hilton and her `beau' Brandon Davis.

Mehmet Gulasi, who had been heading towards the city, had been asked to pull over the Range Rover, around four hours after the New Year.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the 39-year-old reportedly told police to be running on an urgent task, reports News. com. au.

The hotel-heiress Paris, who had arrived in Sydney on a publicity tour, was said to have been partying in the city's popular nightclubs, the Trademark Hotel and Piano Room in Kings Cross.

Melbourne, Jan 3: An Indian woman who allegedly set her sleeping husband's genitals alight in their Australian house has been formally charged with his murder.

Last month, Rajini Narayan was arrested after fire destroyed her family''s Unley home.

Her husband, Satish Narayan, suffered severe burns and died last Saturday.

It has been alleged that Narayan's wife doused his genitals with methylated spirit and then set him on fire about 5.30am on December 7, reports News.com.au.

It is believed a major blaze was sparked at the couple's Cleland Ave townhouse in Unley when Narayan jumped out of bed and knocked over the bottle of methylated spirit.