World news in brief

Sentencing date set for Hosni Mubarak

An Egyptian judge has set 2 June as the date for the verdict and sentencing in the trial of former president Hosni Mubarak.

Mubarak, 83, who ruled Egypt for 30 years, is accused of complicity in the killing of protesters during the 18-day uprising that pushed him from power in February last year. The prosecution is asking for the death penalty, usually carried out by hanging.

More than 800 people were killed during the uprising, many shot dead by security forces.

Judge Ahmed Rifat said sentencing will be live on TV. Most media have been barred from much of the seven-month trial.

‘Surgical castrations in Germany should stop’

Germany should stop the practice of surgically castrating sex offenders, the Council of Europe has said.

Under German law, serious sex offenders can volunteer for the operation as part of their treatment.

In a report out yesterday, the Strasbourg Council of Europe’s anti-torture committee said the procedure was rare, with fewer than five cases a year over the past decade, but surgical castration was mutilating and irreversible and there was no evidence it prevented men committing further sex crimes.

The German government said in an official response to the report that the practice was under review, but it believed there were medical grounds for continuing to offer the operation.

Malaysian ban for ‘obscene’ sex education book

Malaysia has banned a sex education book written by a British author nearly 40 years ago after complaints by Muslim activists that it is obscene.

The home ministry said that Where Did I Come From? contained “elements that undermine societal morals and public interests”.

EU blocks €500m funding for Hungary

European Union officials have approved the suspension of almost €500 million (£423m) in funds for Hungary next year, giving it until the start of 2013 to prove it can cut its budget gap below a 3 per cent limit after years of broken promises.

A last-ditch effort by Budapest failed to prevent the announcement yesterday.

Six dead in Afghan protests over Koran burning

Afghan president Hamid Karzai appealed for calm yesterday after officials said six people were shot dead and dozens hurt in protests over the apparently accidental burning of copies of the Koran, Islam’s holy book, at Bagram Air Base, Nato’s main base in the country.

Protests had flared for a second day in several cities.

Japanese mayor under fire for denying massacre

China has denounced a Japanese mayor for denying that Japanese troops inflicted a massacre on Nanjing in 1937.

The mayor of Nagoya, Takashi Kawamura, told visiting officials from Nanjing: “There regrettably were conventional battles in Nanjing, but there was no massacre.”

Political consequences in Australia

A CHANGE of leader will cause upheaval in Canberra, including Cabinet changes in posts such as treasurer and defence minister, but have little impact on policy direction, say analysts.

“If Rudd were to wrest the leadership, I think we’d be headed to a 2012 election,” political analyst Norman Abjorensen said. “A Rudd government would look very different from a Gillard government, and would be fairly short lived.”

Weeks of leadership speculation has also undermined Labour’s chances of holding on to resource-rich Queensland in a 24 March state election.