NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

WORLD/ EMPEROR PENGUIN TURNS UP ON NEW ZEALAND BEACH: A young emperor penguin evidently took a wrong turn from the Antarctic and ended up stranded on a New Zealand beach, the 1st time in 44 years the aquatic bird has been sighted in the south Pacific country. A local resident was taking her dog for a walk on Peka Peka beach on the North Island's western coast when she discovered the bird. "It was out of this world to see it, like someone just dropped it from the sky," she said. Conservation experts say the penguin is about 10 months old and stands about 32 inches high. Emperor penguins are the tallest and largest species of penguin and can grow up to122cm high and weigh more than 75lbs. A curator at Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand, said the bird was likely to have been born during the last Antarctic winter. It may have been searching for squid and krill when it took a wrong turn. He said emperor penguins can spend months at a time in the ocean, coming ashore only to molt or rest, but did not know what might have caused this particular one to become disoriented. Miskelly said the penguin appeared healthy and well fed, with plenty of body fat, and probably came ashore for a rest. However, he said the penguin would need to find its way back south soon if it were to survive. Despite the onset of the New Zealand winter, the bird was probably hot and thirsty, he said, and it had been eating wet sand. "It doesn't realise that the sand isn't going to melt inside it," the curator said. "They typically eat snow, because it's their only liquid". A program manager for New Zealand's department of conservation said officials are asking people to stand back from the peguin and to avoid letting dogs near it. Other than that, he said, officials plan to let nature take its course. Simpson said the bird could live several weeks before needing another meal. The last confirmed sighting of a wild emperor in New Zealand was in 1967 at the southern Oreti beach.

WORLD/ 5.3 QUAKE JOLTS CHRISTCHURCH: A 5.3 magnitude earthquake rocked the region around Christchurch, New Zealand, at 10:34pm this evening, local time. The region was rocked by a further 10 aftershocks overnight, with the biggest being a magnitude 4.4 shortly before 3:30am, Wednesday. The main jolt was felt widely across Canterbury although there were no reports of significant damage or injuries. It was first thought to be centred 10km west of Akaroa, but scientists later said it was centered about 4 miles SW of  Christchurch and at a depth of about 4.5 miles. The quake was the strongest since magnitude 5.7 and 6.3 shocks hit Christchurch last Monday. While Christchurch Airport was carrying out runway checks following the 5.3 quake, 4 flights were diverted to Auckland. 2 inbound trans-Tasman Air New Zealand flights, NZ888 from Sydney and NZ804 from Brisbane, were diverted to Auckland. 2 other flights, Pacific Blue's DJ82 from Brisbane and Jetstar's JQ191 from Gold Coast, were diverted to Auckland but had planned to return to Christchurch, once the Airport gave the all clear.

WORLD/ LESBIAN WEDDING HELD IN NEPAL: A lawyer and a college professor, both from the US, have celebrated Nepal's 1st public lesbian wedding ceremony. The nuptials were performed on Monday near the capital, Kathmandu. Same-sex marriages are not legal in Nepal, but the country is drafting laws to guarantee sexual rights. The couple from Denver, Colorado, celebrated in a Hindu Nepalese tradition at the Dakshinkali temple. Local gay rights activists and supporters attended the ceremony, carried out by a Hindu priest, as did close friends and member of parliament Sunilbabu Pant, a gay rights activist. In a media interview, he said that it was the 1st public wedding ceremony of a lesbian couple in the mostly conservative nation. Same-sex marriages are not officially legal in Nepal, even though the supreme court has ordered the government to legally guarantee sexual rights and end discrimination. The laws are still being drafted, but political differences have delayed their passage into law. Pant said while Monday's wedding did not hold any legal status, "it was a huge achievement for gay rights campaign in Nepal". His Blue Diamond Society has been fighting for gay rights for several years, and recently opened a travel agency hoping to attract foreign gay couples to come to Nepal for weddings and honeymoons. The couple said they were happy to be married in Nepal and to contribute to the campaign for gay rights in the country.