Injured teacher

    ZHANG LILI, a 29-year-old teacher who lost both legs after shielding students from an out-of-control bus last week, has regained consciousness and can communicate with medical staff with her eyes, doctors said Wednesday.

    Despite the improvements, Zhang, a teacher at Jiamusi No. 19 Middle School in northeastern Heilongjiang Province, remained in critical condition late last week. Complications could still prove life-threatening, doctors said at a news conference held by medical experts from Heilongjiang and the Ministry of Health.

    Drug traffickers

    A MALAYSIAN court Thursday sentenced to death three Mexican brothers and two others for drug trafficking, rejecting the defense’s argument of evidence tampering.

    The Mexicans were arrested at a secluded drug-making factory in 2008 and claimed they had been cleaning the place, not making drugs. Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Mohamad Zawawi Salleh convicted them, ruling that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt. The death sentence is the mandatory penalty for drug trafficking in Malaysia.

    Caretaker PM

    A SENIOR judge has been sworn in to head Greece’s caretaker government for a month as the debt-crippled country lurches through a political crisis that threatens its membership in the 17-nation eurozone.

    Council of State head Panagiotis Pikramenos, 67, was appointed Wednesday to head a government that will lack the mandate to make any binding commitments until a new election, which is expected June 17. His 16-strong Cabinet will be sworn in Thursday.