NEW DELHI - Indian police arrested about 100 students Wednesday as they tried to stage a protest outside the Chinese Embassy against Beijing's claim to Indian-held territory and the reported construction of a dam across a river that flows into India from Tibet.

The detained students belonging to Arunachal Pradesh Students Union also tried to cause damage to vehicles as they were being taken into custody, the Press Trust of India reported, quoting police sources.

---------- Japanese held for drug smuggling in Malaysia claims she was duped

SEPANG, Malaysia - A Japanese woman facing the death sentence for trafficking drugs into Malaysia claims she was duped by a Middle Eastern man into delivering what she thought were "books" to the country, an investigating officer said Wednesday.

Mariko Takeuchi, a 35-year-old former nurse, was arrested last Friday at Kuala Lumpur International Airport upon arrival from Dubai.

---------- Thai premier hails Japan's efforts to promote Mekong development

BANGKOK - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Wednesday welcomed Japan's enhanced efforts to promote development in Mekong subregion as a path toward greater integration of East Asia in the medium-term future.

Abhisit, in a joint interview with Kyodo News and other media, also welcomed active involvement of China in the subregion, which comprises Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, as well as recent signs of "eagerness" of the United States to engage in development of the subregion.

---------- More students falling victim to dodgy vocational course canvassers

TOKYO - University and college students are increasingly falling victim to language and other vocational schools that are cashing in on their employment fears amid the economic slump, the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan said Wednesday.

Such schools pressure students into taking courses by touting they are useful for job-hunting and by claiming that the students would be unable to find work otherwise, the center said.

---------- Gov't says plan to appoint ex-official does not amount to 'amakudari'

TOKYO - Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano on Wednesday denied that tapping a former top health ministry bureaucrat to become one of the three National Personnel Authority commissioners would go against the government's policy of ending the long-running "amakudari" practice.

The top government spokesman made the remarks after the government presented to the Diet earlier in the day its plan to appoint former vice health minister Takeshi Erikawa, who also served as Cabinet Office vice minister, to the post, which drew criticism from opposition parties.