■KAZAKHSTAN
Ex-boss blamed for thefts
The recently imprisoned former head of the state nuclear power agency stole the majority of the nation’s uranium deposits, security officials alleged on Monday. Former Kazatomprom head Mukhtar Dzhakishev and other company officials illegally shifted ownership of uranium mines worth tens of billions of dollars through a network of offshore companies, the KNB security service said. “Our information confirms the illegal tranfer of more than 60 percent of the state’s uranium deposits into the property of Dzhakishev and the companies he owned,” a KNB spokesman said. Authorities did not explain how Dzhakishev managed to steal more than half of the country’s uranium deposits out from under the government’s nose. All uranium deals in Kazakhstan are heavily monitored and audited by the state.
■CHINA
Dogs killed in rabies scare
Authorities in Shaanxi Province killed more than 20,000 dogs to quell a rabies outbreak, a local official and state media said yesterday. Eight people have died from rabies since March in Hanzhong, with another two suspected cases in the hospital, Xinhua news agency reported. Rabies has spread to 11 counties, and more than 5,000 people have been bitten or scratched by dogs since March, the head of the Hanzhong agricultural bureau was quoted as saying. It was not clear if all the dogs were rabid. Xinhua said government teams under the direction of the police killed dogs in areas of the outbreak, including wild dogs and dogs in public spaces.
■CHINA
Restaurant defends dish
A restaurant in Foshan, Guangdong Province, yesterday defended a controversial practice of killing chickens with snakebites, saying the resulting dish was healthy and kept the customers flooding in. The reaction came after claims of animal cruelty spread on the Internet in relation to the specialty, known as “Snake-bitten Chicken” and popular in the province and in Chongqing. “We’ve been offering the dish for many years and our customers keep coming back,” said a staff member at Shunde Renjia Restaurant. “This is our most successful dish.” She said that after heating, the snake toxin turns into an enzyme that can help keep the human body warm and clear blood vessels. The online criticism, which follows newspaper reports last week, has been extremely harsh, with some blasting people who eat and prepare it as “barbarians.” The Chongqing Business Daily reported last week that city authorities are investigating the practice and will order restaurants to stop serving the dish, but no timetable was given.
■FINLAND
Rwandan man charged
A prosecutor has charged a Rwandan man with genocide and murder in his home country in 1994, officials said on Monday. State Prosecutor Raija Toiviainen said the case against Francois Bazaramba, who lives in Finland, will begin later this year. If found guilty, Bazaramba will face life in prison. He has denied the charges. “It’s obvious, according to the pretrial investigation, that the man has committed a crime of genocide in the municipality of Nyakizu in April and May 1994 with intent to destroy the Rwandan Tutsis partly or totally,” Toiviainen said. Bazaramba, 58, has lived in Finland since 2003. He has been held in police custody since April 2007 on a court order. In February, Helsinki declined a request by Rwanda to extradite him, saying he might not receive a fair trial in his home country.
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