■UNITED STATES
Tehran confirms arrest
Iran has officially confirmed that it has arrested three Americans who hiked into its territory from Iraq, White House national security adviser Jim Jones said on Sunday. “The government has officially acknowledged they have them in their custody. That is of this morning that we have that confirmation,” retired general Jim Jones, the national security adviser, said on NBC television. The three — Shane Bauer, Sara Shourd and Joshua Fattal — were widely reported to have been arrested by Iranian authorities on July 31 after setting out from the Kurdish region.
■UNITED STATES
Man blames cat for porn
Florida investigators say a man accused of downloading child pornography is blaming his cat. Keith Griffin is charged with 10 counts of possession of child pornography after detectives found more than 1,000 images on his home computer. According to a sheriff’s report on Friday, Griffin told investigators that his cat jumped on the computer keyboard while he was downloading music. He said he had left the room and found “strange things” on his computer when he returned. Griffin is being held on US$250,000 bond in the Martin County jail. It is unclear if he has an attorney.
■CUBA
Castro dictionary out
Cubans accustomed to hours-long speeches, thousand-word essays and lengthy interviews can now get Fidel Castro at a glance, thanks to a new dictionary of El Comandante’s teachings. “Unemployment” and “History” are among the myriad words for which the 339-page paperback provides definitions — based on snippets of speeches, columns and statements dispensed by Castro during the 49 years he governed the communist-run island. The publication, which the government says is meant to provide guidance to Cuban thinkers, calls to mind the Little Red Book of the late Chinese leader, Mao Zedong (毛澤東). Unlike Mao’s book, however, the Cuban dictionary with the reddish-brown cover and the photo of an elderly Castro in suit and tie is not small enough to stuff into one’s back pocket.
■IRAQ
US troops felled by flu
Fifty-one US troops in Iraq have been diagnosed with and treated for swine flu, while another 71 soldiers remain in isolation suspected of contracting the potentially deadly virus, the US military said on Sunday. The figures were released as Iraqi health officials confirmed Sunday the country’s first swine flu death. A woman in the southern holy Shiite city of Najaf died of the disease, raising fears about a possible outbreak among worshippers making pilgrimages to the revered sites. All the 51 US troops diagnosed with the flu have fully recovered, while the 71 suspect cases are in isolation, said Colonel Michael Eisenhauer, the chief of clinical operations in Iraq.
RSS