■VENEZUELA
Thirty radio stations closed
The government moved ahead yesterday with efforts to “democratize” the country’s airwaves by closing nearly 30 more radio stations, a month after 34 media outlets were shuttered for “abusing” free speech. “There are 29 stations that have already had their records reviewed ... In the coming days they will be notified,” said Monday Diosdado Cabello, the director of government broadcasting watchdog Conatel. Alonso Moleiro, vice president of Venezuela’s National Association of Journalists, said the move came as no surprise. “But one should not underestimate the capacity of people for outrage,” he said.
■LEBANON
Opposition rejects Cabinet
Opposition groups formally informed President Michel Suleiman yesterday that they rejected prime minister-designate Saad al-Hariri’s government, raising the possibility that Hariri will step aside. The “March 8” opposition alliance, which includes Syria- and Iran-backed Hezbollah, said they were rejecting the line-up because they had not been consulted beforehand. “We do not consider what happened to be appropriate, either with our democratic values or in how to deal with us. We were demanding from [Hariri] to present a draft that is acceptable to our demands in order to negotiate over it,” said Gibran Bassil, a Christian opposition politician. Hariri has been unable to reach a deal with the opposition on the government since he was appointed prime minister in June.
■UNITED STATES
Woman falls after proposal
A man who proposed to his girlfriend during a hiking trip along the Billy Goat Trail in Potomac, Maryland, may have been a bit too successful at sweeping her off her feet. Rescue officials say that soon after the woman accepted the proposal during an outing along the rugged trail, she fell about 3m down a rock face and had to be rescued by helicopter. She briefly lost consciousness, but her injuries weren’t life-threatening. Authorities did not identify the woman or her fiance.
■CHILE
Landslides kill two
Landslides have swept through a popular ski area, killing two people and stranding hundreds of foreign tourists. Police say the slides blocked portions of the 50km highway between Santiago and the Farellones ski center to the northeast. The first slide on Sunday buried homes and cars and swept a woman into a river, killing her. Authorities say her one-year-old daughter is missing. A second slide on Monday swept away buildings at a mining company, killing a guard and injuring eight people. Officials say 1,300 tourists were stranded until the highway could be cleared on Monday afternoon. They blame the slides on recent heavy rains.
■UNITED STATES
City buys Oswald rifle house
A Dallas suburb has agreed to pay US$175,000 for the house where Lee Harvey Oswald stored the rifle used to assassinate president John F. Kennedy in 1963. The Dallas Morning News reported on Monday that the sum the Irving City Council agreed to pay was above the US$84,000 appraised value. Mayor Herbert Gears told the newspaper it was worth it because the house was a piece of history. The city has not yet decided what to do with the house. It once belonged to Ruth Paine, who hosted Oswald’s estranged wife, Marina. Oswald stored a gun in Paine’s garage and picked it up the night before the assassination.
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