■MONGOLIA
PM asks to resign
Prime Minister Bayar Sanjaa said on Friday he wanted to resign for health reasons, bringing new political uncertainty to the nation. Bayar Sanjaa’s request to step down must be approved by the parliament speaker, said Khurelsukh Ukhaa of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party. The party leadership plans to meet tomorrow to discuss how to respond. Bayar Sanjaa has previously sought treatment abroad for liver problems because a hepatitis C infection and was hospitalized again last week.
■MARSHALL ISLANDS
Zedkaia wins election
Traditional chief Jurelang Zedkaia was elected president by a slender 17-15 margin yesterday, replacing Litokwa Tomeing, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote last week. Zedkaia, the parliamentary speaker in the Tomeing government, was elected in a swift ballot of legislators that took less than 15 minutes to end days of tense lobbying. He defeated the only other nominee, former president Kessai Note, 17-15, government officials said.
■CHINA
Skull-seller jailed
A Chinese-American academic has been sentenced to eight years in prison for selling unearthed human skulls to buyers abroad, state media reported yesterday. The 44-year-old US national, identified only by his surname Ding, was sentenced on Sept. 21 for “illegal business practices,” the Beijing Times reported. His arrest came after the FBI tipped off Chinese police last year, informing authorities that Ding was sending the skulls to the US via express mail. The academic, who worked in Beijing as a consultant, was arrested in May last year trying to ship 20 skulls to the US. Police found an additional 1,100 skulls at his home in the capital, it said. According to the court, Ding sent around 200 of the skulls abroad, earning a total of US$19,000 after purchasing the heads for less than US$23 each.
■AUSTRALIA
Police hunt ‘vampire killer’
Police have posted a A$1 million (US$927,000) reward for a man suspected to have ordered the killing of a self-proclaimed vampire. Police in the southeastern state of Victoria said yesterday they had offered the bounty to help find Mark Adrian Perry, who is wanted in relation to the 2003 murder of male prostitute Shane Chartres-Abbott. At the time of his death, Chartres-Abbott was on trial for allegedly raping a client and biting off part of her tongue. He also allegedly told the woman, a former girlfriend of Perry’s, that he was a centuries-old vampire who drank blood to survive. Police Deputy Commissioner Ken Jones said that Perry, who is believed to have traveled abroad after learning he was wanted for questioning in relation to the murder, could be living anywhere in Australia. Chartres-Abbott was gunned down in broad daylight in front of his father and pregnant girlfriend in suburban Melbourne.
■JAPAN
Lupit to graze east coast
Tropical Storm Lupit approached the country’s southern islands yesterday and was forecast to churn along the country’s east coast, brushing Tokyo today, the weather agency said. The storm last week headed toward the main Philippine island of Luzon but made a sharp turn north, to the relief of the country still dealing with the devastation of two deadly storms. The storm was yesterday moving northeast at a speed of 35kph, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
■CANADA
Libya snubs Canadians
Libya has stopped issuing visas to Canadian citizens amid rising tensions between the two governments, media reported on Sunday. CBC television and the online journal Cyberpresse said the decision follows a cancelation by Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi last month of a stopover in Canada. Qaddafi was supposed to spend a short layover in Canada while heading back to Libya from summits in the US and Venezuela. But Prime Minister Stephen Harper instructed Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon to meet the controversial leader to express Canada’s displeasure over Libya’s celebrations to welcome home convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi. Cannon was expected to tell Qaddafi that the welcome was “an insult to all the victims, including Canadians.”
■UNITED KINGDOM
Brits eye intelligent design
More than half of British adults think intelligent design and creationism should be taught alongside evolution in school — a proportion higher than in the US. An Ipsos Mori survey questioned 11,768 adults from 10 countries on how the theory of evolution should be taught in school science lessons. About 54 percent of 973 Britons agreed with the view that “evolutionary theories should be taught in science lessons in schools together with other possible perspectives, such as intelligent design and creationism.” In the US, of 991 adults responding to the survey, which was organized by the British Council, 51 percent agreed that evolution should be on the curriculum alongside other theories, like intelligent design. Across the 10 countries, 43 percent agreed with the statement. Advocates of intelligent design say some features of the universe and nature are so complex they must have been designed by a higher being. Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said “it would be wholly wrong to include creationism in the science curriculum.”
■CUBA
Sean Penn seeks interview
Oscar-winning actor and political activist Sean Penn arrived in Cuba hoping to interview former president Fidel Castro, state media reported on Sunday. A TV report showed Penn walking in the town of Nueva Gerona on the Isle of Youth, accompanied by painter Alexis Leyva. A US entertainment news Web site, TMZ, reported earlier that Penn was writing a story for Vanity Fair magazine about how the administration of US President Barack Obama has affected Cuba. Since taking office in January, Obama has moved to ease a half-century of tension with Cuba, with small steps such as relaxing rules on visits and money transfers to the island. But so far, the administration has not taken major strides in its approach to the country and has said it will not, for now, seek to end its economic embargo. Instead, the US has urged Havana to show progress on human rights.
■THE HAGUE
Karadzic boycotts trial
Judges halted proceedings at the start of the war crimes trial of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic after 15 minutes after he boycotted the hearing yesterday. Judge Kwon O-gon said the trial would recommence today at 2:15pm with the opening address of the prosecution. Kwon said if Karadzic continued to be absent, judges would consider appointing a lawyer to represent him. Karadzic, who has denied all charges, is representing himself. He faces war crimes charges including genocide.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was