■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.”
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