■AUSTRALIA
Fish-swallowing act nixed
A Russian circus touring the country has dropped an act in which a performer swallows a live fish then regurgitates it after complaints that it was in poor taste and inhumane. Great Moscow Circus general manager Greg Hall said on Wednesday that the fish-gobbling part of the show was removed on Monday after the New South Wales government informed it that the act breached animal protection laws. The act was brought to the attention of authorities by patrons who lodged official complaints about animal cruelty. Hall said similar acts were performed in circuses around the world, but that the circus would revamp the act following the complaints and not use live fish for the shows.
■AUSTRALIA
Urine caused eye problem
The cause of a mystery eye ailment that struck about 50 visitors to a dairy pavilion at an agricultural show has been traced — to cow urine. The Royal Adelaide Show had to close its dairy cattle pavilion after a rising number of people reported sore eyes when visiting the judging marquee. Officials from the South Australia Health Department were called in to investigate and found the cause of the outbreak was stagnant cow urine. Show spokeswoman Michelle Hocking told reporters that a recent spell of wet weather may have created conditions within the pavilion where ammonia from cow urine was released.
■INDIA
Pilot error caused crash
Pilot error was to blame for a passenger plane crash in May that claimed 158 lives, an official investigation has heard. The Air India Express flight from Dubai to Mangalore overshot the runway, plunged into a gorge and burst into flames. Eight people survived the crash. A Court of Inquiry in New Delhi on Wednesday heard that the aircraft’s data recorders showed that the captain was on the wrong flight path and did not correct course despite warnings from his co pilot. The last voice recording was the co pilot saying “we don’t have runway left.”
■INDIA
Bus plunges into river
At least 21 people were killed and another 10 feared dead after a passenger bus plunged into a fast-flowing river, police said yesterday. The bus crashed into the river when trying to cross a flooded bridge in the state of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday evening. “The rescue work is ongoing and specialist teams are at the scene searching for bodies washed away by the water,” local inspector general of police Pawan Jain told reporters by telephone. “We have found 21 bodies, 40 people have been rescued and 10 are still missing, feared dead. About 70 people were on the bus.”
■CHINA
Fake pilots back in air
Pilots who had lied about their flying experience have been allowed to return to work after they took remedial action to make up their hours, the Civil Aviation Administration said. Media reported this month that a probe in 2008 had found about 200 pilots had falsified elements of their resumes. The agency said they had found 192 pilots whose “flying experience to different degrees did not accord with reality.” Some had their licenses revoked, but others were given the chance to retrain and had been allowed to fly once more, the regulator said in a statement on its Web site late on Wednesday. Following the incident, the agency said it had tightened procedures to ensure the problem would not happen again, and that it would not tolerate such falsification.
■ITALY
Iran could mitigate stoning
Iran’s envoy to the Vatican said mitigation could be “possible” in the stoning sentence of an Iranian woman convicted of adultery because Islamic law allows for clemency. Ambassador Ali Akbar Naseri told Italian state TV in an interview broadcast on Wednesday night that the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was under study by experts. He said Islamic law “is inspired by clemency and forgiveness.” Asked if that meant the 43-year-old mother of two might receive clemency, the envoy replied that “some mitigation of the punishment is possible.” The ambassador to the Holy See didn’t elaborate. On Sunday, the Vatican raised the possibility of using its diplomatic channels on humanitarian grounds in the case, but stopped short of saying such efforts had begun.
■JORDAN
King pardons student
A student arrested for insulting King Abdullah II has been freed on the express orders of the monarch, an official source said yesterday. News of Hatim al-Shuli’s release from prison came a week after rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the country to free him and cancel all charges against him. The official said charges of lese majeste against Shuli and 18 other people were also canceled on orders of the king. Shuli, a journalism student at Irbid University, was arrested on July 25 and charged three days later with lese majeste “and causing national strife, over a poem he denies writing that criticized the king,” HRW said on Friday. A conviction for lese majeste can result in a penalty of between one and three years in prison.
■GERMANY
Milk filling station is a hit
A dairy farmer has come up with a novel way to drum up new business — he opened a “milk filling station.” The Milchtankstelle near Cologne in the town of Neunkirchen-Seelscheid dispenses the output of 78 cows from a stainless steel vending machine. Customers can either bring their own empty containers or buy milk bottles to fill up. “I only had a few customers before I opened the station because they had to come at set milking times, which was a problem,” dairy farmer Bruno Stauf told Reuters. “Now they can buy my milk whenever they want.” The milk filling station is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Customers can select the amount of milk they want to purchase at a price of US$0.70 per liter. They insert the money, put their container under the nozzle and press a button. “We were no longer getting very much for our milk from the local dairy,” Stauf said, who like many dairy farmers has felt the squeeze of downward pressure on prices at discount supermarkets.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Lawmakers to debate hacking
Lawmakers will hold a debate on allegations that a tabloid illegally eavesdropped on politicians and celebrities, the speaker of the House of Commons said. The legislators will discuss practices at the News of the World newspaper, as police consider reopening an inquiry into the hacking of phone voicemail messages by the newspaper after ex-staff came forward to make new allegations. Prime Minister David Cameron’s communications director Andy Coulson — the newspaper’s former editor — is expected to meet with investigators amid claims that he oversaw a culture of phone tapping at the paper. Coulson quit News of the World in 2007 after the tabloid’s royal reporter was convicted of hacking phone voicemail messages left for royal officials, including some from princes William and Harry.
■UNITED STATES
Xbox apologizes to town
Microsoft Corp and the chief rules enforcer for Xbox Live are apologizing to a small West Virginia town and a 26-year-old gamer accused of violating the online gaming service’s code of conduct by publicly declaring he’s from Fort Gay. The town’s name is real, but when Josh Moore tried to tell Microsoft and the enforcement team at Xbox Live, they wouldn’t take his word for it. Instead, they suspended his gaming privileges. Stephen Toulouse, director of policy and enforcement for Xbox Live blamed miscommunication. “When it was brought to my attention, we did revoke the suspension.” Toulouse said he plans to contact Moore to apologize.
■GUATEMALA
Ex-president faces charges
Former president Alfonso Portillo has been accused by France of money-laundering and faces embezzlement charges at home, prosecutors said. Anti-corruption prosecutor Francisco Sandoval said on Wednesday that the French government asked Portillo to testify, but the former leader refused. France claims Portillo laundered US$1.5 million through French accounts using relatives’ names. He is also accused of stealing US$15 million from the defense department. His trial on the domestic charges is set to begin in September. Local law stipulates that Portillo must first be tried at home before he can be extradited.
■UNITED STATES
Locals tire of street name
Some residents of Lustful Court in Macon, Georgia, say they are tired of being kidded and want the street’s name changed. Bibb County Commissioner Lonzy Edwards brought up a possible name change on Tuesday after receiving complaints. After listening to residents, commissioners decided they’ll consider the change if neighbors start a petition. No one could recall where the name originated.
■UNITED STATES
Officials rescue immigrants
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said on Wednesday that they rescued more than three dozen immigrants from six Latin American countries who were locked inside a boarded-up bedroom in a Southern California drop house. some of the 37 immigrants had been held for weeks in the room in Riverside and had gone several days without food. Authorities say they began searching for the house after a caller reported smugglers had threatened to kill his relative when the family could not pay for his release. It took them two days of searching to find the location. Authorities also found seven other immigrants who were being smuggled across the Los Angeles area through the same network. The 44 immigrants, re currently in ICE custody.
■UNITED STATES
Obama pans Koran pyre
US President Barack Obama yesterday warned that a Florida pastor’s plan to burn copies of the Koran is being used as an al-Qaeda recruitment tool and he urged the minister to reconsider the decision. “This is a recruitment bonanza for al-Qaeda,” Obama said in an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America program. “You could have serious violence in places like Pakistan or Afghanistan. This could increase the recruitment of individuals who would be willing to blow themselves up in American cities or European cities.” Terry Jones, the leader of a tiny Protestant church in Gainesville, Florida, is planning to burn copies of the Islamic holy book tomorrow on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
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