UNITED STATES
Alligator bite victim charged
A Florida airboat captain whose hand was bitten off by a 2.7m alligator faces charges of feeding the animal. Collier County Jail records show 63-year-old Wallace Weatherholt was charged on Friday with unlawful feeding of an alligator and later posted a US$1,000 bond. Weatherholt was attacked on June 12 as he was giving an Indiana family a tour of the Everglades. The family said Weatherholt hung a fish over the side of the boat and had his hand at the water’s surface when the alligator attacked. Wildlife officers tracked and euthanized the alligator. Weatherholt’s hand was found, but could not be reattached. A criminal investigation followed because feeding alligators is a second-degree misdemeanor.
UNITED STATES
Zoo has sixth panda cub
A 20-year-old giant panda, Bai Yun, has given birth at the San Diego Zoo, setting a record. Officials say it is the sixth cub born at the zoo and the most at a breeding facility outside of China. In a blog post, zoo officials said Bai Yun immediately scooped the cub into her arms and comforted the newborn. Because of Bai Yun’s advanced age, the pregnancy was considered high-risk, but zookeepers said mother and baby are doing fine. The sex of the cub will not be known for several months.
COLOMBIA
FARC release pilots
Leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas released two civilian helicopter pilots they were holding hostage to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the group said on Sunday. The pilots, who were kidnapped on July 10, were taken to the city of Popayan, 650km southwest of Bogota, where they will meet with relatives, the ICRC said in a statement. The pilots, identified as Juan Carlos Alvarez and Alejandro de Jesus Ocampo, were handed to representatives of ICRC and a local human rights group in Cauca Province, the ICRC said. The rebels captured the pilots when their helicopter made an emergency landing in a football field in the village of El Plateado. The rebels said that the helicopter had been flying surveillance.
UNITED STATES
Site sued for underage sex
Three Washington state teenagers who say they were sold online for sex have sued the Web site Backpage.com, a popular online portal for escort services, accusing the site’s owners of enabling their exploitation. Two 13-year-old girls from Pierce County and one 15-year-old from King County, filed the lawsuit on Friday in Pierce County Superior Court, the News Tribune of Tacoma reported on Sunday. Seattle attorney Liz McDougall, who represents Backpage’s corporate owners, said the lawsuit will not pass legal muster. The lawsuit alleges that photographs of the underage girls in skimpy garb appeared on ads on the site, paid for by their pimps. It accuses the owners of doing nothing to prevent it.
FIJI
Ex-PM guilty of graft
Former prime minister Laisenia Qarese was found guilty of abuse of office yesterday in a long-running corruption case dating back to the early 1990s. Qarese, who became prime minister in 2000 and was ousted in a military coup six years later, was convicted on nine charges of abuse of office and failing to discharge his duty in a case brought by the nation’s anti-corruption watchdog. Qarese, who pleaded not guilty, will be sentenced today and could face up to four years in jail. The conviction renders him ineligible to contest national elections to be held in 2014.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
‘ATTACK ON CIVILIZATION’: The culture ministry released drawings of six missing statues representing the Roman goddess of Venus, the tallest of which was 40cm Investigators believe that the theft of several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era from Syria’s national museum was likely the work of an individual, not an organized gang, officials said on Wednesday. The National Museum of Damascus was closed after the heist was discovered early on Monday. The museum had reopened in January as the country recovers from a 14-year civil war and the fall of the 54-year al-Assad dynasty last year. On Wednesday, a security vehicle was parked outside the main gate of the museum in central Damascus while security guards stood nearby. People were not allowed in because
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