ZIMBABWE
Man fined for Mugabe joke
A court fined a man US$150 for joking that President Robert Mugabe had died, a daily newspaper reported on Thursday. Cleapas Manangazira, 34, was convicted for undermining the authority of the president in a court in central city Gweru. Manangazira joked to police about Mugabe’s death when the bus he was traveling in stopped at a tollgate on the road to Gweru, according to the privately-owned NewsDay. “Why are you police officers sitting here? Don’t you know the president is dead?” prosecutors quoted Manangazira as saying. “We are coming from putting a tombstone on Mugabe’s grave. Did you hear me, people? Mugabe is dead.” Bus drivers tried to silence him, but the man went on joking about the long-time ruler. The conductors then told the bus driver to take Manangazira to Gweru police station, where he was arrested.
SOUTH KOREA
Moon’s son visits N Korea
A Unification Church official says the youngest son of the late Reverend Sun Myung Moon has left South Korea for the North Korean capital to meet with mourners. Church spokesman Ahn Ho-yeul says church leader Hyung-jin Moon plans to receive mourners at a church-owned peace institute in Pyongyang. The church has business interests in North Korea and the elder Moon worked to build ties with North Korean leaders. Ahn said yesterday that Hyung-jin Moon was traveling with the president of North Korea-based Pyeonghwa Motors. The company is partially owned by the church. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un offered his condolences on the reverend’s death earlier this week. Sun Myung Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah, died on Monday at the age of 92 in Gapyeong County, northeast of Seoul. His funeral is set for Sept. 15.
AUSTRALIA
Killer resists deportation
Officials yesterday were considering how to deport a 66-year-old British murderer after he was pulled from two commercial flights after reportedly spitting and screaming abuse at crew members. Keith Herring ripped a telephone from the seat of a plane and urinated in a holding cell as officials attempted to deport him back to England on Thursday, The Australian newspaper said. It was the second time in as many days that his removal fell through due to his behavior, it said. Herring received an immigration visa in 1988 despite a long criminal history in Britain and a year later killed his Philippine wife in their Sydney home. He was handed a 22-year sentence for the murder in 1995 along with a two-and-a-half-year term for his behavior during the trial which included exposing himself, calling the prosecutor a “fat slug,” and attempting to attack the judge, the report said.
AGENCIES
JAPAN
China, S Korea talks unlikely
Japan is unlikely to hold summit talks with either China or South Korea on the sidelines of an upcoming Asia-Pacific meeting, the foreign minister said yesterday, amid rows over disputed islands. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will attend this year’s APEC summit in Vladivostok today and tomorrow, Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told reporters. During his stay, Noda is to meet formally with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as well as the leaders of Russia, Singapore and Australia, Gemba said, according to Jiji Press. However, the foreign minister added that Noda was unlikely to hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao (XXX) or South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, according to << UNITED STATES SEALs reject author’s charity A charity for US Navy SEALs says it will refuse any proceeds from a book by an ex-commando who took part in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, after the Pentagon threatened legal action against the author. The former Navy SEAL who wrote No Easy Day, Matt Bissonnette, has promised to donate a majority of his profits to charities, but one of the non-profit groups he touted — the Navy SEAL Foundation — has ruled out accepting his donations. Bissonnette’s book has shot to the top of best-seller lists amid an avalanche of publicity, but his decision to publish his first-hand account has angered many fellow SEALs. UNITED STATES Armstrong to rest at sea Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, is to be buried at sea, a family spokesman said on Thursday. “I suspect it will be a private service,” spokesman Rick Miller said. The burial is set to take place after a public memorial in Washington on Thursday. NASA chief Charles Bolden, present and former astronauts and other dignitaries are expected to attend the ceremony at the Washington National Cathedral in honor of Armstrong, who died on Aug. 25 at the age of 82. Armstrong grew up in rural Ohio and flew in the US Navy before joining the US space program. The Apollo 11 commander strode into the history books on July 20, 1969, when he became the first person to walk on the moon, famously calling it “one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” The Washington cathedral includes the famous stained glass Space Window, housing a moon rock brought back by Armstrong and fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin from their Apollo 11 mission. FRANCE Condom firm fined for fakes A maker of condoms purported to be from the town of Condom in southwestern France has been ordered to pay 10,000 euros (US$12,700) for false advertising after the provenance of its prophylactics was found to be Malaysia. “The Original Condom Company” advertised its condoms as coming from the picturesque forested town on the river Baise. However, a court in the city of Bordeaux has ordered the firm, run by two Frenchmen, to remove references to the town from its advertising, as only an unoccupied address could be found there. Condom’s mayor, Bernard Gallardo, said the town of about 7,000 residents has “other advantages” to boast of, besides its name that for years has famously caused English-speaking tourists to stop and pose for photos next to its main sign. Unfortunately for the town, Francophile tourists passing through might also snigger at the name of the local river, which is French for the activity for which condoms are intended. UNITED STATES ‘Zombie’ warning issued “The zombies are coming!” the US Homeland Security Department says. Tongue firmly in cheek, the government urged citizens on Thursday to prepare for a zombie apocalypse, part of a public health campaign to encourage better preparation for genuine disasters and emergencies. The theory: If you are prepared for a zombie attack, the same preparations will help you during a hurricane, pandemic, earthquake or terrorist attack. A few suggestions tracked closely with some of the 33 rules for dealing with zombies popularized in the 2009 movie Zombieland, which included: “Always carry a change of underwear” and “when in doubt, know your way out.”
VAGUE: The criteria of the amnesty remain unclear, but it would cover political violence from 1999 to today, and those convicted of murder or drug trafficking would not qualify Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez on Friday announced an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners, including opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists detained for political reasons. The measure had long been sought by the US-backed opposition. It is the latest concession Rodriguez has made since taking the reins of the country on Jan. 3 after the brazen seizure of then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Rodriguez told a gathering of justices, magistrates, ministers, military brass and other government leaders that the ruling party-controlled Venezuelan National Assembly would take up the bill with urgency. Rodriguez also announced the shutdown
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) purge of his most senior general is driven by his effort to both secure “total control” of his military and root out corruption, US Ambassador to China David Perdue said told Bloomberg Television yesterday. The probe into Zhang Youxia (張又俠), Xi’s second-in-command, announced over the weekend, is a “major development,” Perdue said, citing the family connections the vice chair of China’s apex military commission has with Xi. Chinese authorities said Zhang was being investigated for suspected serious discipline and law violations, without disclosing further details. “I take him at his word that there’s a corruption effort under
China executed 11 people linked to Myanmar criminal gangs, including “key members” of telecom scam operations, state media reported yesterday, as Beijing toughens its response to the sprawling, transnational industry. Fraud compounds where scammers lure Internet users into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments have flourished across Southeast Asia, including in Myanmar. Initially largely targeting Chinese speakers, the criminal groups behind the compounds have expanded operations into multiple languages to steal from victims around the world. Those conducting the scams are sometimes willing con artists, and other times trafficked foreign nationals forced to work. In the past few years, Beijing has stepped up cooperation
The dramatic US operation that deposed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro this month might have left North Korean leader Kim Jong-un feeling he was also vulnerable to “decapitation,” a former Pyongyang envoy to Havana said. Lee Il-kyu — who served as Pyongyang’s political counselor in Cuba from 2019 until 2023 — said that Washington’s lightning extraction in Caracas was a worst-case scenario for his former boss. “Kim must have felt that a so-called decapitation operation is actually possible,” said Lee, who now works for a state-backed think tank in Seoul. North Korea’s leadership has long accused Washington of seeking to remove it from power
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