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.”
Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of teenage diarist Anne Frank and a tireless educator about the horrors of the Holocaust, has died. She was 96. The Anne Frank Trust UK, of which Schloss was honorary president, said she died on Saturday in London, where she lived. Britain’s King Charles III said he was “privileged and proud” to have known Schloss, who cofounded the charitable trust to help young people challenge prejudice. “The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding
‘DISRESPECTFUL’: Katie Miller, the wife of Trump’s most influential adviser, drew ire by posting an image of Greenland in the colors of the US flag, captioning it ‘SOON’ US President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his claim that Greenland should become part of the US, despite calls by the Danish prime minister to stop “threatening” the territory. Washington’s military intervention in Venezuela has reignited fears for Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly said he wants to annex, given its strategic location in the arctic. While aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, Trump reiterated the goal. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. “We’ll worry about Greenland in
PERILOUS JOURNEY: Over just a matter of days last month, about 1,600 Afghans who were at risk of perishing due to the cold weather were rescued in the mountains Habibullah set off from his home in western Afghanistan determined to find work in Iran, only for the 15-year-old to freeze to death while walking across the mountainous frontier. “He was forced to go, to bring food for the family,” his mother, Mah Jan, said at her mud home in Ghunjan village. “We have no food to eat, we have no clothes to wear. The house in which I live has no electricity, no water. I have no proper window, nothing to burn for heating,” she added, clutching a photograph of her son. Habibullah was one of at least 18 migrants who died
Russia early yesterday bombarded Ukraine, killing two people in the Kyiv region, authorities said on the eve of a diplomatic summit in France. A nationwide siren was issued just after midnight, while Ukraine’s military said air defenses were operating in several places. In the capital, a private medical facility caught fire as a result of the Russian strikes, killing one person and wounding three others, the State Emergency Service of Kyiv said. It released images of rescuers removing people on stretchers from a gutted building. Another pre-dawn attack on the neighboring city of Fastiv killed one man in his 70s, Kyiv Governor Mykola
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