NORTH KOREA
Kerry attacked over jawline
Pyongyang yesterday called US Secretary of State John Kerry a wolf with a “hideous lantern jaw.” An unidentified policy department spokesman at the defense commission described Kerry as a “wolf donning the mask of sheep.” He criticized Kerry for recently saying Washington wants to see peace on the Korean Peninsula, although the US and South Korea then went ahead with their summertime drills. “His behavior fully revealed once again the US inveterate nature as a hypocrite who has deceived and mocked mankind with all sorts of gimmicks,” the spokesman said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
INDIA
Soldier found after 18 years
The army has found the body of a soldier 18 years after he went missing on the Siachen Glacier in disputed Kashmir, police said yesterday. “The body was discovered in a frozen state last week,” superintendent of police Sunil Gupta said by telephone from Leh. Gupta said the man had likely been hit by an avalanche. “It was a nightmare to bring the body back and took five days,” he added.
CHINA
Limits for Tibet tour buses
Authorities are limiting the number of passengers aboard tour buses on mountain roads of Tibet, following two fatal accidents involving such buses, two travel agencies and a man at the official Tibet Regional Tourism Bureau said yesterday. “It’s for safety,” said the man who answered the telephone at the bureau, but refused to give his name. He confirmed the new rule puts a 20-person limit on any tour vehicle, including a driver, a guide and a police officer. A man at the Lhasa Youth Travel Service, who gave only his last name Wang, said he received a notice announcing the limit on Tuesday.
NEW ZEALAND
Shark finning to be banned
The government yesterday said it will ban the practice of shark finning, effective as of October. Minister of Conservation Nick Smith said the move will reinforce the country’s reputation for sustainability and environmental protection. The new rules will make it illegal to remove fins from dead sharks and dump the carcasses at sea. It was already illegal to remove fins from live sharks.
THAILAND
General likely to be PM
Coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha is expected to be picked as prime minister by the kingdom’s new army-dominated national assembly, junta sources said yesterday, cementing the military’s hold on power. Chan-ocha is likely to be the sole candidate when the 197-strong assembly convenes today to select a new prime minister, sources said. “It was difficult to find people to become prime minister other than General Prayut. If it’s not him, who else should it be?” one junta official said on condition of anonymity. “He staged a coup. He has to be responsible for solving all the problems by himself.”
CHINA
IDs needed for bus tickets
People buying long-distance bus tickets in Xinjiang will have to provide official identification, starting next month, Xinhua news agency said yesterday. “Passengers’ ID and bus information will be printed on the tickets and also be uploaded to local police authorities,” Xinhua said, adding that tickets would be checked for matching information. Authorities have already introduced airline-like restrictions for city buses in Urumqi, banning passengers from carrying cigarette lighters, water and yogurt.
UNITED STATES
Perry mug shot taken
Texas Governor Rick Perry was fingerprinted and had his mug shot taken by judicial authorities on Tuesday after being indicted on Friday on two felony charges of abusing power. “The actions that I took were lawful. They were legal and they were proper. This indictment is fundamentally a political act that seeks to achieve at the courthouse what could not be achieved at the ballot box,” Perry said after finishing the 15-minute processing at the Travis County criminal justice center. Perry was indicted on Friday by the county’s grand jury over his veto of funding for a state ethics watchdog.
EL SALVADOR
Romero beatification cleared
A hold on the beatification of Archbishop Oscar Romero has been lifted, Pope Francis said, clearing the way to honor the archbishop, a hero of the nation’s leftist opposition who was gunned down in 1980 while celebrating Mass. Romero’s case had been blocked by conservative leaders in the Roman Catholic Church because he was believed to have harbored Marxist beliefs. The central question for the church has always been whether the archbishop, who was killed by a right-wing death squad, died because of his faith or his vocal criticism of the country’s military. Francis has suggested that Catholic theologians might soon expand the martyr designation to those killed because they were doing God’s work, whether or not hatred of the faith had inspired the killers.
BRAZIL
‘Obama’ running in Brazil
Voters can now opt for a congressional candidate who goes by the name Barack Obama. He is black, like the US president, and running for congress in elections on Oct. 5 for the ruling Workers’ Party. His real name is Claudio Henrique dos Anjos. A court has allowed the 45-year-old to run in the election with ballots that read “Barack Obama.” On his Web site, he goes by the longer name Claudio Henrique Barack Obama. Electoral laws give candidates leeway to choose the name they want to go by in campaigns.
MEXICO
Firm lied about spill: official
Environment Secretary Juan Jose Guerra Abud said on Tuesday that a mining company lied about a spill of 10 million gallons (40,000m3) of acids and heavy metals that contaminated two rivers and a dam downstream that supplies water to the capital of the northern state of Sonora. Guerra Abud said the mine falsely claimed the spill on Aug. 7 was caused by unusually heavy rain. Officials say a construction defect at a holding pond allowed mining waste to flow out. Guerra Abad said the Buenavista del Cobre copper mine could face fines of up to US$3 million for violations of safety and environmental standards.
BRAZIL
Fugitive doctor arrested
A prominent fertility doctor who went on the run in 2011 after being sentenced to 278 years in jail for sexually assaulting his patients was captured on Tuesday in Paraguay, police said. Roger Abdelmassih, whose celebrity clients included soccer legend Pele, was arrested in 2009 over allegations he raped or sexually abused dozens of women patients, sometimes while they were under anesthesia. He was convicted in 2010, but was allowed to remain free pending appeal. When a court reversed that decision and ordered his arrest, he fled the country. Abdelmassih, whose medical license has been revoked, will be deported, news Web Site G1 reported.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese