SOUTH AFRICA
Toddlers likely to stay put
Two toddlers accidentally swapped on the day they were born should stay with the families who raised them and not be returned to their biological parents, a court-appointed expert said on Wednesday. The two — a boy and a girl born in 2010 — were taken home and raised by the wrong parents after nurses at a Johannesburg hospital mixed up their identities. The families were unaware of the mistake until one of the mothers underwent tests when her ex-husband refused to pay child maintenance because he believed he was not the father. One of the mothers had initially wanted to get her biological child back, while the other preferred to keep the one she had raised, leaving the North Gauteng High Court to decide. The court asked the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Child Law to investigate and report back on what would be in the children’s best interests. “The recommendation is that the children should stay with the parents who have raised them and should also be permitted to have contact with their biological parents,” centre director Ann Skelton said. The court has not set a date to decide the final fate of the children, but Skelton said she was hopeful its recommendation would be followed because it was now what both parents wanted.
HONDURAS
Murder suspect in court
The suspected killer of the nation’s Miss World contestant and her sister appeared in court on Wednesday, along with three alleged accomplices. A judge in San Pedro Sula issued a formal processing order for Plutarco Antonio Ruiz, who allegedly killed 19-year-old Miss World contestant Maria Jose Alvarado and her sister, 24-year-old Sophia Trinidad, a spokesman for the prosecutor said. The sisters’ bodies were found buried along the banks of a river on Wednesday last week, the day Maria Jose was set to fly to compete in the pageant in London. Sophia Trinidad was Ruiz’s girlfriend. Accused of complicity in the killings for allegedly helping cover up the crime are Ruiz’s friend, Aris Maldonado Mejia; resort owner Ventura Diaz; and Diaz’s wife, Elizabeth Alvarado.
VENEZUELA
Striking inmates overdose
At least 17 inmates who had been on hunger strike over prison conditions died on Wednesday of drug poisoning, police sources said. The prisoners at David Viloria Correction Center, known as Uribana prison, in Lara State, had been protesting since Tuesday over what they said was inhumane treatment and rights violations by prison officials, anonymous police sources said. Prison officials said the dead inmates were poisoned after ingesting prescription drugs. How the inmates all came to consume one or more medications was not immediately clear.
UNITED STATES
Obama pardons turkeys
President Barack Obama is defending his legal authority to take executive actions — to spare a pair of Thanksgiving turkeys. Obama joked that his turkey pardon will be his “most talked about executive action this month.” Last week, Obama issued a series of highly anticipated executive actions on immigration that are opposed by Republicans. The presidential turkey pardon is a quirky annual tradition at Thanksgiving. The two turkeys who were granted presidential pardons this year are Mac and Cheese. They will be sent to a northern Virginia turkey farm to live out the rest of their days.
FRANCE
WikiCheese project launched
Wikipedia on Wednesday launched a fund-raising initiative — dubbed WikiCheese — to photograph France’s bewildering varieties of cheese and put them online to help readers tell their Black Brie from their Tymsboro. The French branch of the online encyclopedia hopes to pull in 5,000 euros (US$6,200) through crowd-funding over the next month to make the project a reality. The cash would finance the purchase of at least 200 of France’s up to 500 types of cheese, an abundance that once led former president Charles de Gaulle to quip: “How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?” The purchase of photography equipment to snap the cheeses would also be covered by the money, Wikimedia France wrote on fund-raising site. If WikiCheese’s organizers hit their target, they will hold monthly photo sessions and cheese-tasting events at the Wikimedia’s French offices. “It’s the first time that we are using crowd-funding for this type of project,” Wikimedia France executive director Nathalie Martin said. “The idea is also to reach a new community by having them help with the photo shoots.” Once the high-definition photos hit the Internet they will be free for use by anyone. By Wednesday evening, WikiCheese had raked in 2,000 euros.
SPAIN
Euthanizing dog not a crime
A judge has ruled health authorities did not commit a crime when they euthanized Excalibur, a dog that belonged to a nursing assistant who contracted Ebola last month. An animal rights group had filed a complaint against a Madrid health official, citing a violation of an animal protection law. A judge issued a seven-page ruling on Wednesday. Excalibur belonged to Teresa Romero, the first known person to contract Ebola outside west Africa in the latest outbreak. She had treated two Spanish missionaries who died from Ebola after they were flown back from west Africa. Romero later recovered. Health authorities ordered the killing of the dog on Oct. 8.
SWITZERLAND
‘Sausage dog’ ban urged
An animal rights group has petitioned the government to ban a traditional, if rare, practice of eating cats for dinner and turning dogs into sausages. Tomi Tomek, president of the animal rights group SOS CHATS Noiraigue, which campaigned successfully last year to ban the sale of cat fur, said 3 percent of the population still eat cat and dog, mainly in the regions of Appenzell, Lucerne, Jura and Berne. “You can’t report it to the police because there’s no law against it,” Tomek said. Dog meat is traditionally used to make sausages and a fatty remedy for rheumatism, while cat can be served for Christmas dinner. The activists handed in a petition with 17,900 signatures calling for the consumption of family pets to be outlawed.
IRAN
Beggar has millions of rials
A beggar arrested on Wednesday had millions of rials in his pockets and a great deal more in two bank accounts, an official said. The unidentified 64-year-old, a former street vendor, was stopped by a police patrol cracking down on beggars in Bukan, an official in the northwestern city was quoted as saying by IRNA news agency. Upon searching him, they found he had 110 million rials (US$3,370) in his pockets and subsequent investigation showed he had two bank accounts with another US$47,550 in them. No details were given on how the man had managed to amass such a sum, which was confiscated and is to be used to finance a community center.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
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