■ Japan
Bodies found after collision
Five people who went missing on Friday after a collision of two tankers off Japan's central coast have been found dead, the coast guard said yesterday. Rescuers searching the vessel yesterday afternoon located the bodies of the five on board, bringing the death toll in the accident to six, the Owase Coast Guard said in a statement. Earlier, one sailor died and another suffered serious burns when the 627 tonne Kyokuyo Maru, transporting benzene, caught fire in the collision, which occurred 25km off Owase City in Mie prefecture.
■ China
Floods kills hundreds
Weeks of summer floods in China have killed 764 people, state media said yesterday, citing tallies by the nation's flood control office. Also, 191 people were missing from the deluges that have ravaged parts of southern and northeastern China, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. It cited Zhang Zhitong, deputy director of the Office of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters. China suffers hundreds of deaths every year in floods set off during the June-to-August rainy season. Rivers overflow and water rushes down mountains stripped of trees by decades of farming and logging.
■ CHina
Pig sperm to go to space
China plans to take semen from pedigree pigs on its second manned space mission to study whether exposure to outer space alters the genetic make-up of the sperm, state media said yesterday. Some 40g of pig sperm will be carried on board the spacecraft Shenzhou VI when it blasts off in early October, the Xinhua news agency said. The sperm will come from two carefully selected "Rongchang" pigs. The pigs are considered outstanding in terms of their physique and the quality of their pork, Xinhua said. After four or five days in space, the sperm will be brought back to earth and used to fertilize pig eggs in test-tubes.
■ Nepal
Maoists bomb yarn mill
Maoists bombed and destroyed a synthetic yarn mill in east Nepal on Saturday night, police and local media reported yesterday. Authorities said the Maoists targeted the Reliance Spinning and Weaving Mills in Sunsari district, about 240km east of the capital. The Nepalese Internet news channel Kantipuronline, quoting the chief officer of the mills, said the bombing caused property damage worth about 300 million rupees (about US$4.25 million). Political analysts in the Nepalese capital speculated that the rebels bombed the mill because the owners may have balked at paying extortion fees.
■ China
Elephants losing tusks
Chinese elephants are evolving into an increasingly tuskless breed because poaching is changing the gene pool, a newspaper reported yesterday. Five to 10 percent of Asian elephants in China now had a gene that prevented the development of tusks, up from the usual 2 percent to 5 percent, the China Daily said, quoting research from Beijing Normal University. "The larger tusks the male elephant has, the more likely it will be shot by poachers," said researcher Zhang Li, an associate professor of zoology. "Therefore, the ones without tusks survive, preserving the tuskless gene in the species." Since only male elephants have tusks, there are now four female elephants for each male in China, up from the ideal ratio of two, the paper said.
■ Isreal
Minister postpones US trip
Israel's defense minister postponed a visit to Washington intended to reach agreement on future Israeli arms sales to China and other countries, defense officials said yesterday, citing a surge in regional violence as the reason for the change in schedule. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz was to fly to the US on Saturday. He will likely travel later this week due to escalating Gaza Strip violence and a suicide attack last week in the coastal city of Netanya that killed five Israelis, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. The travel delay was unrelated to long-standing tensions between Israel and the US over the wording of a memorandum of understanding intended to govern Israeli arms deals, the officials added.
■ United States
Kentucky axes Mr. Smiley
That smiling sun on Kentucky's license plates was just a bit too cheerful for most drivers: Now Mr. Smiley's headed for the recycling bin. The sunshine plates were met with ridicule when then-Governor Paul Patton unveiled the design in December 2002. Governor Ernie Fletcher is scheduled to announce the change at a news conference tomorrow. Some drivers drew a mustache on the smiling sun's image or covered it up with a frowning-face sticker or duct tape. Others even paid extra money not to have Mr. Smiley greet other drivers with his motto, "Kentucky: It's that friendly." The backlash brought a surge in sales of specialty plates. "A lot of people found them to be so obnoxious they wouldn't put them on their cars," Fayette County Clerk Don Blevins said.
■ France
Chirac's ratings improve
President Jacques Chirac's weak popularity ratings have rebounded to 32 percent, a new poll released Saturday said. Chirac's rating rose four percentage points in the monthly survey by the IFOP polling agency for the Journal du Dimanche newspaper. The survey of 1,833 people age 18 and older was carried out July 7 to July 15. The margin of error was not provided. The center-right leader's popularity has plummeted in recent months, and he took a political and personal defeat when the French rejected a constitution for the EU in a May 29 referendum.
■ United States
Cheney has minor ailment
US Vice President Richard Cheney was diagnosed Saturday with mild irritation of his esophagus as he completed the second phase of his annual medical examination, his spokeswoman said. The 64-year-old vice president, who has a long history of heart disease and who wears a pacemaker, went to George Washington University Hospital for a second time this month to undergo a colonoscopy, upper endoscopy and vascular screening, according to a spokeswoman.
■ Equatorial Guinea
Plane crashes, 55 dead
A Russian-made plane carrying 55 people crashed shortly after takeoff in Equatorial Guinea on Saturday and those on board were all feared dead, government officials said. The Antonov plane, owned by local company Equatair, was on an internal flight between the capital Malabo on Bioko island and the city of Bata on the mainland. "The plane crashed near Baney, 17km from Malabo," Ricardo Mangue Obama, a deputy prime minister in charge of the task force investigating the crash, told reporters. "We don't know the cause of the accident."
FLYBY: The object, appears to be traveling more than 60 kilometers per second, meaning it is not bound by the sun’s orbit, astronomers studying 3I/Atlas said Astronomers on Wednesday confirmed the discovery of an interstellar object racing through the solar system — only the third-ever spotted, although scientists suspect many more might slip past unnoticed. The visitor from the stars, designated 3I/Atlas, is likely the largest yet detected, and has been classified as a comet, or cosmic snowball. “It looks kind of fuzzy,” said Peter Veres, an astronomer with the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, which was responsible for the official confirmation. “It seems that there is some gas around it, and I think one or two telescopes reported a very short tail.” Originally known as A11pl3Z before
Hundreds of protesters marched through the Mexican capital on Friday denouncing gentrification caused by foreigners, with some vandalizing businesses and shouting “gringos out!” The demonstration in the capital’s central area turned violent when hooded individuals smashed windows, damaged restaurant furniture and looted a clothing store. Mexico City Government Secretary Cesar Cravioto said 15 businesses and public facilities were damaged in what he called “xenophobic expressions” similar to what Mexican migrants have suffered in other countries. “We are a city of open arms... there are always ways to negotiate, to sit at the table,” Cravioto told Milenio television. Neighborhoods like Roma-Condesa
‘CONTINUE TO SERVE’: The 90-year-old Dalai Lama said he hoped to be able to continue serving ‘sentient beings and the Buddha Dharma’ for decades to come The Dalai Lama yesterday said he dreamed of living for decades more, as the Buddhist spiritual leader prayed with thousands of exiled Tibetans on the eve of his 90th birthday. Thumping drums and deep horns reverberated from the Indian hilltop temple, as a chanting chorus of red-robed monks and nuns offered long-life prayers for Tenzin Gyatso, who followers believe is the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Looking in good health, dressed in traditional maroon monk robes and a flowing yellow wrap, he led prayers — days after confirming that the 600-year-old Tibetan Buddhist institution would continue after his death. Many exiled Tibetans
BRICS leaders are to meet in Rio de Janeiro from today, with the bloc depleted by the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), who is skipping the annual summit of emerging economies for the first time in 12 years. The grouping meets as its members face imminent and costly tariff wars with the US. Conceived two decades ago as a forum for fast-growing economies, the BRICS have come to be dominated by Beijing, which grew much faster and larger than the rest. China has not said why Xi would miss the summit, a first since he became president in 2013. “I expect there
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