■MONGOLIA
PM asks to resign
Prime Minister Bayar Sanjaa said on Friday he wanted to resign for health reasons, bringing new political uncertainty to the nation. Bayar Sanjaa’s request to step down must be approved by the parliament speaker, said Khurelsukh Ukhaa of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party. The party leadership plans to meet tomorrow to discuss how to respond. Bayar Sanjaa has previously sought treatment abroad for liver problems because a hepatitis C infection and was hospitalized again last week.
■MARSHALL ISLANDS
Zedkaia wins election
Traditional chief Jurelang Zedkaia was elected president by a slender 17-15 margin yesterday, replacing Litokwa Tomeing, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote last week. Zedkaia, the parliamentary speaker in the Tomeing government, was elected in a swift ballot of legislators that took less than 15 minutes to end days of tense lobbying. He defeated the only other nominee, former president Kessai Note, 17-15, government officials said.
■CHINA
Skull-seller jailed
A Chinese-American academic has been sentenced to eight years in prison for selling unearthed human skulls to buyers abroad, state media reported yesterday. The 44-year-old US national, identified only by his surname Ding, was sentenced on Sept. 21 for “illegal business practices,” the Beijing Times reported. His arrest came after the FBI tipped off Chinese police last year, informing authorities that Ding was sending the skulls to the US via express mail. The academic, who worked in Beijing as a consultant, was arrested in May last year trying to ship 20 skulls to the US. Police found an additional 1,100 skulls at his home in the capital, it said. According to the court, Ding sent around 200 of the skulls abroad, earning a total of US$19,000 after purchasing the heads for less than US$23 each.
■AUSTRALIA
Police hunt ‘vampire killer’
Police have posted a A$1 million (US$927,000) reward for a man suspected to have ordered the killing of a self-proclaimed vampire. Police in the southeastern state of Victoria said yesterday they had offered the bounty to help find Mark Adrian Perry, who is wanted in relation to the 2003 murder of male prostitute Shane Chartres-Abbott. At the time of his death, Chartres-Abbott was on trial for allegedly raping a client and biting off part of her tongue. He also allegedly told the woman, a former girlfriend of Perry’s, that he was a centuries-old vampire who drank blood to survive. Police Deputy Commissioner Ken Jones said that Perry, who is believed to have traveled abroad after learning he was wanted for questioning in relation to the murder, could be living anywhere in Australia. Chartres-Abbott was gunned down in broad daylight in front of his father and pregnant girlfriend in suburban Melbourne.
■JAPAN
Lupit to graze east coast
Tropical Storm Lupit approached the country’s southern islands yesterday and was forecast to churn along the country’s east coast, brushing Tokyo today, the weather agency said. The storm last week headed toward the main Philippine island of Luzon but made a sharp turn north, to the relief of the country still dealing with the devastation of two deadly storms. The storm was yesterday moving northeast at a speed of 35kph, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
■CANADA
Libya snubs Canadians
Libya has stopped issuing visas to Canadian citizens amid rising tensions between the two governments, media reported on Sunday. CBC television and the online journal Cyberpresse said the decision follows a cancelation by Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi last month of a stopover in Canada. Qaddafi was supposed to spend a short layover in Canada while heading back to Libya from summits in the US and Venezuela. But Prime Minister Stephen Harper instructed Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon to meet the controversial leader to express Canada’s displeasure over Libya’s celebrations to welcome home convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi. Cannon was expected to tell Qaddafi that the welcome was “an insult to all the victims, including Canadians.”
■UNITED KINGDOM
Brits eye intelligent design
More than half of British adults think intelligent design and creationism should be taught alongside evolution in school — a proportion higher than in the US. An Ipsos Mori survey questioned 11,768 adults from 10 countries on how the theory of evolution should be taught in school science lessons. About 54 percent of 973 Britons agreed with the view that “evolutionary theories should be taught in science lessons in schools together with other possible perspectives, such as intelligent design and creationism.” In the US, of 991 adults responding to the survey, which was organized by the British Council, 51 percent agreed that evolution should be on the curriculum alongside other theories, like intelligent design. Across the 10 countries, 43 percent agreed with the statement. Advocates of intelligent design say some features of the universe and nature are so complex they must have been designed by a higher being. Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said “it would be wholly wrong to include creationism in the science curriculum.”
■CUBA
Sean Penn seeks interview
Oscar-winning actor and political activist Sean Penn arrived in Cuba hoping to interview former president Fidel Castro, state media reported on Sunday. A TV report showed Penn walking in the town of Nueva Gerona on the Isle of Youth, accompanied by painter Alexis Leyva. A US entertainment news Web site, TMZ, reported earlier that Penn was writing a story for Vanity Fair magazine about how the administration of US President Barack Obama has affected Cuba. Since taking office in January, Obama has moved to ease a half-century of tension with Cuba, with small steps such as relaxing rules on visits and money transfers to the island. But so far, the administration has not taken major strides in its approach to the country and has said it will not, for now, seek to end its economic embargo. Instead, the US has urged Havana to show progress on human rights.
■THE HAGUE
Karadzic boycotts trial
Judges halted proceedings at the start of the war crimes trial of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic after 15 minutes after he boycotted the hearing yesterday. Judge Kwon O-gon said the trial would recommence today at 2:15pm with the opening address of the prosecution. Kwon said if Karadzic continued to be absent, judges would consider appointing a lawyer to represent him. Karadzic, who has denied all charges, is representing himself. He faces war crimes charges including genocide.
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
Two Belgian teenagers on Tuesday were charged with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser-known species. Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate that they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal. In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis
Incumbent Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on Sunday claimed a runaway victory in the nation’s presidential election, after voters endorsed the young leader’s “iron fist” approach to rampant cartel violence. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, the National Election Council said Noboa had an unassailable 12-point lead over his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez. Official results showed Noboa with 56 percent of the vote, against Gonzalez’s 44 percent — a far bigger winning margin than expected after a virtual tie in the first round. Speaking to jubilant supporters in his hometown of Olon, the 37-year-old president claimed a “historic victory.” “A huge hug
A judge in Bangladesh issued an arrest warrant for the British member of parliament and former British economic secretary to the treasury Tulip Siddiq, who is a niece of former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August last year in a mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule. The Bangladeshi Anti-Corruption Commission has been investigating allegations against Siddiq that she and her family members, including Hasina, illegally received land in a state-owned township project near Dhaka, the capital. Senior Special Judge of Dhaka Metropolitan Zakir Hossain passed the order on Sunday, after considering charges in three separate cases filed
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