■FRANCE
Media discretion urged
The government on Sunday asked media outlets to exercise “discretion” in their use of a video of French TV reporters pleading for their release after being kidnapped in Afghanistan. Agence France-Presse obtained the video, apparently taken three weeks ago, but decided not to publicize it because the agency believed it might compromise the chances of the France 3 TV reporters being released. The video showed the two men, looking tired and unshaven, saying they were in good health and were being treated well by their captors. They called on President Nicolas Sarkozy to negotiate to secure their release. The government issued a statement calling for media outlets to be responsible in their handling of the video after its existence was widely reported on Sunday.
■NEPAL
Yadav drops virgin farewell
President Ram Baran Yadav yesterday dispensed with a centuries-old tradition of having five virgin girls bid him goodbye as he left on a foreign visit, an aide said. Heads of state have traditionally been seen off by five pre-pubescent girls representing the Hindu goddesses Durga, Sarshwati, Laxmi, Radha and Annapurna who perform religious rituals to bring success. They are presented with traditional marigold garlands in a ceremony designed to bring good fortune to the departing leader. “The president felt sorry for the students who used to have to wait outside in the sun for hours, so he scrapped the tradition,” presidential spokesman Rajendra Dahal said. Yadav left yesterday for India, where he will spend four days on a “goodwill visit,” Dahal said.
■VIETNAM
Democracy fliers distributed
Two banned political organizations said they had joined forces to distribute hundreds of pro-democracy leaflets in the country, where observers said the human rights situation was worsening. Dissidents arrested and convicted for previous leaflet campaigns have been jailed. The US-based Viet Tan (Vietnam Reform Party) confirmed early yesterday that it had joined the effort along with the People’s Democratic Party. Critics say the public has lost trust in the rulers whom they see as too conciliatory toward China over maritime sovereignty and other issues.
■AUSTRALIA
Hanson ‘moving’ to UK
Anti-immigration firebrand Pauline Hanson is selling up and heading to Britain after becoming disillusioned with her home country, Woman’s Day magazine reported yesterday. The former One Nation party chief, who infamously warned that the country was in danger of being “swamped by Asians” in her maiden parliamentary speech, said she would be away “indefinitely.” “I know I will never be given a chance to re-enter parliament again,” Hanson was quoted as saying.
■JAPAN
Senator mulls base options
A member of the US Senate Armed Services Committee said yesterday he was open to hearing options on how to resolve a dispute over the relocation of a contentious US Marine base on Okinawa. Starting a weeklong tour in Japan and Guam, Senator Jim Webb said the main purpose of his visit was to listen to the views of the Japanese government and people of Okinawa, where many resent the US military presence. “There could be a number of practical options,” Webb said about ways to resolve the Futenma issue. “I don’t want to outline those options today because I don’t want to cut short the discussions that we’re going to have.”
■UNITED KINGDOM
Pope’s album up for award
Pope Benedict XVI was nominated yesterday for the Classical Brit Awards album of the year. The pope was shortlisted for his singing on the album Alma Mater — Music From the Vatican. There are 10 contenders vying for the prize, including Britain’s Got Talent star Faryl Smith and three Catholic clerics in a group called The Priests, with their second release, Harmony. The winner of the album of the year, who is voted for by the public, will be announced on May 13.
■GAZA STRIP
British journalist arrested
Hamas police have arrested a British journalist in the Gaza Strip, accusing him of unspecified security offences. Interior Ministry spokesman Ehab al-Ghsain identified the detainee as freelance correspondent Paul Martin. “We have confessions that the British journalist committed offenses against Palestinian law, and that harms the security of the country,” Ghsain said on Sunday, without giving details on who had confessed and under what circumstances.
■GAZA STRIP
US lawmaker calls for aid
A US congressman said Washington should break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and deliver badly needed supplies by sea. Representative. Brian Baird, a Democrat, said on Sunday that US President Barack Obama’s Mideast envoy should visit Gaza to get a look at the destruction cause by Israel’s offensive last year. Baird made the comments to a group of Gaza students.
■WEST BANK
Official claims entrapment
A top Palestinian official mired in a sex-tape scandal brushed aside allegations he traded his influence for sexual favors, saying on Sunday he was the victim of entrapment and blackmail. Rafiq Husseini held a press conference hours after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspended him from his duties as chief of staff. Abbas also ordered a three-member committee to investigate the affair and submit its findings within three weeks. Last week Israeli TV broadcast video of Husseini undressing, getting into bed and calling a woman to join him. The footage was secretly taped in 2008 by a former Palestinian intelligence officer, who alleged that Husseini attempted to trade influence for sex.
■UNITED STATES
Death row inmate dies at 94
The oldest death row inmate in the country, a 94-year-old convicted double murderer, died of natural causes at an Arizona prison, the online edition of the Arizona Daily Sun reported on Sunday. Viva Leroy Nash died late on Friday at the state prison in Florence. He was sentenced to death in 1983 for murdering a sales clerk in Phoenix the year before. He earlier served a 25-year prison sentence for shooting a police officer in Connecticut in 1947. After his release, Nash was sentenced to life in prison for shooting a man to death in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1977. He escaped from a prison work crew in 1982 and committed his second murder, for which he was awaiting execution for 26 years.
■UNITED STATES
Robbery ends in deaths
Authorities say two men suspected of robbing a street-corner Valentine’s Day gift stand in Los Angeles were killed early on Sunday in a car crash after leading police on a chase. Police Lieutenant. Samuel Rhone says the men stole gift baskets and cash from a street vendor near downtown. The victim called police and officers located their car nearby, which sped away. The suspects crashed into a parked vehicle and were thrown from the car.
RARE EVENT: While some cultures have a negative view of eclipses, others see them as a chance to show how people can work together, a scientist said Stargazers across a swathe of the world marveled at a dramatic red “Blood Moon” during a rare total lunar eclipse in the early hours of yesterday morning. The celestial spectacle was visible in the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the westernmost parts of Europe and Africa. The phenomenon happens when the sun, Earth and moon line up, causing our planet to cast a giant shadow across its satellite. But as the Earth’s shadow crept across the moon, it did not entirely blot out its white glow — instead the moon glowed a reddish color. This is because the
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
‘DOWNSIZE’: The Trump administration has initiated sweeping cuts to US government-funded media outlets in a move critics said could undermine the US’ global influence US President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America (VOA) and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organization’s director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave. On Friday night, shortly after the US Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the US Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba. On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial and US
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