■POLAND
Pope’s sainthood in balance
The promoter in the case of Pope John Paul II’s sainthood says doctors are still analyzing a supposed miracle attributed to him in which a French nun was allegedly cured of Parkinson’s disease by praying to the late pope. The Reverend Slawomir Oder said on Tuesday that special care is being applied to the analysis to preclude any possible future doubts. A confirmed miracle is a condition for sainthood. There have been reports that some of the doctors are not sure if the nun suffered from Parkinson’s — the illness that also afflicted John Paul — or if she was wrongly diagnosed. Pope Benedict XVI put John Paul on the fast-track for possible sainthood weeks after his 2005 death by waiving the customary five-year waiting period.
■IRAQ
Looted artifacts returned
Hundreds of artifacts looted from museums and archeological sites across the country have been returned. More than 500 pieces were on display at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, including a 4,400-year-old statue of a Sumerian king discovered in the 1920s at the ancient city of Ur, in the south of the country. The headless statue was stolen from the National Museum during the looting and chaos that followed the 2003 US-led invasion. The display is part of Iraqi efforts to repatriate its looted cultural heritage. Among the youngest pieces of the country’s past returned was a chrome-plated AK-47 with a pearl hand grip bearing Saddam Hussein’s image. It was taken to the US by a US soldier as a war trophy.
■BELGIUM
Man fries up a storm
A Belgian maker of French fries, the country’s proud national dish, has set a new world record for non-stop fries-making after frying mountains of potato strips for 83 consecutive hours. The record by 53-year-old Chris Verschueren, owner of a French fries business, beat by 11 hours a previous record of 72 hours set in 1987 by a Briton chip chef. “My fingers are burnt, my feet are sore and my wrist is painful,” he told Belga national news agency. “But it doesn’t matter, I’m going to party now.” From the time he turned on the heat on Friday morning in his village of Kastel till he ran out of steam on Monday night, Verschueren cooked up 1,500kg of fries, taking a 100-minute break after 20 hours for a shower and a stretch. His bid to set a new record for the amount of fries sold — 1,500 bags — failed however. The new world record-holder embarked on the challenge in order to raise funds for a children’s hospital as his own five-year-old has been ill since birth.
■UNITED STATES
Woman stung 500 times
Fire officials say a Massachusetts woman who fell onto a yellow jackets’ nest in her yard was stung more than 500 times. Captain Tim Birch says firefighters used a carbon dioxide chemical fire extinguisher to blast the swarm of insects away on Sunday, but it wasn’t enough, according to the Sun Chronicle newspaper. Three firefighters were treated for stings. Birch tells the Sun Chronicle that even paramedics and emergency room personnel at Sturdy Memorial Hospital had to fight off the yellow jackets, which are also known as wasps. He says the 53-year-old victim remains hospitalized. He did not have further information on her condition. Firefighters went back to the Attleboro home to look for the hive but couldn’t find it. They believe it is underground.
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the population at 10 million has the backing of almost half the country, according to a poll before an expected vote next year. The party, which has long campaigned against immigration, argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. The level of support comes despite the government urging voters to reject it, warning that strict curbs would damage the economy and prosperity, as Swiss companies depend on foreign workers. The poll by newspaper group Tamedia/20 Minuten and released yesterday showed that 48 percent of the population plan to vote
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
The Philippines deferred the awarding of a project that is part of a plan to build one of the world’s longest marine bridges after local opposition over the potential involvement of a Chinese company due to national security fears. The proposals are “undergoing thorough review” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which acts as a lender and an overseer of the project to ensure it meets international environmental and governance standards, the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways said in a statement on Monday in response to queries from Bloomberg. The agency said it would announce the winning bidder once ADB
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