ZIMBABWE
Man fined for Mugabe joke
A court fined a man US$150 for joking that President Robert Mugabe had died, a daily newspaper reported on Thursday. Cleapas Manangazira, 34, was convicted for undermining the authority of the president in a court in central city Gweru. Manangazira joked to police about Mugabe’s death when the bus he was traveling in stopped at a tollgate on the road to Gweru, according to the privately-owned NewsDay. “Why are you police officers sitting here? Don’t you know the president is dead?” prosecutors quoted Manangazira as saying. “We are coming from putting a tombstone on Mugabe’s grave. Did you hear me, people? Mugabe is dead.” Bus drivers tried to silence him, but the man went on joking about the long-time ruler. The conductors then told the bus driver to take Manangazira to Gweru police station, where he was arrested.
SOUTH KOREA
Moon’s son visits N Korea
A Unification Church official says the youngest son of the late Reverend Sun Myung Moon has left South Korea for the North Korean capital to meet with mourners. Church spokesman Ahn Ho-yeul says church leader Hyung-jin Moon plans to receive mourners at a church-owned peace institute in Pyongyang. The church has business interests in North Korea and the elder Moon worked to build ties with North Korean leaders. Ahn said yesterday that Hyung-jin Moon was traveling with the president of North Korea-based Pyeonghwa Motors. The company is partially owned by the church. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un offered his condolences on the reverend’s death earlier this week. Sun Myung Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah, died on Monday at the age of 92 in Gapyeong County, northeast of Seoul. His funeral is set for Sept. 15.
AUSTRALIA
Killer resists deportation
Officials yesterday were considering how to deport a 66-year-old British murderer after he was pulled from two commercial flights after reportedly spitting and screaming abuse at crew members. Keith Herring ripped a telephone from the seat of a plane and urinated in a holding cell as officials attempted to deport him back to England on Thursday, The Australian newspaper said. It was the second time in as many days that his removal fell through due to his behavior, it said. Herring received an immigration visa in 1988 despite a long criminal history in Britain and a year later killed his Philippine wife in their Sydney home. He was handed a 22-year sentence for the murder in 1995 along with a two-and-a-half-year term for his behavior during the trial which included exposing himself, calling the prosecutor a “fat slug,” and attempting to attack the judge, the report said.
AGENCIES
JAPAN
China, S Korea talks unlikely
Japan is unlikely to hold summit talks with either China or South Korea on the sidelines of an upcoming Asia-Pacific meeting, the foreign minister said yesterday, amid rows over disputed islands. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will attend this year’s APEC summit in Vladivostok today and tomorrow, Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told reporters. During his stay, Noda is to meet formally with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as well as the leaders of Russia, Singapore and Australia, Gemba said, according to Jiji Press. However, the foreign minister added that Noda was unlikely to hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao (XXX) or South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, according to << UNITED STATES SEALs reject author’s charity A charity for US Navy SEALs says it will refuse any proceeds from a book by an ex-commando who took part in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, after the Pentagon threatened legal action against the author. The former Navy SEAL who wrote No Easy Day, Matt Bissonnette, has promised to donate a majority of his profits to charities, but one of the non-profit groups he touted — the Navy SEAL Foundation — has ruled out accepting his donations. Bissonnette’s book has shot to the top of best-seller lists amid an avalanche of publicity, but his decision to publish his first-hand account has angered many fellow SEALs. UNITED STATES Armstrong to rest at sea Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, is to be buried at sea, a family spokesman said on Thursday. “I suspect it will be a private service,” spokesman Rick Miller said. The burial is set to take place after a public memorial in Washington on Thursday. NASA chief Charles Bolden, present and former astronauts and other dignitaries are expected to attend the ceremony at the Washington National Cathedral in honor of Armstrong, who died on Aug. 25 at the age of 82. Armstrong grew up in rural Ohio and flew in the US Navy before joining the US space program. The Apollo 11 commander strode into the history books on July 20, 1969, when he became the first person to walk on the moon, famously calling it “one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” The Washington cathedral includes the famous stained glass Space Window, housing a moon rock brought back by Armstrong and fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin from their Apollo 11 mission. FRANCE Condom firm fined for fakes A maker of condoms purported to be from the town of Condom in southwestern France has been ordered to pay 10,000 euros (US$12,700) for false advertising after the provenance of its prophylactics was found to be Malaysia. “The Original Condom Company” advertised its condoms as coming from the picturesque forested town on the river Baise. However, a court in the city of Bordeaux has ordered the firm, run by two Frenchmen, to remove references to the town from its advertising, as only an unoccupied address could be found there. Condom’s mayor, Bernard Gallardo, said the town of about 7,000 residents has “other advantages” to boast of, besides its name that for years has famously caused English-speaking tourists to stop and pose for photos next to its main sign. Unfortunately for the town, Francophile tourists passing through might also snigger at the name of the local river, which is French for the activity for which condoms are intended. UNITED STATES ‘Zombie’ warning issued “The zombies are coming!” the US Homeland Security Department says. Tongue firmly in cheek, the government urged citizens on Thursday to prepare for a zombie apocalypse, part of a public health campaign to encourage better preparation for genuine disasters and emergencies. The theory: If you are prepared for a zombie attack, the same preparations will help you during a hurricane, pandemic, earthquake or terrorist attack. A few suggestions tracked closely with some of the 33 rules for dealing with zombies popularized in the 2009 movie Zombieland, which included: “Always carry a change of underwear” and “when in doubt, know your way out.”
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
As evening falls in Fiji’s capital, a steady stream of people approaches a makeshift clinic that is a first line of defense against one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics. In the South Pacific nation — a popular tourist destination of just under a million people — more than 2,000 new HIV cases were recorded last year, a 26 percent increase from 2024. The government has declared an HIV outbreak and described it as a national crisis. “It’s spreading like wildfire,” said Siteri Dinawai, 46, who came to be tested. The Moonlight Clinic, a converted minibus parked in a suburban cul-de-sac in Suva, is
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
‘GROSS NEGLIGENCE?’ Despite a spleen typically being significantly smaller than a liver, the surgeon said he believed Bryan’s spleen was ‘double the size of what is normal’ A Florida surgeon who is facing criminal charges after allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has said he is “forever traumatized” by that person’s death. In a deposition from November last year that was recently obtained by NBC, 44-year-old Thomas Shaknovsky described the death of 70-year-old William Bryan as an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply.” Bryan died after the botched surgery; and last month, a grand jury in Tallahassee indicted Shaknovsky on a charge of manslaughter. “I’m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it,” Shaknovsky added, also saying that wrong-site surgeries can happen “during
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