NORTH KOREA
Kerry attacked over jawline
Pyongyang yesterday called US Secretary of State John Kerry a wolf with a “hideous lantern jaw.” An unidentified policy department spokesman at the defense commission described Kerry as a “wolf donning the mask of sheep.” He criticized Kerry for recently saying Washington wants to see peace on the Korean Peninsula, although the US and South Korea then went ahead with their summertime drills. “His behavior fully revealed once again the US inveterate nature as a hypocrite who has deceived and mocked mankind with all sorts of gimmicks,” the spokesman said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
INDIA
Soldier found after 18 years
The army has found the body of a soldier 18 years after he went missing on the Siachen Glacier in disputed Kashmir, police said yesterday. “The body was discovered in a frozen state last week,” superintendent of police Sunil Gupta said by telephone from Leh. Gupta said the man had likely been hit by an avalanche. “It was a nightmare to bring the body back and took five days,” he added.
CHINA
Limits for Tibet tour buses
Authorities are limiting the number of passengers aboard tour buses on mountain roads of Tibet, following two fatal accidents involving such buses, two travel agencies and a man at the official Tibet Regional Tourism Bureau said yesterday. “It’s for safety,” said the man who answered the telephone at the bureau, but refused to give his name. He confirmed the new rule puts a 20-person limit on any tour vehicle, including a driver, a guide and a police officer. A man at the Lhasa Youth Travel Service, who gave only his last name Wang, said he received a notice announcing the limit on Tuesday.
NEW ZEALAND
Shark finning to be banned
The government yesterday said it will ban the practice of shark finning, effective as of October. Minister of Conservation Nick Smith said the move will reinforce the country’s reputation for sustainability and environmental protection. The new rules will make it illegal to remove fins from dead sharks and dump the carcasses at sea. It was already illegal to remove fins from live sharks.
THAILAND
General likely to be PM
Coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha is expected to be picked as prime minister by the kingdom’s new army-dominated national assembly, junta sources said yesterday, cementing the military’s hold on power. Chan-ocha is likely to be the sole candidate when the 197-strong assembly convenes today to select a new prime minister, sources said. “It was difficult to find people to become prime minister other than General Prayut. If it’s not him, who else should it be?” one junta official said on condition of anonymity. “He staged a coup. He has to be responsible for solving all the problems by himself.”
CHINA
IDs needed for bus tickets
People buying long-distance bus tickets in Xinjiang will have to provide official identification, starting next month, Xinhua news agency said yesterday. “Passengers’ ID and bus information will be printed on the tickets and also be uploaded to local police authorities,” Xinhua said, adding that tickets would be checked for matching information. Authorities have already introduced airline-like restrictions for city buses in Urumqi, banning passengers from carrying cigarette lighters, water and yogurt.
UNITED STATES
Perry mug shot taken
Texas Governor Rick Perry was fingerprinted and had his mug shot taken by judicial authorities on Tuesday after being indicted on Friday on two felony charges of abusing power. “The actions that I took were lawful. They were legal and they were proper. This indictment is fundamentally a political act that seeks to achieve at the courthouse what could not be achieved at the ballot box,” Perry said after finishing the 15-minute processing at the Travis County criminal justice center. Perry was indicted on Friday by the county’s grand jury over his veto of funding for a state ethics watchdog.
EL SALVADOR
Romero beatification cleared
A hold on the beatification of Archbishop Oscar Romero has been lifted, Pope Francis said, clearing the way to honor the archbishop, a hero of the nation’s leftist opposition who was gunned down in 1980 while celebrating Mass. Romero’s case had been blocked by conservative leaders in the Roman Catholic Church because he was believed to have harbored Marxist beliefs. The central question for the church has always been whether the archbishop, who was killed by a right-wing death squad, died because of his faith or his vocal criticism of the country’s military. Francis has suggested that Catholic theologians might soon expand the martyr designation to those killed because they were doing God’s work, whether or not hatred of the faith had inspired the killers.
BRAZIL
‘Obama’ running in Brazil
Voters can now opt for a congressional candidate who goes by the name Barack Obama. He is black, like the US president, and running for congress in elections on Oct. 5 for the ruling Workers’ Party. His real name is Claudio Henrique dos Anjos. A court has allowed the 45-year-old to run in the election with ballots that read “Barack Obama.” On his Web site, he goes by the longer name Claudio Henrique Barack Obama. Electoral laws give candidates leeway to choose the name they want to go by in campaigns.
MEXICO
Firm lied about spill: official
Environment Secretary Juan Jose Guerra Abud said on Tuesday that a mining company lied about a spill of 10 million gallons (40,000m3) of acids and heavy metals that contaminated two rivers and a dam downstream that supplies water to the capital of the northern state of Sonora. Guerra Abud said the mine falsely claimed the spill on Aug. 7 was caused by unusually heavy rain. Officials say a construction defect at a holding pond allowed mining waste to flow out. Guerra Abad said the Buenavista del Cobre copper mine could face fines of up to US$3 million for violations of safety and environmental standards.
BRAZIL
Fugitive doctor arrested
A prominent fertility doctor who went on the run in 2011 after being sentenced to 278 years in jail for sexually assaulting his patients was captured on Tuesday in Paraguay, police said. Roger Abdelmassih, whose celebrity clients included soccer legend Pele, was arrested in 2009 over allegations he raped or sexually abused dozens of women patients, sometimes while they were under anesthesia. He was convicted in 2010, but was allowed to remain free pending appeal. When a court reversed that decision and ordered his arrest, he fled the country. Abdelmassih, whose medical license has been revoked, will be deported, news Web Site G1 reported.
THE ‘MONSTER’: The Philippines on Saturday sent a vessel to confront a 12,000-tonne Chinese ship that had entered its exclusive economic zone The Philippines yesterday said it deployed a coast guard ship to challenge Chinese patrol boats attempting to “alter the existing status quo” of the disputed South China Sea. Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said Chinese patrol ships had this year come as close as 60 nautical miles (111km) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon. “Their goal is to normalize such deployments, and if these actions go unnoticed and unchallenged, it will enable them to alter the existing status quo,” he said in a statement. He later told reporters that Manila had deployed a coast guard ship to the area
HOLLYWOOD IN TURMOIL: Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton and Cary Elwes lost properties to the flames, while awards events planned for this week have been delayed Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton, and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events, while at least five people have died. Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week’s Oscar nominations have been delayed, while tens of thousands of city residents had been displaced and were awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city’s most famous denizens. More than 1,900 structures had been destroyed and the number was expected to increase. More than 130,000 people
A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand more than one decade ago said that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back. Forty-three Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation. “We could be imprisoned and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from
Some things might go without saying, but just in case... Belgium’s food agency issued a public health warning as the festive season wrapped up on Tuesday: Do not eat your Christmas tree. The unusual message came after the city of Ghent, an environmentalist stronghold in the country’s East Flanders region, raised eyebrows by posting tips for recycling the conifers on the dinner table. Pointing with enthusiasm to examples from Scandinavia, the town Web site suggested needles could be stripped, blanched and dried — for use in making flavored butter, for instance. Asked what they thought of the idea, the reply
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