GUATEMALA
Volcano death toll hits 109
The death toll from the eruption of the Volcan de Fuego has reached 109, officials said on Thursday. The National Forensic Sciences Agency said morgues had received the remains of 109 victims of Sunday’s eruption. The previous toll was 99. Seven of the latest victims were in a temporary morgue installed close to the impact zone, in the now-devastated community of San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, the agency said. Another three victims were transferred to the capital’s central morgue, having succumbed to their injuries while hospitalized. Authorities temporarily on Thursday suspended rescue and recovery operations in areas devastated by the volcano as heavy rainfall, still-hot volcanic material and additional explosions threatened to cause dangerous landslides.
NICARAGUA
Bishops meet with Ortega
Catholic bishops on Thursday met with President Daniel Ortega on reviving stalled talks to quell a political crisis rights groups claim has left 134 people dead — but emerged from the closed-door meeting without a formal plan to head back to the negotiating table. Ortega requested a “period of reflection” to consider a proposal from the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference, which said the bishops had presented “the pain and anguish of people who have suffered in recent weeks” during the “frank and sincere meeting.” The group did not elaborate on the details of its plan, but in a statement said that it “reflects the feelings of many sectors of Nicaraguan society” and was awaiting a reaction from Ortega. Managua auxiliary bishop Silvio Jose Baez said Ortega “asked us for a period of reflection to give us an answer, which we asked he give us in writing” — after which they would consider the feasibility of renewed negotiations.
SOUTH AFRICA
Jacob Zuma returns to court
Former president Jacob Zuma, who was ousted by his own party in February, yesterday arrived at the Durban High Court for his second appearance on corruption charges relating to a US$2.5 billion arms deal in the late 1990s. Zuma faces 16 charges of fraud, racketeering and money laundering relating to a deal to buy European military hardware after the end of apartheid in 1994. State prosecutors and Zuma’s lawyers are expected to argue over a start date for the trial. The national prosecutor this week turned down a request by the 76-year-old to delay yesterday’s hearing pending the outcome of a separate legal challenge over the state paying his legal fees. The speed with which prosecutors have moved against Zuma is a sign of his waning influence since he was replaced by President Cyril Ramaphosa four months ago. Ramaphosa has made the fight against corruption a top priority as he seeks to woo foreign investment and revamp an ailing economy.
An endangered baby pygmy hippopotamus that shot to social media stardom in Thailand has become a lucrative source of income for her home zoo, quadrupling its ticket sales, the institution said Thursday. Moo Deng, whose name in Thai means “bouncy pork,” has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to Khao Kheow Open Zoo this month. The two-month-old pygmy hippo went viral on TikTok and Instagram for her cheeky antics, inspiring merchandise, memes and even craft tutorials on how to make crocheted or cake-based Moo Dengs at home. A zoo spokesperson said that ticket sales from the start of September to Wednesday reached almost
TIGHTENING: Zhu Hengpeng, who worked for an influential think tank, has reportedly not been seen in public since making disparaging remarks on WeChat A leading Chinese economist at a government think tank has reportedly disappeared after being disciplined for criticizing Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in a private chat group. Zhu Hengpeng (朱恆鵬), 55, is believed to have made disparaging remarks about China’s economy, and potentially about the Chinese leader specifically, in a private WeChat group. Zhu was subsequently detained in April and put under investigation, the Wall Street Journal reported. Zhu worked for the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) for more than 20 years, most recently as the Institute of Economics deputy director and director of the Public Policy Research Center. He
‘BARBAROUS ACTS’: The captain of the fishing vessel said that people in checkered clothes beat them with iron bars and that he fell unconscious for about an hour Ten Vietnamese fishers were violently robbed in the South China Sea, state media reported yesterday, with an official saying the attackers came from Chinese-flagged vessels. The men were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), which Taiwan claims, as do Vietnam, China, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. Vietnamese media did not identify the nationalities of the attackers, but Phung Ba Vuong, an official in central Quang Ngai province, told reporters: “They were Chinese, [the boats had] Chinese flags.” Four of the 10-man Vietnamese crew were rushed
CHINESE ICBM: The missile landed near the EEZ of French Polynesia, much to the surprise and concern of the president, who sent a letter of protest to Beijing Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere called for “respect for our region” and a stop to missile tests in the Pacific Ocean, after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Katonivere recalled the Pacific Ocean’s history as a nuclear weapons testing ground, and noted Wednesday’s rare launch by China of an ICBM. “There was a unilateral test firing of a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. We urge respect for our region and call for cessation of such action,” he said. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the
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