FRANCE
Redheads celebrate hair
Ginger, auburn, strawberry blonde; all types of redheads turned out on Saturday in their hundreds in the Brittany town of Chateaugiron for the first “Red Love” festival. “I was born red, I will stay red and I am beautiful like everyone around me,” said Simon, a 32-year-old farm worker. “I was teased when I was young, called names like ‘carrot-top … it’s the same as if you’re fat.” The 1,200 attendees enjoyed concerts and shows, including a fashion parade of 18 redheads in wedding dresses.
Photo: AFP
RUSSIA
Opposition leader detained
Alexei Navalny was detained outside his home in Moscow on Saturday for reasons that were not immediately clear, injuring a finger in the process, his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on Twitter. In an interview to radio station Ekho Moskvy, Yarmysh said it was “probably linked” to Navalny’s plans to hold protests on Sept. 9 against the government’s unpopular pension reform. In a blog post published on Saturday, Navalny said the protests would take place in Moscow and “in almost a hundred other cities.” Yarmysh said the 42-year-old was treated in a hospital after his arrest for a suspected broken finger.
EGYPT
Couple’s deaths ‘suspicious’
The nation’s top prosecutor dismissed speculation that the death of two British tourists in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada was caused by poisonous gas emissions in their hotel room, as the hotel attributed their deaths to “natural causes.” An inspection by the prosecutor’s team of John and Susan Cooper’s room found that there were no toxic or harmful gas emissions or leaks, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. All devices in the room were “functioning efficiently without any defects,” it added. The statement came after the couple’s daughter, Kelly Ormerod, told Sky News that “something suspicious has gone on,” especially since her parents had not complained of any health problems prior to going on the holiday. The Cooper couple’s deaths prompted tour operator Thomas Cook to evacuate its 301 customers from the Steigenberger Aqua Magic hotel as a “precautionary measure.” About 100 decided to return home, the rest were moved to other hotels.
UNITED KINGDOM
Lindsay Kemp dies at 80
Dancer, choreographer and mime artist Lindsay Kemp, known for tutoring singers David Bowie and Kate Bush, has died at 80 at his home in Livorno, Italy. Director Nendie Pinto-Duschinsky, who is making a documentary about Kemp, on Saturday said that Kemp died suddenly after a “perfect” day rehearsing with his students. Kemp formed his dance company in the 1960s. He is credited with helping Bowie create his Ziggy Stardust persona and teaching Bush to dance.
UNITED KINGDOM
Cruise ship rescues trio
The Pacific Princess cruise ship late on Saturday afternoon turned around in the North Sea to rescue three men in a lifeboat who had sent up a flare. The ship, which was heading back to Dover after an eight-day cruise around the British Isles, changed its course to rescue the men off the coast of Norwich.
INDIA
Flood death toll hits 445
The death toll from devastating floods in the southern state of Kerala yesterday rose to 445 with the discovery of 28 more bodies as the waters recede and a massive cleanup gathers pace, government officials said. About 1 million people are still packed into temporary relief camps, and 15 are reported missing even as the government mounts an operation to clean homes and public places that have been filled with dirt and sand left by the floods. More than 130,000 flood-hit houses had been cleaned, or nearly one-third of those affected, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a tweet. The government said that more than 10,000km of roads have been destroyed or damaged, while a legislator said 50,000 houses had been wiped out. People returning to their homes have been told to stay alert as receding waters leave behind a glut of snakes.
AUSTRALIA
Rain brings scant relief
Widespread rain fell across drought-affected parts over the weekend, bringing relief to farmers struggling to cope with the driest conditions in more than half a century. Graziers have had to hand-feed sheep and cattle, sell down stock — and in some cases even shoot them to end their suffering — as they ran out of hay and grain in the severe conditions affecting Queensland and New South Wales states. The wet weather was the first farmers in some areas had seen for more than a year and even included hail. However, locals said the ground had become so dry in the past few months that more downpours over the next few weeks and months would be needed to make a difference.
DR CONGO
Ebola outbreak kills 67
An outbreak of Ebola in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) has killed 67 people this month, authorities said on Saturday. A total of 105 cases have been reported since the flare-up of Ebola began on Aug. 1 in Mangina in North Kivu Province, according to the Ministry of Health, out of which 77 have been confirmed by laboratory tests. Eleven people have recovered from the virus and 67 had died, it said. Minister of Health Oly Ilunga Kalenga on Thursday traveled to Mangina and saw two patients being discharged after they were treated with a new prototype treatment called mAb114. Developed in the US, it is the first therapeutic drug to be used in an active Ebola epidemic in the nation.
CHINA
Hotelier held after deadly fire
Police in Harbin have detained the owner of a resort hotel, where a fire killed 19 people and injured 23. The public security bureau said on its official social media account that it was questioning the legal representative of the Beilong Hot Spring Leisure Hotel (北龍溫泉休閒酒店) on suspicion of negligence leading to Saturday’s fire.
IRAN
Minister voted out of office
The parliament yesterday voted to remove Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Masoud Karbasian from office, state media said, amid a sharp fall in the rial currency and a deterioration in the economic situation. The move was the latest in a continuing shakeup of top economic personnel as the US reimposes economic sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program and other issues. A total of 137 members of parliament voted for Karbasian’s removal, state media said, while 121 members voted in favor of him remaining in office.
James Watson — the Nobel laureate co-credited with the pivotal discovery of DNA’s double-helix structure, but whose career was later tainted by his repeated racist remarks — has died, his former lab said on Friday. He was 97. The eminent biologist died on Thursday in hospice care on Long Island in New York, announced the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he was based for much of his career. Watson became among the 20th century’s most storied scientists for his 1953 breakthrough discovery of the double helix with researcher partner Francis Crick. Along with Crick and Maurice Wilkins, he shared the
OUTRAGE: The former strongman was accused of corruption and responsibility for the killings of hundreds of thousands of political opponents during his time in office Indonesia yesterday awarded the title of national hero to late president Suharto, provoking outrage from rights groups who said the move was an attempt to whitewash decades of human rights abuses and corruption that took place during his 32 years in power. Suharto was a US ally during the Cold War who presided over decades of authoritarian rule, during which up to 1 million political opponents were killed, until he was toppled by protests in 1998. He was one of 10 people recognized by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in a televised ceremony held at the presidential palace in Jakarta to mark National
LANDMARK: After first meeting Trump in Riyadh in May, al-Sharaa’s visit to the White House today would be the first by a Syrian leader since the country’s independence Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in the US on Saturday for a landmark official visit, his country’s state news agency SANA reported, a day after Washington removed him from a terrorism blacklist. Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted long-time former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad late last year, is due to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House today. It is the first such visit by a Syrian president since the country’s independence in 1946, according to analysts. The interim leader met Trump for the first time in Riyadh during the US president’s regional tour in May. US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack earlier
US President Donald Trump handed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban a one-year exemption from sanctions for buying Russian oil and gas after the close right-wing allies held a chummy White House meeting on Friday. Trump slapped sanctions on Moscow’s two largest oil companies last month after losing patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin over his refusal to end the nearly four-year-old invasion of Ukraine. However, while Trump has pushed other European countries to stop buying oil that he says funds Moscow’s war machine, Orban used his first trip to the White House since Trump’s return to power to push for
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