China: Collapse of temple under repair kills 13 workers
A 200-year-old temple under repair in southwest China collapsed, killing
13 workers, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said Saturday. Seven others
were injured in the accident Thursday in the Garze region of Sichuan
province. A chronic lack of maintenance had left the temple with a leaking
roof and rotten main pillars, Xinhua said.
Bermuda: Hurricane Erin grows, putting island on alert
Hurricane Erin, the first hurricane of the 2001 Atlantic season, targeted
Bermuda on Saturday as it strengthened, causing officials on the island
nation to go on alert. “What we’re looking at for Bermuda is nearly a
direct hit. It’s going to be very close,” said meteorologist Hugh Cobb.
Ukraine: 2 bodies from California slayings arrive for burial
Grieving relatives of a Ukrainian mother and son slain in a California
massacre met the bodies Saturday when they arrived in Ukraine for burial.
Lyubov Soltys and her 3-year-old son, Sergei, were among people killed
last month, allegedly by her husband, Nikolay Soltys, also a Ukrainian
immigrant to the United States.
Russia: Elderly mark anniversary of WWII Nazi blockade
Elderly Russians clutching carnations streamed to a monument in St.
Petersburg on Saturday to mark the 60th anniversary of the 900-day Nazi
blockade of the city then called Leningrad. More than 1 million people are
estimated to have died during the 1941-1944 siege, part of the 27 million
people the Soviet Union lost because of World War II – more than any other
nation.
Mexico: Man’s letter asks church to ensure his ransom
A prominent American abducted more than two months ago in Acapulco has
written a letter asking church officials to ensure that his family pays a
$2.5 million ransom demanded by his kidnappers. A pair of missives dated
Aug. 4 and published in the El Sur newspaper this week were
reportedly written and signed by Ron Lavender, a real estate agent who
heads the Friends of Acapulco charity group and was abducted by a band of
armed men June 22. In a letter addressed to Angel Martinez Galeana,
spokesman for Acapulco’s archbishop, Mr. Lavender asked the Catholic
Church to help find out why his family has not paid the ransom.
South Korea: Media criticize jailing of opposition paper owners
President Kim Dae Jung’s government has charged and jailed opposition
newspaper owners, acts that media officials say are an attempt to stifle
critical coverage by the country’s freewheeling and fledgling free press.
The government brought tax evasion and embezzlement charges against 13
officials from six newspapers last week. Last month, the owners of three
newspapers were jailed, accused of scheming to avoid taxes.
China: American suspected of gathering secrets jailed
A 66-year-old naturalized American citizen has been jailed for 18 months
on suspicion of gathering state secrets, his relatives and U.S. officials
revealed Friday. Fuming Fong, an electrical engineer from West Orange,
N.J., has not been formally indicted. Mr. Fong’s relatives say he is
innocent of the charges, which center on technical documents he had
assembled in his laptop computer in his role as a consultant to American
power companies.
South Korea: Official to direct policy of reaching out to North
Hoping to reinvigorate his reconciliation policy with North Korea,
President Kim Dae-jung appointed his ambassador to China on Friday to
direct his “sunshine” policy of engaging the North. Hong Soon-young, 64, a
career diplomat and former foreign minister, was among five new ministers
named in a Cabinet reshuffle.
Afghanistan: Justice ties aid workers on trial to ‘height of evil’
Although the trial of eight foreign aid workers accused of preaching
Christianity has only recently begun, the chief justice of Afghanistan’s
supreme court, who is presiding over the case, suggested in a sermon
Friday that his mind was made up and that the verdict is guilty. “Whatever
evidence we have seen, God forbid, is an evil, the height of evil,” said
Noor Muhammad Saqib.
Yugoslavia: Ex-Yugoslavian leader rejects U.N. lawyers
Slobodan Milosevic refuses to recognize a team of lawyers appointed by the
U.N. war crimes tribunal to assist his defense and won’t have any contact
with them, his Belgrade lawyer said Friday. Mr. Milosevic has said he
considers the court illegal.
