South Korea ferry passengers recall moments of bravery from crew
Public verdict against Sewol crew has been savage and quick but accounts of individual acts of heroism have also emerged
As the ferry sank, some crew members gave their lifejackets to passengers. One refused to leave until she shepherded students off the ship, and was later found dead. Others worked from rescue boats to break windows with hammers and pull people trapped in cabins to safety.
Nearly a week after the sinking of the South Korean ferry – with rising outrage over a death count that could eventually top 300 – the public verdict against the crew of the Sewol has been savage and quick. "Cowards!" social media users howled. "Unforgivable, murderous," South Korea's president, Park Geun-hye, said on Monday of the captain and some crew.
Some fled the ferry, including the captain, but not all. At least seven of the 29 crew members are missing or dead, and several of those who survived stayed on or near the ship to help passengers.
Decades later, hostage crisis still haunts US-Iranian relations
The White House has refused to grant a visa to Iran's new UN ambassador due to his involvement in the 1979 hostage crisis. The diplomatic clash comes at a delicate time in negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program.
Responding to a groundswell of domestic pressure, the Obama administration has denied a visa to Iran's new UN ambassador, Hamid Aboutalebi. The White House decision goes against normal diplomatic protocol, raising questions about Washington's ability to unilaterally veto another country's choice of representation at the world body.
Aboutalebi was a member of the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line. The student group seized the US embassy and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days during the 1979 Islamic revolution, which ousted the US-backed Shah dictatorship and brought Ayatollah Khomeini's theocratic regime to power. Aboutalebi says he worked for the student group only as a translator and negotiator.
"Given his role in the events of 1979, which clearly matter profoundly to the American people, it would be unacceptable for the United States to grant this visa," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington last Tuesday.
Thaksin offers to leave politics ahead of fresh elections
April 22, 2014 - 1:52PMLindsay Murdoch
South-East Asia correspondent for Fairfax Media
Bangkok: Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is ready to “sacrifice his family” by ending its political roles so the country can emerge from months of sometimes violent anti-government protests and political stalemate, according to a close aide.
The offer would include Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, his younger sister, quitting politics.
But Mr Thaksin insists that for this to happen his political enemies must adhere to Thailand’s rules and laws and not block new elections, according to Noppadon Pattama, Mr Thaksin’s legal adviser and spokesman.
“He [Thaksin] is not the root cause of the country’s problem. The problem was caused by the failure to respect the people’s decision [at elections],” Mr Noppadon said.
234 girls missing from Nigeria school, officials 'ignoring' parents' list
Some 234 girls are missing from the northeast Nigerian school attacked last week by Islamic extremists, significantly more than the number reported by education officials, parents told the state governor.
The higher figure came out a week after the kidnappings when the Borno state governor insisted a military escort take him to the town. Parents told the governor that officials would not listen to them when they drew up their list of names of missing children and the total reached 234.
The discrepancy in the figures could not immediately be resolved.
Security officials had warned Gov. Kashim Shettima that it was too dangerous for him to drive to Chibok, 130 kilometers from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital and birthplace of the Boko Haram terrorist network blamed for the abductions.
Syria to hold presidential election on June 3
President Bashar al-Assad has not declared his candidacy yet, but he is expected to run - and win. His once-tenuous hold on power has tightened again after a string of regime victories.
Syria will hold presidential elections on June 3, the country's parliament speaker announced Monday, a vote President Bashar al-Assad is likely to contest, and win, as the country enters its fourth year of war.
Assad, who has ruled the country since taking over from his late father in 2000, has suggested he would seek another seven-year term in office, reflecting his determination to show he is the legitimate leader of Syria. He has strengthened his once-tenuous hold on power in recent months with a crushing military assault to recapture key urban areas, likely hoping to have them under government control before the vote is held.
The conflict, which began as demonstrations against Mr. Assad's rule in March 2011, is now a civil war that has killed 150,000 people and forced one-third of the country's population from their homes.
Sherpas Demand More Job Protections After Deadly Avalanche
Reeling from the tragic deaths of more than a dozen guides in amonstrous avalanche, Nepal's ethnic Sherpa community is banding together to call for more protections in their hazardous work — as well as a climbing boycott that could unsettle the most lucrative industry on Mount Everest.
For the Sherpas who help mountaineers scale the world's tallest peak, the disaster Friday was a horrific kind of work-place accident. So now they are pressing Nepal's government for more insurance money, more financial aid for the families of victims, the creation of a relief fund and regulations that would guarantee climbers' rights.
As Buddhist monks mourned and cremated the remains of the late Sherpa guides Monday, a committee of guides, rescuers and others was preparing to make its recommendations to Nepal's government, Maddhu Sudan Burlatoki, head of the mountaineering department, told the Associated Press.
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