LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I believe that if the crisis is not solved ... there will be the danger of Somalization.
It will mean the fall of the state, rise of warlords and militias.”
Lakhdar Brahimi,
the U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, on the threat
the country faces if the civil war is not ended soon.
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4 sailor killers set for death in China
BEIJING - A Chinese court sentenced four members of a Burmese drug gang to death Tuesday for kidnapping and killing 13 Chinese sailors last year on the Mekong River, state media said.
The grisly murders on a section of Mekong flowing through the Golden Triangle region, which is notorious for drug traffickers and extortion gangs, prompted China, Burma, Laos and Thailand to begin joint patrols there in December.
Earlier reports said the Chinese victims were bound and blindfolded with adhesive tape before being shot.
Their bodies were found near Chiang Rai in northern Thailand.
Gang leader Naw Kham was extradited from Laos at the request of Chinese authorities in May. He and three members of his gang were sentenced to death by the People’s Intermediate Court in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Gay-marriage law upheld in Spain
MADRID - Spain’s Constitutional Court upheld the legality of the country’s same-sex marriage law Tuesday, rejecting an appeal contending that marriage in the Spanish Constitution means only the union of a man and woman.
The county’s top court voted 8-3 to dismiss the appeal of the conservative Popular Party filed shortly after Spain became the world’s third country to approve same-sex marriage.
Spain’s parliament passed the homosexual-marriage law in 2005 when it was Socialist-controlled, with Popular Party deputies opposed. The Popular Party took power late last year after the Socialists were ousted over their handling of the economy.
The gay-marriage law angered the predominant Roman Catholic Church, but opinion surveys showed most Spaniards backed it. Belgium and the Netherlands approved same-sex marriage laws before Spain.
More than 22,000 such marriages have taken place in Spain.
Parts sham shuts S. Korea reactors
SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea’s nuclear watchdog is investigating a forgery scandal that is forcing the shutdown of two reactors and sparked fears of unprecedented power shortages this winter, an official said Tuesday.
Nuclear Safety and Security Commission spokesman Shim Eun-jung said her agency is checking forged safety certificates and will invite civilian experts to participate.
South Korea announced Monday that it found five nuclear reactors running with falsely certified components.
Officials said two reactors with the highest concentration of those parts have either shut down or will do so Tuesday.
About 30 percent of South Korea’s electricity comes from nuclear plants, and authorities warn electricity reserves could fall dangerously low if those parts aren’t replaced by January. No radioactive leak has occurred.
Yonhap news agency said prosecutors are investigating the parts suppliers.
More mass graves in Ivory Coast
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast - Up to 10 new mass graves have been discovered near the site of a July attack on a camp for displaced people, officials said Tuesday, amid allegations that initial casualty totals were downplayed to mask killings carried out by the national army.
Rights groups claim summary executions were carried out by the Republican Forces of Ivory Coast. Last month, officials found six bodies in a well close to the former campsite in the western town of Duekoue.
Government, army and U.N. officials toured 10 more graves in the same area Saturday, said Paul Mondouho, vice-mayor of Duekoue. He said the graves had first been identified by civilians and that officials did not know the number of bodies they contained because they had not yet been properly exhumed.
Prosecutor Noel Dje Enrike Yahau, who is based in the commercial capital of Abidjan, confirmed that multiple new graves had been discovered but could not provide details. U.N. officials and the local prosecutor in charge of investigating the suspected killings could not be reached Tuesday.
Front Section, Pages 11 on 11/07/2012