The world in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY “I can only describe this as a military invasion and occupation.” Arsen Avakov,

Ukraine’s newly named interior minister, after men described as Russian troops deployed at airports and a coast guard base in the Crimea region of Ukraine Article, 1A

Chinese slur against envoy raises ire

BEIJING - A Chinese government news service used a racial slur to describe the departing American ambassador in an editorial Friday that drew widespread public condemnation in China.

The article - which called Gary Locke a “rotten banana,” a guide dog for the blind, and a plague - reflected Chinese nationalists’ loathing toward the first Chinese-American to have been Washington’s top envoy to Beijing. “Banana” is used as a slur and refers to Asians identifying with Western values despite their skin color.

Locke’s ethnic background particularly interested the Chinese government and people. Locke won public applause when he was seen carrying his own bag and flying economy class, but he drew criticism from Beijing because his demeanor was an unwelcome contrast to Chinese officials’ privileges and entitlements.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Locke “a champion of human dignity and a relentless advocate for America’s values.” Asked about the China News Service commentary, State Department spokesman Jen Psaki said, “We are not going to dignify the name-calling in that editorial with a response.”Putin critic placed under house arrest

MOSCOW - Alexei Navalny, Russia’s leading opposition figure, was placed under house arrest Friday and ordered to not use the Internet or telephone for two months, thus removing President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critic from public life.

Judge Artur Karpov at the Basmany Court in Moscow ruled that Navalny had violated the terms of a travel ban from a pending criminal case regarding the defrauding of a local branch of the cosmetics producer Yves Rocher.

The fraud case is one of several criminal prosecutions filed against Navalny by Russian prosecutors that critics have said are politically motivated.

Navalny was convicted last July in an embezzlement case that was widely viewed as groundless and sentenced to five years in prison. He was freed the next day on appeal and allowed to run for mayor of Moscow.

Prosecutors requested the house arrest after Navalny was detained at a rally in support of seven political activists who were sentenced to up to four years in prison for their part in a 2012 anti-Putin rally that evolved into clashes between demonstrators and the police.

Accused Nazi guard ruled unfit for trial

BERLIN - A 94-year-old man deported from the U.S. for lying about his Nazi past is unfit for trial on allegations that he was an accessory to thousands of murders as an SS guard at Auschwitz, a German court said Friday.

The Ellwangen state court said Hans Lipschis is suffering from “worsening dementia” and can’t be tried. He was charged with 10,510 counts of accessory to murder on allegations he served as a guard at the death camp from 1941 to 1943.

Stuttgart prosecutors said they hadn’t decided whether to appeal the decision.

The court released Lipschis from custody in December, saying it had “considerable doubt” over his fitness to face trial. His attorney, Achim Baechle, said Lipschis suffered a fall on his return home and is now in a nursing home.

Lipschis was deported from the U.S. to Germany in the early 1980s for lying about his Nazi past when he arrived in Chicago in 1956. He has acknowledged being assigned to an SS guard unit at Auschwitz but said he only served as a cook.Freed by U.S., Cuban spy returns home

HAVANA - A second member of the “Cuban Five” returned to the Caribbean island and a hero’s welcome Friday, a day after leaving a prison in the United States, where he spent 15 years behind bars on spy-related charges.

Fernando Gonzalez arrived at the Havana airport around noon local time, state television and the government-run website Cuba debate reported.

The 50-year-old Gonzalez and four others were arrested in 1998 and convicted in 2001 in Miami on charges including conspiracy and failure to register as foreign agents in the U.S.

Prosecutors argued at trial that they sought to infiltrate military bases and monitored militant Cuban exile groups opposed to the communist government in Havana.

Havana hails the men as heroes and maintains they were only keeping tabs on the exile groups to prevent terrorist attacks in Cuba.

Front Section, Pages 6 on 03/01/2014

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