Protesters defiant
1 Syria: The president, Bashar al-Assad, accepted the resignation of the cabinet on Tuesday in an attempt to defuse protests against his rule. However, he struck a combative stance the following day, in his first public address since the uprisings, blaming “conspiracies” for two weeks of anti-regime protests and stopping short of a widely anticipated reform package.
The speech led to renewed demonstrations in several cities after Friday prayers. The marchers reportedly chanted “We want freedom” and “The blood of martyrs is not cheap”.
Doctor on trial
2 Germany: A doctor who was the victim of a mysterious kidnapping has gone on trial in France accused of the death of his stepdaughter in 1982. Dieter Kromach, 75, allegedly injected his 14-year-old French stepdaughter Kalinka Bamberski in Germany with a mysterious substance and though cleared in Germany he was later convicted in France in his absence.
In 2009 he was abducted and dumped outside a French court with a head injury. The victim’s father, André Bamberski, who has long campaigned to have Krombach brought to court, was arrested and charged over the kidnapping.
“I have been relentless in my pursuit of the truth but I regret nothing, even if I have sacrificed part of my life,” said Bamberski.
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Rough justice
3 Libya: A woman who came to a hotel full of foreign journalists to complain that she had been gang-raped by pro-Gadaffi militia is facing charges of defaming the men she said attacked her. Iman al-Obaidi, 26, was driven away from a Tripoli hotel after a melee in which security men and hotel staff tried to prevent her from telling her story.
“Accusing someone of a sex crime is a very serious matter,” Musa Ibrahim, the Libyan government spokesman, said. “The boys accused of doing this are furious. They want to kill her.”
On with the show
4 America: Tilikum, the killer whale that drowned a SeaWorld trainer last year, was back performing at Orlando’s SeaWorld on Wednesday. The 22ft, six-ton animal has been involved in the deaths of three people — most recently killing his trainer, Dawn Brancheau, 40.
“Participating in shows is just a portion of Tilikum’s day, but we feel it is an important component of his physical, social and mental enrichment,” said Kelly Flaherty-Clark, SeaWorld’s animal training curator.
Deadly rampage
5 South Africa: A former international rugby player has been accused of killing “at least” three people in an axe-murdering rampage in a revenge attack for the gang rape of his daughter, which left her HIV-positive. The girl was attacked after a break-in at the family’s home in Durban.
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Joseph Ntshongwana, a 34-year-old former Springbok player, is said to have stalked one of the impoverished townships near his home, launching attacks, apparently at random, on black men. Police said that one of the man’s victims had been decapitated and others were assaulted, but managed to escape.
“It was almost like he wanted to wipe out all the men from one particular area of the township,” a police source said.
That’s odd . . .
6 Italy: George Clooney, who has a home in the north of the country, may be called to testify for the defence at Silvio Berlusconi’s “bunga-bunga” trial. The Oscar-winning actor and his Italian girlfriend, Elisabetta Canalis, are among 78 potential witnesses.
The prime minister goes on trial on Wednesday for allegedly paying for sex with an underage belly-dancer known as Ruby the Heart Stealer. She told prosecutors that Clooney and his girlfriend had been at one of the parties. Clooney denied that the couple ever went to Berlusconi’s villa. “It seems odd since I’ve only met Berlusconi once and that was in an attempt to get aid to Darfur,” he said.
Oil spill ‘charges’
7 America: The former BP chief executive Tony Hayward could face manslaughter charges over his role in the Gulf oil spill as prosecutors in America conclude their criminal investigation. Eleven workers were killed in an explosion at the Deepwater Horizon rig, in the Gulf of Mexico, which triggered the worst oil spill in American history. Hayward and other managers at BP may be quizzed by investigators on whether decisions they made cut corners on safety and led to the disaster.
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A decision to prosecute individuals within BP would be an unusual step as it is usually the companies at fault in environmental catastrophes that are held accountable.
Vegans in dock
8 France: A vegan couple whose 11-month-old baby daughter died from vitamin deficiency after drinking only breast milk have gone on trial charged with neglect. Sergipe and Joel Le Moaligou called the emergency services in March 2008 when their baby, Louise, appeared listless. By the time the ambulance arrived at their home in Saint-Maulvis, north of Paris, she was already dead.
The pair were also opposed to traditional medicines. “They preferred applying clay or cabbage poultices whose recipes they found in their books,” said Stéphane Daquo, the mother’s lawyer. “These are people who read the wrong thing at the wrong time.”
UN staff killed
9 Afghanistan: The UN mission in the country was thrown into crisis on Friday after a mob of protesters killed up to 20 UN staff — beheading two — and wounded dozens of others. The demonstrators were venting their anger against the burning of the Koran in an American church by Pastor Wayne Sapp.
Officials said the protesters disarmed a group of policemen who were guarding the compound in Mazar-e-Sharif and broke in. “The mullahs told us to protest against the burning of the Koran,” said Abuzar, 28, a madrasah student. “We didn’t want to attack the UN compound. I don’t know how the situation changed. A few people took the guns from the guards and went inside.”
Bear-faced cheek
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10 Germany: Fans of Knut, the polar bear who died last month, are protesting against the proposal to preserve the animal and put him on display in a Berlin museum. Berlin zoo’s online condolence book is filled with furious messages. “Knut cannot be stuffed. When are you going to get the message?” reads one. “Leave him alone for once! Let Knut rest in peace!”
Campaigners accuse the zoo, which has already made millions from Knut in merchandising and entrance fees, of wanting to milk him for even more. However, Heiner Kloes, in charge of bears at Berlin zoo, was defiant. “We are not going to let ourselves be swayed by thousands of people, tens of thousands of people or hundreds of thousands,” he said.