Iran

Team arrives for nuclear visits

A team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Teheran on Saturday. Led by nuclear engineer Massimo Aparo, the team will begin reporting to the IAEA on Monday, marking the official start of a deal struck last week between Iran and the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany. Under the terms of the agreement, Iran will stop work on some portions of its nuclear program in exchange for relief from some international sanctions, which have damaged the country's economy. The IAEA team will visit the Natanz and Fordow nuclear facilities to ensure that Iran will stop enriching uranium to 20 percent and that its stockpile of enriched uranium is diluted, according to Fars News.

Thailand

Protesters march after blast

A grenade explosion in Bangkok on Friday that killed one demonstrator and wounded another 35 failed to deter antigovernment protesters from marching through Thailand's capital on Saturday. Friday's blast sent tension rippling through Bangkok after several days of relative calm, suggesting the movement to close down the government and force the resignation of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was running out of steam. It was not clear who was behind the attack on the protesters. The incident comes just two weeks before a general election and heightens the risk of a move by the country's army to end an impasse that is starting to damage the economy.

India

18 dead in stampede

A stampede killed at least 18 people in a large crowd gathered to pay last respects to a religious leader on Saturday in India, the official news agency Press Trust of India reported. The pandemonium, which injured 60 others, started after the gates were closed to the residence of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, who had died the day before at age 102. Burhanuddin was the head of a denomination of Islam known as Dawoodi Bohra. His funeral will continue as scheduled. This is not the first such religious stampede in India. Last October at least 115 died when Hindu pilgrims crossing a bridge to a temple broke into a panic, as a rumor spread that the bridge was about to give way. Last February, at least 36 died at a stampede at a train station, as millions of people clamored to get to the Ganges River for a Hindu religious festival.

United States

Cruise ship passengers fall ill

Dozens of passengers on a four-night Royal Caribbean cruise ship became sick with a stomach illness late last week. The Majesty of the Seas docked in Miami on Friday after a Caribbean journey that included port calls at Nassau and CocoCay, Bahamas, and Key West, Florida. Sixty-six of the more than 2,500 passengers aboard experienced gastrointestinal issues, such as vomiting and diarrhea, Royal Caribbean International said. Two of the more than 800 crew members also fell ill. The cruise line suspects the cause to be norovirus, a very contagious bug that can be spread by infected people, in contaminated food or water, or through contact with contaminated surfaces, according to the company's statement.

US fugitive caught after 15 years

A child sex abuse suspect from Oregon in the United States has been captured after being on the run for 15 years. Daniel Clement Chafe was arrested on Thursday in Bozeman, Montana. He faces six counts of rape, five counts of sexual abuse and seven counts of sodomy. Initially, the investigation centered on crimes against two teenage girls, but later, additional victims were identified, police said. Chafe disappeared in September 1998 after failing to appear in a Douglas County courtroom to face trial, police said. He was allegedly recruiting girls aged between ages 14 and 16 to form what he called the "Cobalt Clan". The break came when an Oregon detective's research indicated Chafe was living in Montana under an alias. Further investigation confirmed where Chafe was living and working, ultimately leading to his arrest.

New Zealand

Whales rescued from beach

Dozens of pilot whales have been rescued after they beached themselves along the shore of Farewell Spit on New Zealand's South Island on Saturday. Fifty-three of the animals had been discovered along the beach after swimming up on shore, said John Mason with the New Zealand Department of Conservation. Teams of volunteers successfully delivered 40 of the pilot whales back to deeper water. It's the fifth large-scale stranding in recent days at the bay, leaving at least 22 of the animals dead. Officials have been calling in volunteers with wet suits or boats to help the whales and monitor their path.

Syria

Government offers Aleppo truce

The Syrian government, preparing for peace talks with rebels this week, handed the Russian co-sponsors of the conference a proposal on Friday for a ceasefire in Aleppo and an exchange of prisoners. The offer was dismissed by some of President Bashar al-Assad's disparate opponents, whose very attendance at the talks due to start on Wednesday in Switzerland remained in doubt, despite fresh assurances from Washington that negotiations would lead to Assad's departure from power. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem, visiting Moscow, said he gave Russian officials a plan for a truce in Aleppo, Syria's biggest city, where government forces have been unable to dislodge rebels over the past year. He also said Damascus was ready to exchange prisoners, something rebels want.

Reuters

(China Daily 01/19/2014 page2)