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No sign of ‘missing’ Kim on key party date
Seoul, October 10
North Korea's ruling party celebrated its 69th anniversary today with no sign that "missing" leader Kim Jong-Un might finally resurface after more than a month out of the public eye Kim's unexplained absence has fed a cycle of rumour and wild speculation that only a country as reclusive and impenetrable as North Korea could sustain.

Kim missed a key political anniversary event on October 10, 2014, extending a month-long absence that has fuelled rampant speculation about his physical health and political future.
Kim missed a key political anniversary event on October 10, 2014, extending a month-long absence that has fuelled rampant speculation about his physical health and political future. AFP



EARLIER STORIES


Spain seeks answers as seven more enter Ebola hospital
Health workers gather outside the Carlos III hospital in Madrid on Friday. Madris, October 10
Seven more persons have been admitted to a Spanish hospital unit monitoring possible Ebola cases where nurse Teresa Romero, the first person to contract the deadly virus outside West Africa, lay seriously ill on Friday.






Health workers gather outside the Carlos III hospital in Madrid on Friday. AFP

HK protesters regroup after govt rejects talks
Pro-democracy protestors gather outside the government headquarters as they continue to block the area around the Central financial district in Hong Kong on Friday Hong Kong, October 10
Thousands of protesters regrouped in central Hong Kong on Friday to push their call for democracy, a day after the government called off talks with students amid a two-week standoff that has shaken communist China's capitalist hub.




Pro-democracy protestors gather outside the government headquarters as they continue to block the area around the Central financial district in Hong Kong on Friday. Reuters

Jihadists seize Kurdish HQ in Syria’s Kobani
Suruc (Turkey), October 10
Jihadists captured the headquarters of Kurdish fighters defending the battleground Syrian town of Kobani today as a UN envoy warned of a looming "massacre" by the Islamic State group.

 





 

 

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No sign of ‘missing’ Kim on key party date
Rumour mills working overtime about fate of N Korean leader | He is still in charge, has leg injury: Sources

Seoul, October 10
North Korea's ruling party celebrated its 69th anniversary today with no sign that "missing" leader Kim Jong-Un might finally resurface after more than a month out of the public eye Kim's unexplained absence has fed a cycle of rumour and wild speculation that only a country as reclusive and impenetrable as North Korea could sustain.

Competing theories range widely from an extended rest period to a leadership coup, via a long list of possible illnesses and ailments including broken ankles, gout and diabetes. Should he fail to put in any appearance today, the rumour mill is likely to shift up several gears.

North Korea has more than its fair share of political anniversaries, but the Korean Workers' Party anniversary is one of the bigger ones, and Kim would be expected to show up.

A source with access to the secretive North's leadership said North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is in firm control of his government but hurt his leg taking part in a military drill, playing down speculation over the 31-year-old's health and grip on power in the nuclear-capable nation.

North Korea's state media, which usually chronicle Kim's activities in great detail, have not mentioned any public appearances since he attended a concert with his wife on September 3 and the official KCNA news agency indicated he did not attend an important political anniversary on Friday.

In the previous two years, Kim marked the anniversary of the founding of North Korea's Workers' Party with a post-midnight visit to the Pyongyang mausoleum where the bodies of his father and grandfather are interred.

But the report by KCNA did not mention Kim's name in a list of high-level party and military officials who attended an event at the mausoleum on Friday. A flower basket from Kim was placed at the mausoleum, it said.

The source with access to the North's leadership, who has close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing, said on Thursday that Kim had hurt his leg while inspecting military exercises.

"He ordered all the generals to take part in drills and he took part too. They were crawling and running and rolling around, and he pulled a tendon," the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

"He injured his ankle and knee around late August or early September while drilling because he is overweight. He limped around in the beginning but the injury worsened," the source said.

Kim, who has rapidly gained weight since coming to power after his father died of a heart attack in 2011, had been seen walking with a limp since an event with important officials in July, which would imply he may have aggravated an earlier injury.

Kim needs about 100 days to recuperate, said the source, whose information could not be independently verified. — Reuters

Not his first absence

  • In June 2012, six months after coming to power, state media failed to report on or photograph him for 23 days. Kim re-appeared the next month when he was reported attending a show at a dolphinarium
  • Speculation that Kim's unusually long absence from public view may be due to ill health was fuelled by a North Korean television report late last month that said he was suffering from 'discomfort'
  • Some North Korea watchers also suggest that Kim may have been sidelined in a power struggle, a scenario they say was reinforced by the unexpected visit of a delegation to Incheon

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Spain seeks answers as seven more enter Ebola hospital

Madris, October 10
Seven more persons have been admitted to a Spanish hospital unit monitoring possible Ebola cases where nurse Teresa Romero, the first person to contract the deadly virus outside West Africa, lay seriously ill on Friday.

With recriminations growing over how Romero became infected at the Madrid hospital, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said it was extremely unlikely that the disease, which has already killed around 4,000 people in West Africa, would spread in Spain.

"Our first priority is Teresa Romero. She is the only person that we know has the illness," he told reporters on the steps of the specially-adapted Carlos III hospital, surrounded by medical staff. A hospital spokeswoman said 14 persons were now under observation or being treated, including Romero's husband.

The seven new admissions late on Thursday included two hairdressers who had given Romero a beauty treatment before she was diagnosed, and hospital staff who had treated the 44-year-old nurse after she was admitted on Monday.

All had come voluntarily to be monitored for signs of the disease, although none of the 14 has so far tested positive for the disease except Romero, whose condition was described by the hospital as serious but stable.

Rajoy said he had set up a committee headed by the deputy prime minister to handle the crisis, five days after news first broke of Romero's infection. Romero was infected in the hospital as she treated two Spanish missionaries who had caught the haemorrhagic fever in West Africa and she remained undiagnosed for days despite reporting her symptoms. — Reuters

Rising tempers

  • Spanish labour unions have accused the government of trying to deflect the blame onto nurse Teresa Romero for the failings of its health system, after the EU asked Spain to explain how the virus could have been spread on a high-security ward.
  • The top regional health official in Madrid, Javier Rodriguez, has said Romero took too long to admit she had made a mistake by touching her face with the glove of her protective suit while taking it off.
  • El Mundo newspaper published a cartoon on Friday showing Rajoy and other officials of his People's Party pointing at the nurse under the caption: “Protocol for passing on blame”

Liberia ban on scribes

Liberia said on Friday that it was banning journalists from Ebola clinics, defying media rights campaigners who have warned panicked African governments against "muzzling" reporters in response to the crisis. Government spokesman Isaac Jackson made the announcement as he was questioned on a radio phone-in show about reporters being barred from covering a strike at a Monrovia Ebola treatment unit.

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HK protesters regroup after govt rejects talks

Hong Kong, October 10
Thousands of protesters regrouped in central Hong Kong on Friday to push their call for democracy, a day after the government called off talks with students amid a two-week standoff that has shaken communist China's capitalist hub.

Scores arrived with tents, suggesting they were in for the long haul despite a call by police to remove obstacles that have blocked major roads in and out of the financial centre, causing traffic and commuter chaos with tail-backs stretching for miles. The police said they would take action at an appropriate time, without specifying what.

"I've just set up camp here under the bridge and I will come down to occupy whenever I can," said Wong Lai-wa, 23. "I may have to go back to school during the day, but I will make every effort to come back."

The protesters are well equipped to sit it out, with supply stations stocked with essentials such as water, biscuits, noodles and cereals. They also have makeshift showers and dozens of tents already pitched where they can sleep.

"Everyone is trying to create his own space, or to defend his own position," said Travis Chu, sitting with four friends in the Admiralty district. — Reuters

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Jihadists seize Kurdish HQ in Syria’s Kobani

Suruc (Turkey), October 10
Jihadists captured the headquarters of Kurdish fighters defending the battleground Syrian town of Kobani today as a UN envoy warned of a looming "massacre" by the Islamic State group.

Outgunned Kurdish militia were struggling to prevent the jihadists closing off the last escape route for the thousands of civilians still in or near the town, prompting an appeal for urgent military assistance.

US-led warplanes have intensified air strikes against IS fighters who have been attacking Kobane for three weeks but the Pentagon has warned that, without a force on the ground to work with, there are limits to what can be done.

Neighbouring Turkey has so far held back from any action against the jihadists on its doorstep, despite four straight nights of protests among its own large Kurdish minority that have left 31 people dead. — AFP

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BRIEFLY

UN chief invokes Gandhi’s message for peace
United Nations:
Invoking Mahatma Gandhi's legacy, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the world should recall his message of peace and non-violence at a time of increased sectarian violence and destruction of cultural sites, particularly in Iraq and Syria. In his message on the occasion of 'Music for Peace' event, the UN chief said that Gandhi "fervently believed that peaceful protest can accomplish so much more than military aggression." Pti

Angry protesters yell at riot police in US
St. Louis:
Protesters angered by the fatal shooting of a black 18-year-old by police faced off with officers in St. Louis for a second night as accusations of racial profiling prompted calls for a federal investigation ahead of a weekend of planned rallies and civil disobedience. State and city leaders have urged the Justice Department to investigate the death of Vonderrit D Myers, fearing he was targeted because he was black. AP

Indian-origin woman jailed for 26 months
Singapore:
A 50-year-old Indian-origin woman in Singapore has been jailed for 26 months for receiving stolen funds to the tune of SGD 298,000 for a friend she met on a social networking website. Saniyah Kumari, an administrative coordinator and receptionist, pleaded guilty to six counts of a total of 13 charges against her in a district court. pti

7 killed in stampede after Imran’s rally in Multan
Islamabad:
At least seven persons were killed and 30 others injured in a stampede at a massive rally addressed by PTI chief Imran Khan in Multan on Friday evening. The stampede erupted when people were leaving from one of the three gates after attending the rally soon after PTI chairman Imran Khan departed after addressing supporters. tns

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