News24
SA a huge link in drug network
Currently, 619 South Africans are in prisons abroad for drug trafficking. In Thailand, 12 South Africans were arrested this year. About 20 were arrested in foreign countries in November alone.
Besides Nolubabalo Nobanda’s arrest, the Bali Times reported in October that two more South Africans faced the death penalty after being arrested in Indonesia at Ngurah Rai International Airport.
South African travellers are increasingly being flagged in foreign airports, in part due to South African passports being faked and used by international terrorists, said organised crime expert Annette Hübschle.
“South Africa is a huge link in the international drug trafficking chain. These organised crime ‘networks’ are not only into drugs, but into other illicit and licit trading as well,” she said.
BBC
North Korea’s Kim Jong-il is dead
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has died at the age of 69, state-run television has announced. Mr Kim, who has led the communist nation since the death of his father in 1994, died on a train while visiting an area outside the capital, the announcement said.
His designated successor is believed to be his third son, Kim Jong-un, who is thought to be in his late 20s.
The BBC’s Lucy Williamson in Seoul says Mr Kim’s death will cause huge shock waves across North Korea, an impoverished, nuclear-armed nation with few allies.
The announcement came in an emotional statement read out on national television. The announcer, wearing black, said he had died of physical and mental over-work. A later report from KCNA said Mr Kim had had a heart attack.
Asian stock markets fell after the news was announced.
Mass burial for Phillipines flood victims
A mass burial has been organised in the Philippines for scores of people killed by flash floods on the southern island of Mindanao.
Coastal communities were devastated early on Saturday in flash floods triggered by a tropical storm and high tides. More than 650 people were killed and another 800 people are still missing.
About 35,000 people are sheltering in evacuation centres, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.
As rivers burst their banks, many were trapped in their homes while in other areas entire villages are reported to have been swept away.
Times Live
World’s shortest woman wants to be a Bollywood star
A high school student in central India was recognised as the world’s shortest woman by Guinness World Records on Friday as she turned 18 and said she hopes to earn a degree and make it in Bollywood.
Jyoti Amge stood just 62.8cm tall – shorter than the average 2-year-old – when Guinness representatives measured her at a ceremony attended by about 30 relatives and friends in the town of Nagpur, in Maharashtra state.
A teary-eyed Amge, dressed in one of her finest saris, called the honor an “extra birthday present” and said she felt grateful for being small, as it had brought her recognition. “I have put Nagpur on the world map. Now everyone will know where it is,” said Amge, who says she dreams of one day becoming a Bollywood film star as well as pursuing a university degree after she finishes high school this year.
She measured 7cm shorter than 22-year-old American Bridgette Jordan, who had held the title since September.
The title of shortest woman in history continues to be held by Pauline Musters, who lived in the Netherlands from 1876 to 1895 and stood 61 centimeters (24 inches) tall.