Giant-panda cub at National Zoo dies
Giant-panda cub at National Zoo dies
WASHINGTON
The giant-panda cub born a week ago at the National Zoo in Washington died Sunday morning, saddening zoo officials and visitors who had heralded its unexpected arrival.
The 4-ounce cub, about the size of a stick of butter, showed no obvious signs of distress and made its final recorded noise shortly before 9 a.m. Sunday, zoo officials said at a news conference.
It was pronounced dead at 10:28 a.m.
Avalanche kills 9
KATMANDU, Nepal
An avalanche hit about two dozen climbers in a camp high on a Himalayan peak at the start of Nepal’s autumn climbing season, killing nine and leaving six missing. Many of the climbers were French or German.
Ten climbers survived, but many were injured and were flown to hospitals by rescue helicopters, police official Basanta Bahadur Kuwar said. The avalanche struck Sunday morning on the high slopes of Mount Manaslu in northern Nepal, and deteriorating weather halted air searches of the mountain by afternoon.
World leaders meet
UNITED NATIONS
Democratic uprisings across the Arab world and the Palestinians’ bid for U.N. membership sparked excitement and hope at last year’s meeting of world leaders. But with war raging in Syria, the Palestinian application sidelined and deadly protests generated by an anti-Islamic video, the mood as this year’s U.N. gathering begins is one of disappointment and frustration.
More than 120 presidents, prime ministers and monarchs meeting this week under heavy security at the U.N. General Assembly and in sideline events also will be preoccupied by rising tension over Iran’s nuclear program and the possibility of an Israeli strike against Tehran’s nuclear facilities, al-Qaida’s inroads in the Sahel region of west Africa and the first decline in years in international aid to help developing countries combat poverty.
Megachurch pastor: Report child abuse
TULSA, Okla.
The pastor of an Oklahoma megachurch where five employees reportedly waited two weeks to report the alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl began encouraging congregants this weekend to speak up about sexual abuse.
“I want to personally say, that if anybody here is aware of any child being neglected or abused, physically or sexually, that you should please inform the authorities immediately,” Victory Christian Center pastor Sharon Daugherty said Saturday during services, according to the Tulsa World.
Daugherty’s comments come after two former church employees were arrested this month on sex-related charges. Prosecutors also charged five church employees — including Daugherty’s son and daughter-in-law, who both are youth pastors — for failing to report the alleged assault between Aug. 15 and 30.
Opposition calls for ouster of Assad
DAMASCUS, Syria
Syrian opposition figures who reject foreign intervention in Syria’s 18-month conflict called for the ouster of President Bashar Assad at a rare meeting Sunday in the nation’s capital. The gathering was tolerated by the regime in an apparent attempt to lend credibility to its claims that it remains open to political reform despite its bloody crackdown on dissent.
A senior former Assad ally, meanwhile, said Iran is providing massive support for the embattled Syrian regime.
In recent weeks, Assad’s military has escalated airstrikes and shelling of civilian areas to put down an uprising that began in March 2011 with peaceful protests but has since devolved into a civil war. Activists say close to 30,000 people have been killed.
Associated Press