Egypt criminalizes dishonoring flag

Egypt criminalizes dishonoring flag

CAIRO

Egypt’s outgoing interim president issued a decree making dishonoring the Egyptian flag or not standing for the national anthem a criminal offense, punishable by sentences of up to one year in prison and a fine of more than $4,000, his spokesman said Saturday.

Presidential spokesman Ihab Badawi told reporters the decree states that the national anthem and flag are “symbols of the state that must be respected and treated with veneration.”

6 missing climbers are feared dead

SEATTLE

A Mount Rainier National Park official says six climbers are presumed dead after helicopters detected pings from emergency beacons buried in the snow thousands of feet below their last known location.

Park Ranger Fawn Bauer said Saturday that “there’s not a viable chance of survival.” She says the helicopter crew spotted camping and climbing gear in an avalanche-prone area more than 3,000 feet below the group’s last known whereabouts. The six were at 12,800 feet at last contact Wednesday.

Air and ground searches were suspended late Saturday afternoon. Bauer said the bodies won’t be recovered today because they are in an extremely dangerous area, where snow, ice and rock fall constantly.

The missing group includes four clients of Seattle-based Alpine Ascents International and two guides. They were due to return from the mountain Friday.

Suicide bomber grew up in Florida

VERO BEACH, Fla

The American man who launched a suicide bombing against Syrian government troops grew up in central Florida and attended several colleges in the state before dropping out and moving abroad.

U.S. officials identified the bomber as Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha of Florida but have said little else. Records show a person with that name lived with his family in a two-story stucco home in a gated community among the orange groves on the edge of Vero Beach, the historic winter training ground for the Dodgers baseball team.

Abu-Salha was 22, according to records from one of the colleges.

Cruz wins straw poll

NEW ORLEANS

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has won the latest 2016 presidential straw poll at a conservative summit in Louisiana.

Cruz took 30 percent of the vote at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans. He edged out conservative speaker and author Ben Carson.

Organizers at the annual conference say about a third of 1,500 delegates voted in the straw poll. Delegates had to pay to register for the conference and vote in the straw poll.

Hagel faults China for territory disputes

SINGAPORE

China’s aggressive moves to claim jurisdiction over land and sky in the Asia-Pacific region risk undermining peace and security in the region and beyond, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Saturday. Beijing scoffed at the “groundless” charges.

Hagel told an international security conference that the United States “will not look the other way” when China and others try to restrict navigation or ignore international rules and standards.

China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea are destabilizing the region, he said, adding that Beijing’s failure to resolve such disputes threatens East Asia’s long-term progress.

A Chinese general took issue with Hagel’s comments, saying that “although I do think that those criticisms are groundless, I do appreciate your candor.”

Associated Press