HAVANA – The ailing Fidel Castro appeared on Cuban state television for the first time in more than a month Saturday, looking thin and tired but walking around and ridiculing recent rumors of his death. The 80-year-old Cuban leader, who temporarily ceded power to his brother Raul in July following intestinal surgery, had not been seen since mid-September, when photographs of him receiving world leaders at a summit in Havana were released. He was shown on TV walking slowly but steadily in an unidentified room and reading in a loud voice from Saturday’s edition of Granma, the Communist Party daily newspaper.
Japan: Patriot missiles for Tokyo
The U.S. is considering deploying its advanced Patriot missile defense system near Tokyo after North Korea’s recent missile and nuclear tests, a newspaper reported today. Washington unofficially informed the Japanese government it is considering putting Patriot Advanced Capability 3 surface-to-air interceptor missiles around Yokota Air Base in Tokyo’s western suburbs and around Yokosuka Naval Base, south of the capital, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported.
China: Iraq revives oil agreement
China and Iraq are reviving a $1.2 billion deal signed by Beijing and Saddam Hussein’s government in 1997 to develop an Iraqi oil field, Baghdad’s oil minister said Saturday. Officials will meet next month to renegotiate the agreement, the Iraqi oil minister said. He was wrapping up a three-nation tour to secure investment for Iraq’s oil industry. “If agreement is reached very quickly, then I expect them to start working right away,” he said. China is the world’s second-largest oil consumer and has been investing heavily in trying to secure access to foreign supplies.
Mexico: Troops arrive in Oaxaca
Federal riot police and soldiers toting shields and automatic weapons swarmed on the beleaguered colonial city of Oaxaca on Saturday in a bid to end a five-month standoff between striking teachers and supporters of state Gov. Ulises Ruiz, amid escalating violence that included the Friday shooting deaths of a U.S. journalist and two Mexican men. Hundreds of army troops and officers of the Federal Preventative Police began arriving Saturday morning by plane and bus.
Acapulco police officer decapitated
The bodies of three state police officers, one of whom had been decapitated, were found Saturday in a sport utility vehicle abandoned outside Acapulco, police said. Acapulco has seen a wave of beheadings, shootings, stabbings and grenade attacks on police stations. Criminals have left the decapitated heads of at least six victims in front of government offices with threatening notes attached, and authorities say the violence is part of a turf war between drug traffickers over shipment routes.
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