China bans New Zealand milk powder imports on botulism scare
China has halted imports of all milk powder from New Zealand and Australia, New Zealand's trade minister said on Sunday, after bacteria that can cause botulism found in some dairy products raised food safety concerns that threatened its $9.4bn annual dairy trade.
Global dairy giant Fonterra identified eight companies to which it had sold contaminated New Zealand-made whey protein concentrate, exported to China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Saudi Arabia and used in products including infant milk powder.
4-year-old mayor is re-elected in US
Robert "Bobby" Tufts hasn't made it to preschool yet, but he has already been elected twice as mayor of a tiny tourist town in northern Minnesota. Mayor Tufts' name was picked Sunday during annual Taste of Dorset festival to be mayor of Dorset for a second term.
It has no formal city government and has a population of 22 to 28, depending on whether the minister and his family are in town. Bobby was only three when he won the election last year.
His mother, Emma Tufts, said she and her son, who turns five in October, got choked up when his name was pulled for re-election Sunday.
Chinese man tries to board plane with pet turtle disguised as hamburger
A man, surnamed Li, was about to board China Southern Airlines flight 345 to Beijing, Guangzhou Daily reported. As Li passed through airport security, X-ray screening machines detected a few “odd protrusions†sticking out of a KFC burger that the man had packed in his bag.
Airport staff determined that the protrusions looked suspiciously like turtle limbs, and asked to inspect Li's luggage.
Li reportedly insisted that there's no turtle in there, just a hamburger.
Amnesty names 5 Cubans 'prisoners of conscience'
Amnesty International designated five Cubans detained on the island as "prisoners of conscience" on Sunday and called for their immediate release.
The New York-based human rights watchdog highlighted the cases of Rafael Matos Montes de Oca, Emilio Planas Robert and brothers Alexeis, Diango and Vianco Vargas Martin.
It said they have been held for months in eastern provincial lockups. Cuban officials, who did not respond to a request for comment Sunday, deny holding any political prisoners.
Cuba has cleared its jails of internationally recognised prisoners of conscience in recent years.
Moroccan king revokes pardon of Spanish pedophile
Morocco's king on Sunday revoked his pardon of a Spanish pedophile, after hundreds rioted in front of parliament on Friday to protest the decision.
The pedophile, identified by the Spanish Foreign Ministry as Daniel Galvan Vina, has been serving a 30-year sentence for raping and filming at least 11 children aged four to fifteen.
A statement from the palace carried by the state news agency on Sunday said the king revoked the pardon, taking into consideration the gravity of the crimes committed.
It was unclear if Spanish authorities would arrest or extradite the convicted pedophile to Morocco.
