AP, Bolivia
The United Nations on Thursday urged Bolivia’s government and opposition to restore “dialogue and peace” after a third person was killed in street clashes that erupted after a disputed presidential election on Oct. 20.
Limbert Guzman, a 20-year-old student, died late Wednesday in a clinic in the city of Cochabamba following clashes between supporters and foes of President Evo Morales. About 90 people were also injured.
Turkish, Russian troops conduct 3rd joint patrol in Syria
AP, Turkey
Turkish and Russian troops are conducting their third joint patrol in northeast Syria, under a deal between the two countries that forced Syrian Kurdish fighters to withdraw from areas bordering Turkey.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry said the troops were patrolling Friday a region between Qamishli and Derik, east of the Euphrates. It said the patrols were being supported by drones, but provided no further details.
China hands Japanese politician life in prison in drug case
AP, Beijing
A court in southern China sentenced an elderly former Japanese politician to life in prison Friday for smuggling drugs in shoes packed inside a suitcase he was trying to take to his home country.
A man from Mali was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve and a Guinean received a life sentence for packing and delivering the suitcase, according to the Guangzhou City First Intermediate Court.
South Korea deports North Koreans who fled after killing 16
AP, Seoul
In an extremely unusual case, South Korea deported two North Korean fishermen on Thursday after determining they had killed 16 other crew members on their boat and then fled to South Korean waters, Seoul officials said.
South Korea has a policy of accepting North Koreans who want to resettle in the South to avoid political oppression and poverty at home. This week’s deportations were the first South Korea has carried out of any North Korean who came to the South since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, according to Seoul’s Unification Ministry, which deals with North Korean affairs.
Indonesia suspects outbreak of African swine fever
Reuters, Jakarta
An outbreak of African swine fever in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province has been detected by laboratory tests carried out after the deaths of thousands of pigs in the area this week, an agriculture ministry official said on Friday.
A provincial official said on Wednesday that more than 4,000 pigs had died after an outbreak of classical swine fever, also known as hog cholera.
