China relents, lets U.S. Navy ships visit
Hong Kong
China’s Foreign Ministry gave approval for U.S. Navy ships to spend Thanksgiving in Hong Kong, hours after the warships were turned away.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Beijing was allowing the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk and the other ships in its strike group to enter Hong Kong on humanitarian grounds. Earlier Thursday, the Kitty Hawk and its five support vessels left waters off Hong Kong after being refused entry.
Asked about the apparent reversal, Liu declined to comment. China has in the past barred U.S. Navy ships from Hong Kong in fits of pique over disputes in relations.
Jakarta, Indonesia
Piece of 737 wing falls after takeoff
A 7-foot-long piece of wing broke away from a Boeing 737 jetliner minutes after it took off from Indonesia’s main airport late Wednesday, but the plane managed to land safely, an airport official said today.
The wing section - 6 feet by 3 feet - fell after the plane left Sukarno-Hatta airport on a domestic flight and returned without incident, said Totok Suwarto, a senior official there. It was operated by Batavia Airways. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Oranjestad, Aruba
Suspects re-arrested in Holloway case
Three young men previously detained as suspects in the 2005 disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway were re-arrested Wednesday, the Aruban public prosecutor’s office said, citing new evidence. Dutch student Joran van der Sloot and two Surinamese brothers, Satish and Deepak Kalpoe, were arrested on suspicion of involvement in voluntary manslaughter and causing serious bodily harm that resulted in the death of Holloway, the prosecutor’s office said. Alabaman Holloway, who was 18 at the time, was last seen leaving a bar with the three men May 30, 2005, during a celebration by high-school graduates.
Also
Former French President Jacques Chirac was placed under formal investigation Wednesday for allegedly embezzling public funds while he was mayor of Paris, his attorney said. Chirac, who lost his immunity from prosecution when he stepped down as president in May, is the first former French head of state to be officially investigated on allegations of graft. Seattle Times news services