1. U.N. votes against North Korea

    A U.N. General Assembly committee on November 18 voted in favor of a draft resolution* referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity as well as “targeted sanctions” for human rights abuses.

    The 111-19 is merely a recommendation. The General Assembly does not have the power to refer the regime* or its leader Kim Jong Un to the ICC.

    China and Russia, which hold veto power* on the council, voted against it.

    2. Cuban doctor catches Ebola in SL

    A member of the 165-member medical team Cuba sent to fight Ebola in Sierra Leone has been diagnosed with the disease.

    Dr. Felix Baez Sarria is being treated by British doctors in Africa but he will be transferred to a special unit in Geneva, Cuban state media said.

    Cuba won global praise for sending at least 256 medical workers to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea to help treat Ebola patients.

    3. Frenchmen confirmed in IS video

    President Francois Hollande on November 19 confirmed that two Frenchmen had been identified as suspects in an Islamic State video showing the beheading* of Syrian prisoners.

    The men are seen in the brutal clip released by the IS group on Sunday, which features the killing of 18 Syrian prisoners and a U.S. aid worker.

    4. Dog has its day as U.S. mayor

    A female Chihuahua named Frida has won her first political office, being named Mayor of San Francisco for the day as part of a campaign to support the U.S. city’s animal shelter.

    Frida, whose owner bid US$5,000 for the privilege, will spend her special day touring Bay Area landmarks and receiving a commendation* from the Board of Supervisors.

    Her honor will then be shown around the city hall and presented with a retirement package that includes a doggy bed, gift basket and play products.

    5. Somali Islamists execute non-Muslims

    The Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab said it had staged an attack in Kenya on Saturday in which gunmen ordered non-Muslims off a bus and shot 28 dead.

    Al Shabaab said its men had ambushed* the Nairobi-bound bus outside the town of Mandera, near Kenya’s border with Somalia and Ethiopia, and killed the non-Muslims in retaliation* for raids on mosques in the city of Mombasa.

    On Monday, police in the port city shot dead one man and arrested almost 400 others.

    6. Dozens injured in Japan earthquake

    Helicopter surveys on Sunday showed more extensive damage than earlier thought from an overnight earthquake in the mountainous area of central Japan that hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics.

    At least 37 homes were destroyed in two villages, and 39 people were injured across the region, including seven seriously, mostly with broken bones.

    The hardest-hit area appeared to be Hakuba, which hosted events in the 1998 games. At least 30 homes were destroyed, and 17 people injured.

    7. Italy’s female astronaut arrives at ISS

    A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying Italy’s first female astronaut has safely docked with* the International Space Station, NASA said.

    Samantha Cristoforetti, along with Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov and American astronaut Terry Virts, arrived at the orbiting space lab on the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft at 0249 GMT on Monday, NASA said.(SD-Agencies)