1. 9 Chinese fishermen freed

    The Philippines has freed nine Chinese fishermen convicted* of poaching* endangered sea turtles after they completed one-year jail terms.

    The nine, arrested in disputed waters in May last year, were jailed after they failed to pay fines of US$100,000 each for poaching and an additional US$2,662 each for catching an endangered species.

    “They were treated well. They had what other prisoners were eating. Chinese businessmen were also allowed to bring them food such as noodles,” said Raul Mapa, a jail officer on June 10.

    A local court issued a release order on June 8.

    2. Leaders sign deal on free trade bloc

    African leaders signed on June 10 a 26-nation free trade pact* to create a common market that would span half the continent from Cairo to Cape Town.

    The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) deal caps* five years of talks to set up a framework for preferential tariffs* to ease the movement of goods in an area home to 625 million people.

    Analysts say it could have an enormous impact on African economies, which account for only about 2 percent of global trade despite strong growth.

    3. Polish ministers resign

    Three Polish government ministers and the speaker of parliament resigned on June 10 over a high profile eavesdropping* scandal just four months ahead of a general election.

    Centrist Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz announced that Parliamentary Speaker Radoslaw Sikorski and the ministers of the treasury, health and sports had resigned as her unpopular government struggles to hold on to power.

    Polish media on June 9 was awash with* news of the publication on the Internet of some 2,500 pages of leaked transcripts from a government eavesdropping scandal.

    4. U.S. to store heavy arms in E. Europe

    The United States plans to store heavy military equipment in the Baltics* and Eastern European nations to reassure allies made uneasy by Russian intervention* in Ukraine and to deter further aggression, a senior U.S. official said on Saturday.

    “We will preposition significant equipment,” the official said, commenting on a New York Times report that the Pentagon was poised to store battle tanks, infantry* fighting vehicles and other heavy weapons for as many as 5,000 troops.

    5. S. Korea schools reopen

    Thousands of South Korean schools that were shut to stop the spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) reopened on Monday.

    Five new cases were reported by the Health Ministry on Monday. The ministry also said on Monday another patient infected with the MERS virus had become the 16th fatality.

    But the number of new cases was sharply lower than daily rises that reached as high as 23 last week.

    6. Man’s blood has saved 2 million babies

    An Australian pensioner has been recognized for saving around 2 million babies over the past 60 years.

    James Harrison is known as “The Man with the Golden Arm” because for the past 60 years he has kept a near-weekly appointment to donate blood plasma* from his right arm.

    Harrison, 78, who lives near Australia’s central coast, said, “In 1951, I had a chest operation where they removed a lung when I was 14.

    “When I came out of the operation, or a couple days after, my father was explaining what had happened.

    “He said I had [received] 13 units of blood and my life had been saved by unknown people.

    “He was a donor himself, so I said when I’m old enough, I’ll become a blood donor.”(SD-Agencies)