World in brief: President could face rape charges

Israel’s attorney general announced Tuesday that he intends to indict President Moshe Katsav on rape, sexual assault and other criminal charges based on allegations made by female former employees.

The move by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, who has proved aggressive in pursuing allegations of official crime and corruption, gives significant weight to a case that has highlighted workplace relations between powerful men and their female aides in a traditionally macho culture.

A final decision on whether to formally charge Katsav, 61, will follow a hearing during which the president can present his defense. That process could take several months. If Mazuz decides to move ahead, it would mark the first time an Israeli president has been indicted. Israel’s presidency is largely ceremonial.

Istanbul, Turkey

Journalist’s funeral draws thousands

More than 100,000 mourners choked the streets of Istanbul for the funeral Tuesday of an Armenian journalist whose slaying sparked debate about freedom of expression and whether Turks of different ethnic groups can live together.

“We are all Armenians!” chanted mourners in an extraordinary outpouring of affection for editor Hrant Dink, who had made enemies among nationalist Turks by labeling as genocide the mass killings of Armenians toward the end of the Ottoman Empire.

Dink was gunned down in broad daylight Friday outside his bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper, Agos.

Paris

Man gets partial face transplant

French doctors announced Tuesday that they had performed the world’s third partial face transplant on a man whose face was disfigured by severe tumors, giving him a new nose, mouth and chin and replacing part of his cheeks.

Going into the 15-hour operation Sunday, the 29-year-old patient had such large, heavy tumors on his lips that it was difficult to speak or eat. The operation removed most of the tumors from his face, doctors said.

“The patient is doing well from a surgical point of view,” chief surgeon Dr. Laurent Lantieri said at a news conference in Paris.

Still, he added, “We will have to wait many months for the results.”

The patient suffered from a genetic condition known as neurofibromatosis, which causes tumors to grow on nerve tissue throughout the body, the doctors said.

Beijing

Official firm on one-child policy

China will not loosen its one-child policy, despite a top family planning official’s acknowledgment Tuesday that it was partly to blame for a worsening problem of too many boy babies and not enough girls in the world’s most populous nation.

In 2005, some 118 boys were born in China for every 100 girls. In some regions, the figure has hit 130 boys for every 100 girls; the average for industrialized countries is between 104 and 107 boys for every 100 girls.

Zhang Weiqing, minister of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, said the government is committed to solving gender imbalance within 10 to 15 years with education campaigns, punishments for sex-selective abortions and rewards – like retirement pensions – for parents who have girls.

Zhang said China’s basic policy – in effect since the late 1970s – was reviewed and renewed without change last month. The policy limits urban couples to one child and rural families to two to control the population and conserve natural resources.