Around the world

Venezuela

Ice cream closure reports denied

Venezuela's Tourism Ministry denied reports on Monday that the record-breaking Coromoto ice cream store in Merida, which offers 863 flavors, had closed due to lack of milk, the latest quirky twist in the bitter national debate over who is to blame for the nation's economic problems. "It's false," the ministry tweeted. An article on the ministry's website said Coromoto's Portuguese owner was on holiday in his homeland while other ice cream parlors in Merida were finding enough milk to function normally.

United Kingdom

Oscar star Luise Rainer dies at 104

Luise Rainer, a star of cinema's golden era who won back-to-back Oscars for The Great Ziegfeld in 1936 and The Good Earth in 1937, has died at the age of 104. Rainer, whose roles ranged from the 1930s German stage to television's The Love Boat, died on Tuesday at her home in London from pneumonia, her daughter, Francesca Knittel-Bowyer, said. "She was bigger than life and could charm the birds out of the trees," Knittel-Bowyer said. "If you saw her, you'd never forget her."

UAE

Ridley Scott's Bible epic banned

The United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday that it will not allow screenings of Hollywood's Biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings, mirroring similar bans by Egypt and Morocco. The National Media Council, charged with vetting films for release in the UAE, said the Ridley Scott movie about Moses' escape from pharaonic Egypt contained "religious and historical mistakes".

Argentina

President slips, fractures ankle

A wet floor caused Argentine President Cristina Fernandez to slip and fracture her left ankle, the government said on Monday, providing the first details of the South American leader's latest health setback. Fernandez, 61, fell on Friday at her home in El Calafate, where she was spending a few days resting, Cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich said.

United States

'Screech' charged over stabbing

Dustin Diamond, the actor who played the nerdy Screech in the 1990s television high school comedy show Saved by the Bell, appeared in a Wisconsin courtroom on Monday after posting bail on charges that he stabbed a man during a bar fight on Christmas Day. A criminal complaint charges Diamond, 37, with second-degree reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and carrying a concealed weapon.

Australia

Teen spears shark, but friend dies

A teenager who escaped a shark attack that killed his friend in western Australia described how he fired his spear gun at the animal, believed to be a great white, as authorities searched for the man-eater on Tuesday. The victim, Jay Muscat, 17, died after he was bitten on the leg by a shark while spear fishing near Albany on Monday. The friend, Matt Pullella, said: "The shark turned and came for me, I pushed the spear gun down its throat and fired the gun. This is something no one should ever have to see."

Reuters - AP - AFP

(China Daily 12/31/2014 page10)