News in brief

White House shuts down anti-Pakistan petition
Dawn.Com, Washington
 The White House has shut down an ongoing petition that sought to designate Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism, saying that it is doing so on suspicion of fraud.
In a blurb captioned, ‘Closed Petition’, the White House announced that the “petition has been archived because it did not meet the signature requirements. It can no longer be signed.”

N Korea embassy official defects in Beijing
AFP, Seoul
 A North Korean embassy official in Beijing has defected, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said Wednesday, while a separate report suggested two embassy staff had sought asylum with the Japanese mission there.
If confirmed, it would mark the latest in a recent series of high-profile North Korean defections that some observers see as a sign of growing instability within the leadership in Pyongyang.

Thailand bars entry to HK activist Wong
BBC Online
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has been barred from entering Thailand, where he had been hoping to speak to Thai students.
Mr Wong, who became the face of the 2014 Hong Kong street protests, was detained on arrival at Suvarnabhumi airport on Wednesday.

Colombian street artists graffiti for peace
AFP, Bogota
 Spray-paint cans in hand, a generation of street artists is covering Colombia’s run-down walls with rainbow-colored pleas for peace.
After half a century of conflict, the end of which remains just beyond reach, war and peace have become central themes in Colombia’s graffiti art.

Colombia ceasefire with FARC to end Oct 31
AFP, Bogota
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said that a ceasefire with FARC rebels will end on October 31, as both sides scramble to find a solution to the half-century conflict after voters rejected a peace deal.
The chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Rodrigo Londono, better known as Timoleon “Timochenko” Jimenez, promptly took to Twitter to ask “And after that, the war continues?”

Protests hit Ethiopia after stampede deaths
Reuters, Addis Ababa
Protests broke out in some areas of Ethiopia’s Oromiya region on Monday, a day after dozens of people were killed in a stampede at a religious festival sparked by a bid by police to quell demonstrations, witnesses said.
Opposition politicians and government officials gave contrasting tolls of casualties that took place during the annual Irreecha festival in the town of Bishoftu, some 40 km (25 miles) south of the capital Addis Ababa, where police fired teargas and shots in the air to disperse protesters.