World briefs

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Canada
Toronto Blue Jays infielder Mark DeRosa announced his retirement from Major League Baseball Tuesday. DeRosa had signed a one-year deal worth $750,000 with the American League club and batted with seven home runs, 12 doubles and 36 runs for Toronto. Throughout his career, the American athlete had a batting average of .268. DeRosa is currently being considered for a game coverage position as an on-air analyst with the Chicago Cubs.

Germany
A German website that tracks artwork potentially stowed away by Nazis crashed Tuesday due to an overflow of Internet traffic. The site, www.lostart.de, features 25 works of art posted by authorities online. Police recently discovered about 1,400 pieces in the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, an 80-year-old man whose father worked with the Nazis. Works of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso were part of the revealed stash, according to the Associate Press.

Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tuesday that Israel would delay plans to construct 24,000 settler homes in its West Bank and East Jerusalem, regions plagued by conflicts with Palestine. The initiative, which is part of three-month-old peace talks the United States had been leading with Israel, was halted after Palestinians expressed anger with the plan. According to Reuters, Israel claims to have historical and biblical roots in the two territories, which houses almost five times as many Palestinians as Israelis.

Japan
Fukushima nuclear power plant operators will start removing 400 tons of irradiated fuel as part of cleanup processes set to begin this week. This involves the removal of 1,500 brittle fuel assemblies at the plant’s devastated Reactor No. 4. The process is estimated by authorities to take at least one year and to cost billions of dollars, according to Reuters. Reuters reports that through the process, the plant could potentially release radioactive gases into the atmosphere if safety standards are compromised.

Liberia
Liberian police reported Tuesday that it had captured a high-ranking member of an international drug cartel and halted its operations. The announcement came after authorities detained police superintendent Perry Dolo, who was allegedly smuggling 694 pounds of marijuana into the neighboring African country of Sierra Leone. The total worth of the drug, dubbed “common sense” by authorities, amounted to $4 million, according to Agence France-Presse.

Philippines
The United Nations is pushing for an additional $300 million in aid for the Pacific island nation in the aftermath of devastation caused by typhoon Haiyan. The typhoon hit the central region of the country last week, bringing along record-high wind gusts and tsunami-like waves. U.S. and British warships have arrived in the area to provide assistance. Filipino President Benigno Aquino estimates the current death toll to range from 2,000 to 2,500.

South Africa
Two were killed at an explosion in a jewelry store in Johannesburg on Tuesday, and an additional three people were injured. The blast occurred at a store called Moneypoint in the Eastgate Mall in the Bedfordview section of the city at around 5:30 p.m. The store exchanges and pawns jewelry, including diamonds. Authorities are not sure who initiated the blast. They suspect it is criminal activity, but ruled out terrorism. Nobody has been arrested regarding the incident.

Spain
A 27-year-old pianist and her parents are at risk of getting a seven-year prison sentence after their neighbor, Madrid woman Sonia Bosom, sued them in court for noise pollution and psychological damage. Laia Martin, the pianist, and her family resided in an apartment below the Bosoms. Bosom claimed she suffered noise pollution caused by Martin’s practice sessions from 2003 to 2007, but Martin denied having played at home that often, saying she took piano classes out of town.