South Africa announces its plans to honor Nelson Mandela – North Korea frees an elderly American prisoner – People are choking as China’s air pollution problem goes off the charts – And the thieves who allegedly stole a deadly cargo learn their fate.

South Africa will hold several days of memorials for former South African President Nelson Mandela, who passed away Friday at age 95.  A state memorial will take place at a major stadium in Johannesburg on Tuesday.  Then, Mandela will lie in state in the Presidential buildings in Pretoria for three days.  The state funeral will take place on Sunday, 15 December in Mandela’s hometown of Qunu, Eastern Cape where he will be buried.

North Korea has freed an elderly American tourist.  85-year old Merrill Newman of California was pulled off his return flight home by authorities in Pyongyang back in October, and vanished for several weeks.  He resurfaced on a video, “apologizing” for crimes committed during the Korean War in 1951.  Pyongyang says the confession and his medical condition led to his release “from a humanitarian viewpoint”. 

Newman’s release coincided with US Vice President Joe Biden’s arrival in Seoul on the third stop of his northeast Asia tour.  He’s urging regional rivals Seoul and Tokyo to cooperate more closely amid tensions caused by China’s unilateral declaration of an air security zone over the East China Sea that covers South Korean and Japanese territory.  Seoul told Biden it plans to press ahead with plans to increase its air defense zone in turn.

Shanghai ordered school children to stay indoors halted all construction, and delayed flights in and out of the city because of the thick blanket of smog from area industry and coal-burning power plants.  Levels of “PM 2.5 pollution”, particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter that pose the biggest health risk, were 602.2 micrograms per cubic meter in Shanghai.  That’s more than 24 times World Health Organization’s recommended limits.

The leader of Thailand’s opposition protests has set Monday as the deadline for forcing Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down.  Suthep Thaugsuban wants to overthrow the democratically elected government and replace it with an unelected “people’s council” picked from his royalist and wealthier supporters.  He says “live or die, lose or win,” Monday is the last day for his insurrection.  If he fails, he’ll turn himself into authorities.

The Ukraine government is trying to use homophobia as a wedge to divide anti-government protesters.  About a thousand orthodox religious marchers marched in support of the government’s decision to turn its back on political and trade ties with Europe and turn back to its former rulers in Moscow.  The marchers said Russia’s anti-LGBT laws are more to their liking, and claim European social liberalism would play a greater role in Ukrainian internal affairs.  SMH.  Hundreds of thousands of angry Ukrainians are demanding the government step down for failing to reach a deal with the EU.

The pilot of a passenger plane that was caught on video crashing in Kazan, Russia last month may have had no business at the controls.  Russian authorities say he got his commercial pilot's license from a flight school that has since been closed down, and the pilot may have only been qualified to serve as a navigator.  50 people died in the tragedy.

The six people arrested by for stealing a truck carrying radioactive medical waste have been cleared of radiation poisoning.  Mexican police say the men stole the truck at a gas station north of Mexico City, probably unaware of the contents, which they tried to abandon in a field.  The cargo included Cobalt-60, which could have been fatal to them had they been exposed for long enough.  As it is, five adults and a teenager experienced skin irritations and dizziness, but only one had nausea – and they may have increased their long-term cancer risk, in addition to facing charges for truck theft.

Hey, you know how Family Guy killed off Brian the Dog, and it turned out to be a pretty unpopular move?  Well, they’re bringing him back, at least once.