At least two people were killed and more than 20 injured after former soldiers went on a rampage yesterday, burning cars and shops in East Timor's capital Dili to protest their dismissal from the army earlier this month.
Gunshots were heard from Komoro market place in western Dili which was attacked by the demonstrators.
Four policemen and 17 civilians were admitted to Dili's National Hospital, some in a serious condition, witnesses said.
Police earlier fired tear gas to disperse the rally of several thousand protesters after some of them smashed windows outside Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri's office building.
The protesters also set fire to cars before police dispersed them.
Yesterday's rally was the third held by the disgruntled soldiers this week.
Nearly 600 soldiers were fired last month after staging a strike to protest "unjust" working conditions and promotion rules.
The soldiers' leader, Gastao Salsinha, has said the troops, mainly from East Timor's 10 western districts, deserted because they were being passed over for promotion in favor of those from eastern districts.
East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said earlier this month that the government was setting up a panel to review the soldiers' complaints.
He said the men may be reinstated but only on a case-by-case basis.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of