■ India
Snail death squads formed
Giant African snails are making farmers' lives a misery in a village in southern India by chomping through their crops. Farmers in Azhiyoor, in the state of Kerala, have formed "African snail killing squads" to protect their papaya and other crops. Scientists say the African snail is one of the most dreaded crop-raiders in the world. "They pose a great threat to the village and people are worried," P. Sredharan, a village council official in Azhiyoor, said on Wednesday. The farmers are using salt to destroy the snails whose scientific name is Achatina fulica and which can grow up to 20cm long. "We start our [killing] mission in the evening as the snails come out only at night," villager Chilliyil Sudheesh said.
■ Hong Kong
Teen dies after taking drugs
Police yesterday were investigating the death of a 13-year-old girl, who collapsed after taking the party drugs ecstasy and ketamine in one of the city's discos. The schoolgirl had spent the night with a 20-year-old female friend in a disco and collapsed after leaving the club at around 6:15am on Wednesday, police said. Her friend called the police, but the teenager was declared dead on arrival at hospital after suffering what appeared to be a massive seizure. The incident comes amid growing concerns over increasing use of recreational drugs by young people in the territory.
■ Pakistan
Man freed after victim found
The Supreme Court has ordered an inquiry into the case of a man who spent three years in jail for a murder that never happened, a court official said on Tuesday. The woman Malik Taj Mohammad was convicted of kidnapping and killing was arrested for theft two years ago and is serving a jail sentence in the eastern city of Gujarat. "This woman was presented in court, and the chief justice has ordered a lower court judge to conduct a probe, fix responsibility and provide compensation to Taj," court official Nisar Ahmed said. The woman, Malkani Bibi, was said to have been murdered during a property dispute between relatives.
■ Nepal
Ceasefire to be extended
A three-month Maoist ceasefire, due to end yesterday, will continue as the fledgling peace process in the country is making headway, a rebel spokesman said. "The peace process is progressing so the ceasefire will be extended," said Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Maoist spokesman and member of the rebel peace talks team. "We have already expressed our commitment that we will not return to war [so] there is no possibility of breaking the ceasefire," Mahara said. A UN team was due to arrive in Nepal late yesterday to assess how the world body could assist in arms management and election supervision.
■ South Korea
Extradition request rejected
A South Korean court yesterday rejected Vietnam's request to extradite a dissident leader, citing a treaty prohibiting the extradition of suspects sought for political crimes. The Seoul High Court rejected the request to hand over Chanh Huu Nguyen, 56, whom the Vietnamese government accuses of involvement in failed attempts to bomb its embassy in Thailand and state facilities in Vietnam, including the statue of founding leader Ho Chi Minh, between 1999 and 2001. "We decided that we cannot allow extradition of the suspect since we recognize him as a political criminal," the court said in a statement. Nguyen will be released immediately, the court said.
■ United Kingdom
Top officer faces questions
Britain's most senior police officer is to face questions over allegations of corruption in his force's flawed investigation into one of the country's most notorious racially motivated murders, the BBC said on Wednesday. Sir Ian Blair was to respond yesterday to the concerns of the Metropolitan Police Authority, which oversees the day-to-day running of London's Metropolitan Police, raised by a BBC investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence. The broadcaster claims it unearthed fresh evidence that suggested one of the detectives investigating the 18-year-old's death had received bribes from the gangland father of one of the key suspects. It named a retired detective alleged to have taken bribes, citing evidence from another former Scotland Yard officer and a police anti-corruption investigator.
■ United States
Posthumous divorce rejected
A judge refused to issue a posthumous divorce decree to a man who was killed the day before he was to sign the last of his divorce papers. Dr. John Yelenic, 39, was found slain in his home in Blairsville, Pennsylvania, on April 13, a crime that has not been solved. The dentist and his wife, Michele, separated in 2002 and had agreed to the divorce and a property settlement. Yelenic's attorney, Effie Alexander, asked a judge to issue the divorce decree because he believed the divorce was important to Yelenic. But Indiana County Judge Carol Hanna ruled on Wednesday that Yelenic's marriage ended with his death, even if all parties agreed to a legal decree stating otherwise.
■ Nigeria
Korean excreting cocaine
A Korean man has excreted 48 wraps of cocaine, weighing a total of 1.6kg, since his arrest three days before at a Nigerian airport, the country's narcotics agency said on Wednesday. "He is still excreting. It is a scary quantity to swallow," a spokesman for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said. Nigeria does not produce narcotics but has become a hub for trafficking.
■ France
N Korea blamed for fake cash
International police body Interpol said on Wednesday it had brought together about 60 experts in Lyon, France, to discuss ways of fighting the production of fake US dollar banknotes with attention focused on fraud in North Korea. Several sources have indicated that North Korea is at the center of efforts to manufacture bogus US currency, Interpol said. Discussions about methods to fight the trade took place all day and the experts decided to meet again to carry on their work together. Since 1989, notes of US$50 and US$100 denominations worth nearly US$50 million have been seized, mostly outside of the US, and Interpol described the fakes as "very deceptive but detectable."
■ United Kingdom
Teens charged in race killing
Four teenagers were remanded in custody on Wednesday after being charged with the murder of a Pakistani-born taxi driver. Michael Hand, 19, and three other youths who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared before magistrates in Huddersfield, northern England, charged with murdering Mohammad Parvaiz, 41. All four suspects, who are also charged with violent disorder, will next appear at the nearby Bradford Crown Court on Aug. 2. A married father of three, Parvaiz was beaten to death on Saturday after stopping to pick up a fare in what police called a racially aggravated assault.
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
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
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number