■ BANGLADESH
Dozens die after ferry sinks
A crowded ferry sank during a tropical storm, killing at least 42 people and leaving more than 40 missing, officials said yesterday. The death toll from the accident late on Monday could rise because some of those missing were feared trapped inside the sunken ferry, local government administrator Sultan Ahmed said. At least 150 people were aboard the MV Chanpur when it was caught in the storm and sank in the Ghorautra River, a police official in the area about 80km north of Dhaka said. More than 60 people either swam to safety or were rescued by area residents, the official said.
■ SOUTH KOREA
Envoy heads to China
The country's chief nuclear negotiator yesterday left for talks in China, the foreign ministry said, as hopes rose that North Korea will soon disclose details of its long-secret nuclear weapons program. The visit by Kim Sook comes three days after a US envoy returned from Pyongyang with documents on the history of a plutonium bomb-making program dating back to 1986. Kim will meet his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei (武大偉) to discuss issues concerning the six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear programs, foreign ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said.
■ SINGAPORE
Prodigy goes to polytechnic
An eight-year-old boy has become the youngest student at the Singapore Polytechnic, the institution said yesterday. Among the other accomplishments of Ainan Cawley, a chemistry prodigy, was the creation of a perfume for Mother’s Day. “Our intention is to equip him with the skills needed for a scientist,” his father, Valentine Cawley, told the Straits Times. The child’s parents are supplementing his Singapore Polytechnic courses with home-schooling.
■ UNITED STATES
Cop 'assaulted' with M &Ms
A college student whose friend was being questioned in a hit and run was charged with assaulting an officer with a curious choice of weapons: M&M candies. Sean McGuire was arrested early on Sunday at a convenience store after security guards at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, noticed the colored candies falling on the ground around the officer. When the officer turned around, an M&M hit his shoulder, a police report said. McGuire claimed he threw the candy because he was “sticking up for his friend,” who apparently was the man suspected in the accident, the report said. McGuire was released from jail on Sunday after posting US$1,000 bond.
■ UNITED STATES
Antiques expert indicted
A renowned expert in Asian antiquities has been indicted on fraud charges as part of an ongoing probe into a smuggling ring involving looted art, justice officials said on Monday. Roxanna Brown, 62, the director of the Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum at Bangkok University, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles on Friday for wire fraud, officials said in a statement. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Brown is accused of allowing her electronic signature to be used on appraisal forms that artificially inflated the value of antiquities donated to several museums in southern California for tax purposes, the statement said.
■ UNITED STATES
Police casualties rise
The number of police officers killed criminally or accidentally last year climbed by about 20 percent compared with the previous year, preliminary data released on Monday by the FBI showed. Fifty-seven police officers were killed feloniously in the line of duty last year, up from 48 the previous year, the report said. Most of the officers were shot; two were killed with vehicles. Sixteen were ambushed, 16 died while arresting a suspect and 11 were killed while handling a traffic incident. The remainder died either while responding to disturbance calls, investigating suspicious activities or persons, during tactical situations or while transporting prisoners.
■ UNITED STATES
Byrne transforms building
Former Talking Heads front man David Byrne intends to turn a landmark Manhattan building into a giant musical instrument. The State of New York said Byrne would create a temporary installation called “Playing the Building” in the Great Hall of the Battery Maritime Building. Devices will be attached to ceiling beams, plumbing, electrical conduits and other parts of the structure. Sound will be produced through vibration. New York officials said on Monday that the installation would open later this month along with a new passenger waiting room at the adjacent Whitehall Ferry Terminal.
■ UNITED STATES
Man breaks biking record
A suburban Chicago man has reclaimed the Guinness world record for time spent on a stationary bicycle. George Hood’s time was not official yet, but organizers said he spent about 177 hours over eight days riding a spinning bike at a suburban YMCA. He rode the equivalent of 3,244km, burned more than 46,000 calories and never slept for more than 12 minutes at a time. The retired Drug Enforcement Agency investigator from Aurora, Illinois, began his ride on May 5 and finished early on Monday. He was taken to an area hospital as a precaution. He had held the record until last summer after spending 111 hours, 11 minutes and 11 seconds on a bike.
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