■HONG KONG
Corruption cases up 46%
Financial corruption rocketed in the first three months of this year as the territory’s economy deteriorated, officials said yesterday. Corruption cases in the financial and insurance sectors surged 46 percent in the first quarter, contributing to a 23 percent overall rise in corruption. The Independent Commission Against Corruption received 811 reports of corruption in the first quarter, compared with 659 cases in the same period last year.
■THAILAND
Man jailed for royal insult
A court yesterday sentenced a man to 10 years in prison for posting altered pictures on the Internet that were deemed to insult the kingdom’s revered monarchy. The 34-year-old Thai national, known by two different names — “Suvicha” or “Chinnapat” Thakhor — was convicted of violating computer and strict lese majeste laws after his arrest in northeast Nakhon Phanom province in February. Suvicha used computer software to doctor the images of the royal family before putting the pictures on the Web, the court said. Suvicha, accompanied by his parents in court, burst into tears on hearing his sentence. Officials say more than 4,800 Web pages have been blocked since March last year because they contain content deemed insulting to the monarchy.
■JAPAN
Runway shut down briefly
Tokyo’s Narita airport briefly closed its main runway again yesterday after a FedEx cargo plane — the same model as a jet that crashed there last month — made an emergency landing, the airport said. A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 plane operated by FedEx returned to the airport after its pilot felt unusual vibrations near the aircraft’s front wheel, an airport official said. “The airport received communication from the pilot who asked for a check-up of the aircraft,” the official said. The emergency landing closed the main 4,000m Runway A for only a few minutes, and the FedEx plane took off for Incheon a few hours later, she said. No-one was injured.
■HONG KONG
Teacher sacked for spying
A primary school teacher has been sacked for putting secret spy cameras in a room where girls changed for dance classes, the South China Morning Post said yesterday. Choi Hing-yiu, 32, used the pinhole cameras to film nine girls at the school in Mongkok District last September, the newspaper said. A 10-minute videotape showing the girls changing their clothes in the classroom was handed to police after a dance teacher and students found the cameras. Choi was arrested. At a court hearing on Thursday, Choi admitted placing the secret cameras and was bound over on a good behavior bond for 12 months, the newspaper said. The teacher, who was dismissed as a result of the incident, claimed he placed the cameras to film dance lessons and had not intended to record pupils changing.
■PHILIPPINES
Missing plane located
A light plane that went missing in the north has been located in a remote mountain range, a day after it failed to arrive at its intended destination, police said yesterday. There was no immediate word on the fate of the seven people onboard or of the condition of the aircraft, but reports said there was no airstrip or paved road in the area where the plane could have landed safely. The plane was spotted on the ground near the remote town of Maconacon on the east side of the Sierra Madre mountain range, regional police Chief Superintendent Roberto Damian said.
■UNITED KINGDOM
‘Spiderman’ climbs Lloyd’s
A French urban climber nicknamed “Spiderman” scaled the outside of the Lloyd’s Building in central London on Thursday in a protest about climate change. Alain Robert, famous for his daring unaided ascents of skyscrapers and iconic sites around the world, was arrested once he had climbed back down, police said. The 14-story building, which is 88m tall, is home to the insurance group Lloyd’s of London. “A man has been arrested for aggravated trespass at the Lloyd’s Building,” a Scotland Yard spokesman said. “He is in police custody.” Robert got to the ninth floor and unfurled a yellow banner warning of “100 months” to save the world. Around 20 minutes later, he folded it up and climbed back down.
■SPAIN
Judge mulls probe’s future
Prosecutors have asked a Madrid judge to suspend an investigation of seven Israeli officials over a 2002 bombing in Gaza that killed a Hamas militant and 14 others, including nine children. In a writ issued on Thursday, prosecutors at the National Court asked Judge Fernando Andreu to hold off because they said Israel is investigating the attack. Andreu said in January that one reason he agreed to open the investigation was that Israel had neither responded to a request for information about the bombing nor started legal proceedings against the seven officials. The probe angered Israeli officials. Following consultations, Israel said Spain had agreed to trim the authority of its courts in cases of so-called universal jurisdiction.
■ZAMBIA
Sata slams jatropha plan
Main opposition leader Michael Sata has strongly opposed a reported request by China to plant 2 million hectares of the jatropha plant in the southern African country for the production of biofuels. During a discussion program on local radio on Thursday, Sata said such a move would disadvantage Zambians, who are scrambling for land to grow food. Earlier this week, Biofuels Assocation of Zambia head Tyson Chisambo was quoted as saying that China had made a request for 2 million hectares of land to produce the non-food crop, whose oil is used to produce biodiesel. The deal would be the biggest lease of land in the country, which faces food shortages following severe flooding and drought during last year’s growing season.
■GREECE
Two police shot in Athens
Two policemen were shot and seriously wounded by unknown attackers in central Athens, reports said yesterday. It was not clear whether the shooting of the two policemen, who were on duty, was politically motivated. In January, another officer was seriously wounded by a gunshot while guarding Greece’s minister of culture, weeks after the killing of a teenager by police. Greece has been plagued by daily bombings and arson attacks on banks and multinational businesses since the shooting.
■RUSSIA
Putin’s dog tucks in
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s pet dog gobbled up a special tea prepared for bosses of Russia’s ruling party on Wednesday. While Putin discussed ways to help the local food industry, his favorite black Labrador Koni slinked into a room at his residence and tucked into delicacies prepared for leaders of his United Russia party. “Koni ate everything,” said one of Putin’s bodyguards. Putin’s spokesman said Koni, who has the run of Putin’s Novo-Ogaryovo residence, had eaten pastries, biscuits and jellied desserts.
■PERU
Farmer suffers erection
A farmer underwent an operation after complaining of severe pain from an eight-day erection, a doctor at a hospital in the northern city of Sullana said Thursday. Surgeon Nelson Carrasco said that the 53-year-old had not taken a sexual stimulant or alcohol. He said the patient, whose identity was withheld, suffers from priapism, a persistent erection often because of a blood clot in the erectile tissue.
■UNITED STATES
Journalists dial sex number
Journalists got a shock on Thursday when they dialed a toll-free number to join a conference call with senior officials accompanying President Barack Obama in London. The number turned out to be a sex chat line inviting callers to use their credit card numbers. “Do you have any hidden desires?” a sultry voiced woman asked. “Well, do you feel like getting nasty? Then you came to the right place — brought to you by the girls of Swank magazine,” she said. Reporters finally got through to the two officials in London — National Security Advisor James Jones and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — when they gave up on the US “800” number and instead dialed an international number.
■UNITED STATES
THC kills cancer: study
The main chemical in marijuana appears to aid in the destruction of brain cancer cells, offering hope for future anti-cancer therapies, researchers in Spain wrote in a study released on Thursday. The authors from the Complutense University in Madrid, working with scientists from other universities, found that the active component of marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), causes cancer cells to undergo a process called autophagy — the breakdown that occurs when the cell essentially self-digests. The research, which appears in the April edition of US-published Journal of Clinical Investigation, demonstrates that THC and related “cannabinoids” appear to be “a new family of potential antitumoral agent.”
■UNITED STATES
Mother drugs daughter
A mother in Pennsylvania has been charged with giving her 13-year-old daughter drugs and alcoshol so the woman’s boyfriend could get the girl pregnant, police said on Thursday. Shana Brown, 32, is no longer able to have children but wanted to have a baby with her current boyfriend, Duane Calloway, Uniontown Police Detetive Donald Gmitter said. The pair decided to drug the girl so Calloway, 40, could have sex with her without her knowledge, he said. Brown, who has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, turned herself in on Thursday and was being held in the Fayette County jail, police said.
■UNITED STATES
Officers shoot chimpanzee
Officers shot and killed a rampaging chimpanzee in a rural area and then found a squalid, unlicensed dog breeding facility in the chimp owners’ home, officials said. Three people were arrested on Wednesday on charges of animal abuse and neglect, operating as an unlicensed breeder and keeping wild animals without proper registration, Daviess County officials said. The Sheriff’s Department had responded to a call on Monday night on a request to help capture an angry chimp running loose on a highway outside Winston, Missouri. When officers arrived, the nine-year-old chimp opened the patrol car door and grabbed the leg of a deputy, who fatally shot it, Chief Deputy Todd Watson said.
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