■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.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was