■AUSTRALIA
US surgeon goes on trial
A court yesterday ordered a US surgeon to stand trial on charges of manslaughter over the deaths of three patients during his time as a surgeon in Australia. The doctor, Jayant Patel, 59, a US citizen born in India, could face life in prison if convicted of the charges, which stem from his time at the Bundaberg Base Hospital in northern Queensland state between 2003 and 2005. He was extradited last July from the US, where he had practiced previously. Patel, who did not enter a plea in the Brisbane Magistrates Court in Queensland, remains on bail pending the trial, said a justice official.
■AUSTRALIA
Pants down in court
A law lecturer was jailed yesterday for contempt of court after pulling down her pants and baring her buttocks to the presiding judge. Megumi Ogawa, 41, was sentenced to four months in jail in a Brisbane court for what Judge Stuart Durward said was “disgusting behavior” at an earlier trial where she was found guilty of harassing court officials. During the earlier trial, the court was told the Southern Cross University staff member threatened court officials with death and sent them 83 e-mails and made 176 phone calls. Ogawa, a Japanese national, conducted her own defense at both trials. It took three security officers to carry a kicking and screaming Ogawa into the dock so she could be present at her sentencing.
■AUSTRALIA
Road safety minister resigns
South Australia state Road Safety Minister Tom Koutsantonis resigned yesterday after it leaked out that he had been fined 30 times for running red lights and other traffic offenses. Koutsantonis, who amassed enough violations to lose his license, denied warrants were out for his arrest over the non-payment of fines. The minister initially refused to quit, saying he had given up habits like speeding and talking on his mobile phone while driving. He even argued that being a bad role model himself actually helped him instill good driving habits in others. “Although I’d hoped to use my experiences to help develop better road safety policy and deliver the message to all motorists to drive safely, it’s evident this won’t be possible,” he said.
■CHINA
New English paper launched
The Communist Party began publishing a new English-language newspaper yesterday in a campaign to push the party line in international media. The English edition of the Global Times will “cover the world from a Chinese perspective and reflects the standpoints and opinions of Chinese people on significant international issues,” Xinhua news agency said. It quoted Global Times editor in chief Hu Xijin (胡錫進) as saying the paper aimed “to make friends with foreigners and to facilitate communication between China and the world.” The Global Times is published by party mouthpiece People’s Daily, directly controlled by the Central Committee.
■CHINA
Official sentenced to death
A court handed down the death sentence to a top official linked to Shanghai’s multimillion dollar pension fund scandal, state media reported yesterday. Wang Weigong (王維工), former secretary at the General Office of the State Council, was convicted of taking 12.9 million yuan (US$1.9 million) in bribes from 1995 to 2006, the state-run Shanghai Daily reported. An intermediate court in Changchun announced the death sentence, but gave Wang a two-year reprieve as he cooperated and returned all the money, the report said.
■IRAN
Journalist can appeal ruling
Tehran said yesterday an Iranian-American journalist jailed for espionage had the right to appeal her eight-year sentence, but that the US should respect rulings by Iranian courts. US President Barack Obama said on Sunday he was “deeply concerned” for the safety of jailed freelance reporter Roxana Saberi and urged Tehran to free her, saying he was confident she was not involved in spying. Asked about Obama’s statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi told a news conference: “It is an international norm that one should respect the rulings issued by the court ... I’m sure some American officials have also studied law.”
■SOMALIA
Pirates release cargo ship
Pirates have released a Togo-flagged cargo ship seized last week, a UN aid agency said yesterday, and pirate sources said a ransom was paid. Sea gangs have continued to hijack commercial vessels on the strategic Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, earning millions of dollars in ransoms despite the presence of foreign navies off the coast of Somalia. “We hear from the operator that it was released,” said Peter Smerdon, spokesman for the UN World Food Programme. The MV Sea Horse was on its way to pick up food for the world body when it was hijacked, but it was not under UN charter. A pirate source said a US$100,000 ransom was paid.
■GERMANY
Helmets pose risk after crash
A motorcyclist involved in an accident who falls unconscious should have his or her helmet removed as soon as possible to avoid suffocation, the Red Cross in Berlin said. To prevent a possible neck injury from worsening, one should carefully slide the helmet off to the point where one can support the victim’s head with a hand. Only then should the helmet be completely removed before carefully lowering the head to the ground with the chin slightly raised. This position ensures that air passages remain free, the Red Cross said.
■GERMANY
Rocking good for children
Rocking a chair back and forth is good for a child’s body and mental capacity, researchers found. The study found that the rocking motion can reduce pressure on the backbone that can have a negative impact on body posture, breathing and organ function. The study also found that rocking a chair can improve a child’s concentration and attention span. The study was conducted by the Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft fuer Haltungs und Bewegungsfoerderung (BAG), an association that promotes physical activity in children, in cooperation with the “Kid Check” project at the University of Saarland. Children from the eighth grade took part in the study, which examined changes in blood circulation using thermo graphic imaging.
■LATVIA
Phone smuggled in cake
A priest was arrested in Riga yesterday for allegedly helping smuggle a cellphone hidden inside a traditional Russian Easter cake into prison, the Baltic News Service reported. The prison chaplain reportedly passed the celebratory kulich pastry to an inmate at Riga Central Prison along with six eggs and an Easter card on behalf of a relative of the convict, the prison service said. Russian Easter cake is traditionally baked for Orthodox Easter, which fell on Sunday. A scan of the items revealed the presence of the contraband communicator.
■TRINIDAD
Chavez gift turns bestseller
A book by a Uruguayan journalist that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gave to US President Barack Obama is now the No. 2 seller on Amazon.com. It’s an astounding jump for Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, by Eduardo Galeano. The paperback edition was ranked 54,295 on the online retailer before Chavez gave Obama a Spanish-language edition of the 1971 book on Saturday. It had jumped to No. 2 by Sunday. Galeano’s book documents how foreign interests have dominated and afflicted Latin America since the Spanish conquest.
■MEXICO
Transport officials ‘remiss’
The National Human Rights Commission on Sunday cited transportation authorities for failing to discipline an airline that sought to block two children with a rare, hereditary skin disorder from boarding a flight. A complaint says the boys were subjected to examination by a paramedic before being allowed to board in September. When the boy’s father asked to speak to the captain, the flight attendant said she felt threatened and called police. The boys suffer from dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, or DEB, which causes blistering and other visible lesions, but isn’t contagious.
■VENEZUELA
Russian missiles purchased
President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday that the government had acquired Russian-made surface-to-air missiles and announced the creation of an elite military unit trained to use the new weapons. Chavez said the missiles were for self-defense and denied that Venezuela posed a military threat to other countries. “We don’t want wars with anyone, but we’re obligated to equip ourselves and have a military that is increasingly dedicated to the country,” Chavez said at a military parade in Caracas. He did not say how many missiles were purchased or how much they cost.
■HAITI
Poll disrupted by violence
Several people were wounded and voting was disrupted by violence on Sunday during a Senate election largely boycotted by voters. After polls closed, observers estimated that fewer than 10 percent of potential voters went to the polls. The Lavalas Family Party, the biggest political party widely backed by the poor, had urged an election boycott after its candidates were knocked off the ballot in a dispute over filing requirements. One man, an unconfirmed report said, was attacked with machetes and then burned alive by residents of the village of Liancourt in the northern Artibonite region. Several other people were wounded during clashes between supporters of rival candidates. Police and UN forces exchanged fire with civilian gunmen in the northern town of Marchand Dessalines.
■BRAZIL
Eight injured in land dispute
Landless activists held four journalists and a lawyer hostage for several hours following a shootout with ranchers that injured at least eight people in Para state, local police said on Sunday. The national Landless Workers Movement said protesters had been trying to free colleagues they claimed had been taken captive by ranchers in Para when security guards attacked them on Saturday. The ranchers told police that the activists had attacked the guards. Police were still investigating the incident, but confirmed that seven activists and one security guard had been injured in a fire fight, said Nazareno Rodrigues, a Maraba city police officer.
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
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese