■GERMANY
No charge for taxi vomit
Parents should not be forced to foot the bill for cleaning costs if their child suddenly throws up in a taxi, a Munich court ruled on Monday. The district court was ruling on the case of a couple whose nine-year-old daughter was sick in the back seat of a taxi after they had asked the driver to stop as the girl was unwell. The driver demanded 190 euros (US$239) for cleaning as well as 800 euros to hire a replacement cab. The presiding judge urged the parties to settle the case amicably, saying it would be “sensible” for the parents to pay for the cab to be cleaned. However, the parents refused. The judge ruled that there is no “absolute liability” for children.
■FRANCE
Businessman to pay for veil
A businessman is offering to sell properties to help Muslim women pay any fines that they may receive for wearing the full veil in public if a law is voted through parliament. Lawmakers were scheduled to vote on the bill yesterday, which would see women fined 150 euros if they wear the full veil in public places. In a statement published in several newspapers, Rachid Nekkaz, who tried to stand in the presidential elections in 2007, said he would use proceeds from property sales for a 1 million euro fund to help women pay any fines. Nekkaz is setting up an association, “Hands off my Constitution,” which he said viewed banning the veil in the street as unconstitutional.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Bio pellets to power barracks
Bio-fuel pellets made from horse manure will help power the new London barracks of the Royal Horse Artillery, the Ministry of Defence announced. Recycled waste and bedding from the regiment’s 111 horses will provide enough low-carbon energy to cover the heating and lighting requirements of the ceremonial unit’s new base in Woolwich. The ministry said the eco-friendly move was in line with the government’s sustainable development agenda and just one of several steps being taken to promote sustainability in the mounted regiment’s future home. The King’s Troop, an equestrian unit that performs ceremonial duties on state occasions, plan to move to their new headquarters in November next year.
■ITALY
General guilty of smuggling
A military police general was convicted of smuggling drugs during the course of an investigation and sentenced to 14 years in prison, ANSA and Apcom reported. The news agencies said Giampaolo Ganzer was sentenced on Monday after being convicted of bringing heroin into the country in the course of two operations led by the Carabinieri investigative unit that he headed in Milan. Prosecutors alleged that a group of officials in the military police unit had organized a drug trafficking ring with the aim of getting rich. Ganzer was among 14 people convicted in the case, while four were acquitted. Ganzer was also fined 65,000 euros.
■BANGLADESH
Police raid entire town
The elite security forces said on Monday they had made a major breakthrough in the fight against extortion with a raid on a town where nearly every resident was involved in racketeering. A series of raids on Lundhi, 90km south of the capital, Dhaka, and home to 2,000 people, led to 11 arrests, including two ringleaders of gangs using mobile phones to extort money.
■UNITED STATES
No let up on Polanski pursuit
The State Department said on Monday it was “disappointed” by a Swiss decision to free Roman Polanski and vowed to keep seeking “justice” against the director wanted on underage sex charges. “We are disappointed by it,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters. “The rape of a 13-year-old girl by an adult who should know better and does know better is a crime,” he said. “We will continue to seek justice in this case and we will evaluate our options.” The Oscar-winning French-Polish director has been a fugitive from US justice for decades since he fled before sentencing after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old after plying her with drugs and champagne in 1977. “We have not forgotten about this case,” Crowley said. “We think it sends a very important message regarding how women and girls are treated around the world.”
■ITALY
Major sweep targets mob
Police yesterday carried out one of the biggest operations ever against the powerful ’Ndrangheta crime organization, arresting 300 people including top bosses, and seizing millions of dollars in property. The man believed to be the organization’s top boss was picked up earlier in the day in a small town in Calabria, the southern region where the organization is based, police said. Also arrested was the man in charge of the gang’s businesses in Milan, where the ’Ndrangheta has been making major inroads. The pre-dawn raids yesterday involved some 3,000 police across the country. Charges include murder, extortion, arms and drug trafficking and criminal association. Investigators described the operation as one of biggest blows ever to an organization that today is considered more powerful than the Sicilian Mafia.
■ISRAEL
Ancient writing unearthed
Archeologists in Jerusalem have uncovered an ancient clay fragment dating back about 3,400 years, the oldest-ever sample of writing found in the city, Israeli researchers said on Monday. The tiny fragment is covered with cuneiform script, the earliest known form of writing in the world. The clay chip is believed to have been part of the royal archives and indicates the importance of Jerusalem as a major city in the late Bronze Age, the Hebrew University said in a statement. “It was written by a highly skilled scribe who, in all likelihood, prepared tablets for the royal household of the time,” said professor Wayne Horowitz. Researchers believe the tablet may be part of a “royal missive” sent from the Canaanite ruler of Jerusalem to the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten, who lived in the 14th century BC. Before now, the oldest sample of text ever discovered in Jerusalem dated back to the eighth century BC.
■ITALY
Military police chief nabbed
News reports say that a military police general was convicted of smuggling drugs during the course of an investigation and sentenced to 14 years in prison. The news agencies ANSA and Apcom said Giampaolo Ganzer was sentenced on Monday after being convicted of bringing heroin into Italy in the course of two operations led by the carabinieri investigative unit that he headed in Milan. Prosecutors alleged that a group of officials in the military police unit had organized a drug trafficking ring with the aim of getting rich. Ganzer was among 14 people convicted in the case, while four were acquitted. In addition to jail time, Ganzer was fined 65,000 euros (US$82,000).
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At 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
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