UNITED KINGDOM
Red Cross emblem dropped
A nurse in a Robin Hood stage show had to change her costume after the Red Cross warned the theater company in Glasgow that the use of its emblem on the dress could violate the Geneva Conventions. Glasgow’s Pavilion Theater had a nurse character in the pantomime show wearing a costume with red crosses on her hat and tunic — but changed the crosses to green after the British Red Cross objected.
NIGER
Gunmen abduct Frenchmen
Heavily armed members of the security forces were combing the center of Niamey yesterday after gunmen abducted two Frenchmen from a restaurant in front of shocked diners and staff. Two armed men burst into the Toulousain restaurant in the city center when it was crowded with diners late on Friday and forced the two men to follow them, staff and diners said. They were taken to a four-by-four vehicle with Benin plates in which other armed men were waiting and then driven off at speed. The incident happened between 10:30pm and 11:30pm. A security source confirmed the abduction, while a police source said that one of the two abducted men had arrived that same day to attend a wedding. Witnesses said both abductors wore turbans and one customer at the restaurant said the two had fair skin and had spoken Arabic.
ISRAEL
Soldier dies in ‘accident’
A soldier died on Friday and four were injured in an accidental explosion during an exchange of gunshots and mortar fire with Palestinians along the Gaza border, an army spokesman said. A unit came across three “terrorists” apparently trying to place explosive devices near the security barrier that separates Gaza from Israel, he said. They opened fire, but for an “unknown reason” a mortar they tried to fire exploded, “accidentally” killing one soldier and injuring four others, including an officer, the spokesman said.
UNITED STATES
Lightning-hit plane lands
A passenger jet with 35 people aboard landed safely at an airport on New York’s Long Island after being struck by lightning. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and an airline spokesman said US Airways Express flight 4507 from Philadelphia to New Haven, Connecticut, was diverted to Long Island MacArthur Airport in the town of Islip on Friday afternoon as a precaution. FAA spokeswoman Arlene Salac said the pilot reported electrical problems with the aircraft after the lightning strike. The plane had originally been scheduled to land at 2:30pm. It was unclear when it was diverted.
BRAZIL
Toilet apartheid sparks row
As the country gears up for its annual carnival festivities, a row has broken out over toilets for the exclusive use of gays and transvestites in samba schools readying for the event. Protesters claim the recent designation in the premises of Unidos de Tujuca, one of the top Rio de Janeiro samba schools preparing a parade for the March 4-9 carnival, resembles the forced separation of blacks and whites in the past. “They are carnival apartheid!” Claudio Nascimento, the head of a government anti-homophobia program, raged to reporters. But defenders of the segregated conveniences said they provided a safe area for gays and transvestites. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people merely have the option to use the special bathrooms and can still opt to go to the ordinary ones, they said
UNITED STATES
Prosecutors to share disc
Prosecutors in Detroit were ordered on Friday to turn over a computer disc containing more than 30,000 names allegedly linked to an international prostitution ring based in Florida. District Judge Arthur Tarnow granted a defense lawyer’s request for the disc, but said the contents cannot be copied, printed or shared with anyone besides the lawyer’s client, Greg Carr. Carr has been charged with conspiring to run a prostitution ring. Prosecutors say his company spent a decade arranging high-priced trysts in many large US cities, along with Mexico, Colombia and Costa Rica. The prosecution held up the disc in court on Friday and described it as the “so-called black book” of the business. Carr’s lawyer Paul DeCailly, who said he’s entitled to see all evidence as he prepares for trial, asked the judge to intervene in a dispute over viewing the contents.
COLOMBIA
‘Queen’ turned over to US
Bogota turned over a woman known as “the queen of amphetamines” to US authorities on Friday to face drug trafficking charges in New York, police said. Beatriz Elena Henao, 45, arrested on Sept. 1, 2009, was extradited along with two others wanted in the US on money-laundering charges. Police said Henao rose to prominence as a multilingual wheeler and dealer who during the 1990s shipped more than 300,000 units of amphetamines to the US, Spain and the Netherlands.
ARGENTINA
Fare jumper’s girl survives
A woman’s bid on Tuesday to avoid paying a train fare almost cost her the life of her daughter. The girl is miraculously alive after her mother lowered her onto the tracks just as a train was coming into the station in Buenos Aires, according to surveillance video. Video released on Friday by the commuter rail operator shows the woman guiding the child underneath the platform, apparently trying to hide from ticket collectors. The woman appears set to join the child hiding under the platform when suddenly she sees the train approaching. The woman scrambles back up onto the platform, but her daughter remains below, the video shows. As the train comes to a stop, the woman bends over and peers into the gap between the train and platform, apparently checking for the girl. Workers were able to crawl underneath the platform where they found the girl terrified but unharmed, safely ensconced inside a tiny nook.
CUBA
No details on defector: US
The US Department of State has no information about the whereabouts or status of a leading government trade expert whom Miami media reports said had fled the island, a US official said on Friday. El Nuevo Herald newspaper and several Cuban-American Web sites reported that Pedro Alvarez, 67, the former head of the state food importing company Alimport and a key figure in legal purchases of US farm products over the last decade, had defected to the US.
UNITED STATES
‘Harry Potter’ suit dismissed
A judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit accusing Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling of copying the work of another author when writing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. However, the estate of late author Adrian Jacobs, which said the plot of Goblet of Fire copied parts of his book Willy the Wizard, including a wizard contest, vowed to continue its legal action in Britain’s High Court. Jacobs’ estate said it regretted the decision and was considering whether to lodge an appeal.
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
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
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