CHINA
Fake monks jailed for attacks
A court has sentenced 21 fake monks to up to 11 years in jail for attacking police officers and toll booth operators in separate incidents last year, state media said yesterday. The men, who had been pretending to be monks in Inner Mongolia and earned money by selling beads and fake medicines, assaulted police after several so-called were detained last July, Xinhua news agency said. In another incident in August, a group of fake monks armed with steel pipes attacked toll booth operators in Baotou city after they demanded the men pay a road levy, the report said. The court in Baotou sentenced the men to between three and 11 years in jail, it said.
INDONESIA
Earthquake hits Sumatra
A moderate magnitude 5.5 undersea earthquake hit off Sumatra island on Saturday, geologists said, but there were no tsunami warnings. The quake struck at a relatively shallow depth of 24km around 285km west of Sibolga in Sumatra at 11:26pm, according to the US Geological Survey. The -Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there were no warnings or advisories following the quake.
JAPAN
Cabinet shuffle well-received
Prime Minister Naoto Kan enjoyed a boost in opinion polls published yesterday after reshuffling his Cabinet, but voters still did not expect him to be able to push through promised reforms. Kan added new faces to his Cabinet on Friday in a bid to appease opposition parties and help his bid to mend the country’s tattered finances and boost free trade to spur growth. The reshuffled Cabinet received a support rating of 34 percent, up from 25 percent last month, in an opinion poll for the Yomiuri Shimbun carried out on Friday and Saturday among 1,736 eligible voters. Seventy percent of respondents, however, said they doubted the new Cabinet would be able to fulfill its policy promises.
SOUTH KOREA
Ties with Japan anger North
North Korea yesterday expressed its anger over efforts by Seoul and Japan to seek closer military ties, repeating calls for Seoul to resume talks with Pyongyang first to defuse regional tensions. The fury came after Seoul expressed doubts about the sincerity of Pyongyang’s repeated peace overtures, and instead sought closer military ties with Japan and longtime ally the US against threats from the North. Regional tensions have also soared after the North in November shelled an island near its disputed maritime border with the South, killing four, including two civilians. On Sunday, Rodong Sinmun, mouthpiece of the North’s Communist Party, labeled talks held on Monday last week between Seoul and Tokyo’s defense chiefs a “new military conspiracy” that hampered regional security by damaging inter-Korea ties. “Japan has worked hard with bloodshot eyes to secure a legitimate pretext for its military overseas expansion,” the newspaper said in an editorial carried by state media.
SOUTH KOREA
Somali pirates seize cargo
Somali pirates have seized a South Korean chemical cargo in the Arabian Sea, two months after an oil supertanker belonging to the same firm was freed after seven months in captivity, the government and local media said. A Foreign Ministry statement issued late on Saturday said the Cabinet had met to discuss how to deal with the hijacking of the 11,500 tonne Samho Jewelry, seized while sailing to Sri Lanka from the United Arab Emirates.
UNITED STATES
Giffords off ventilator
The US lawmaker shot in the head in Tuscon, Arizona, was removed from a ventilator on Saturday and is breathing on her own through a tube inserted into her windpipe, the University Medical Center said. Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who survived despite being shot through the head from point-blank range on Jan. 8, remains in critical condition. “A surgical procedure [tracheotomy] was performed this morning on the congresswoman to replace the breathing tube that ran down her throat with a tracheotomy tube in her windpipe, protecting her airway and freeing her from the ventilator,” the hospital said in a statement posted on its Web site. “Her recovery continues as planned.”
UNITED STATES
Shooting victim arrested
A man who was shot in the knee during the Jan. 8 Tuscon, Arizona, shooting rampage was arrested on Saturday after threatening a local conservative leader during an emotional town hall event, ABC News reported. During taping for a Sunday special on the shooting, witnesses told ABC affiliate KGUN9 News that James Eric Fuller grew agitated when Tucson “Tea Party” founder Trent Humphries suggested that any conversation about gun control should be put off until after the funerals for all the victims. Fuller took a photograph of Humphries with a cellphone and said “You’re dead,” according to two witnesses of the event entitled “After the Tragedy: An American Conversation Continued.” Shortly after the event ended, law enforcement officials approached Fuller and escorted him from the room. As he was being led off, he shouted “You’re all whores!” according to several witnesses interviewed by the ABC affiliate. The Pima County Sheriff’s office told KGUN9 News that authorities charged Fuller with one count of threats and intimidation and intended to charge him with at least one count of disorderly conduct as well. ABC was scheduled to broadcast the event yesterday during its This Week talk show program.
VENEZUELA
Planes could be shot down
President Hugo Chavez says he is considering letting the military shoot down planes loaded with illegal drugs if they ignore orders to land. Chavez says he doesn’t necessarily like the idea, but lawmakers should debate it. The nation is a major hub for traffickers smuggling Colombian cocaine to the US and Europe. The president told lawmakers on Saturday that drug smugglers often ignore air force orders to land, with some openly mocking such commands over the radio. US and Colombian officials have accused Chavez’s government of lax anti-drug efforts. Chavez says his government is doing everything possible to stem the flow of drugs through the country.
CHILE
Extradition request denied
A judge has denied Colombia’s request to extradite a Communist Party member linked to leftist rebels. Supreme Court Justice Sergio Munoz’s ruling is preliminary. The matter will ultimately be decided by the court’s criminal division. Munoz ruled on Saturday that the Colombian government did not conclusively prove its case tying Manuel Olate to the guerrillas. Colombia argued that Olate traveled to that country several times and allegedly met with leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Defense lawyer Alex Caroca said Olate’s relationship with the FARC was one of solidarity, and he was not a member. Olate has been under house arrest since late last year while his case is pending.
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