PHILIPPINES
‘Heroic’ minister in Libya
New Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosariohas led an evacuation of hundreds of Filipinos out of troubled Libya’s capital in what his spokesman said yesterday was a “heroic act” that risked his personal safety. Del Rosario, who was appointed in an acting capacity last week, traveled by land from Tunisia with two other diplomats to Tripoli on Sunday then took about 400 Filipino workers back to Tunisia in a 55-vehicle convoy, the foreign affairs department said.
SOUTH KOREA
Military drills held with US
Despite North Korean threats, annual military drills, with the US went ahead yesterday, with 12,800 US troops and about 200,000 local soldiers and reservists sheduled to participate in the 11 days of drills, which are aimed at defending South Korea and responding to any attack. Hours after the exercises started, North Korea warned of a nuclear war on the peninsula. Its Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary carried by the official Korean Central News Agency: “The danger of a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula is deepening.”
THAILAND
Doubts remain over death
The Department of Special Investigation said yesterday that a Reuters cameraman killed during political protests in Bangkok last year does not appear to have been shot by security forces. In its long-delayed report into the April 10 death of Japanese journalist Hiro Muramoto, the department said the bullet that killed him was fired from an AK-47 rifle, which is a different weapon to those used by soldiers, department director-general Tharit Pengdith told a news conference. Tharit, however, declined to say whether the report absolved soldiers of Muramoto’s death.
BRAZIL
17 electrocuted in parade
Police said yesterday 17 people were electrocuted in an accident at a large pre-Carnival parade. Fireworks lit by partygoers caused a power line to fall on a tightly packed crowd dancing behind a large sound truck belting out music in the town of Bandeiro do Sul in Minas Gerais state on Sunday, they said. A police spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter, said most of those killed were hit directly by the downed power line.
BOLIVIA
Mudslide wrecks homes
Heavy rains unleashed a “mega-mudslide” in La Paz, which destroyed 400 homes, authorities said on Sunday. Thanks to a swift evacuation, authorities said there were no immediate reports of casualties. However, the destruction in the usually dry capital was staggering with some neighborhoods virtually wiped away. House after house — many made of adobe and some of brick — simply collapsed. “We are talking about some 400 homes that are no longer there,” said Edwin Herrera, a spokesman for the office of La Paz’s mayor.
GAZA
One killed in tank attack
A Palestinian was killed on Sunday when an Israeli tank opened fire on a group of militants east of Gaza City, medical sources and witnesses said. The witnesses said the tank on the Israeli side of the border opened fire on the group, killing one of them, amid rising tensions following rocket and mortar attacks on Israel and air raids launched in reprisal. Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of the radical Islamic Jihad group, said one of its men, Abdelmajid Shahin, was killed and another was lightly wounded. However, a spokeswoman for the Israeli military denied there had been “any attack” by the Jewish state’s forces against Gaza on Sunday.
UNITED STATES
Cookie sales restricted
Girl Scouts are no longer able to sell their famous cookies outside the historic Savannah home of the woman who founded the organization almost a century ago. A complaint last year ended the longtime practice of selling the cookies on the public sidewalk outside the home of Juliette Gordon Low at the busy intersection of Bull Street and Oglethorpe Avenue. Peddling on a public sidewalk is a violation of a city ordinance. One city alderman said he thinks the city should consider a temporary exception for cookie season. Girls used to be able to sell about 250 boxes in three hours outside the Low home, said Jan McKinney, who heads product sales for the Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia.
CANADA
Two-year lockout ends
Union workers at the Journal de Montreal have voted to accept a contract offer, ending an employer lockout that lasted more than two years. Quebecor Media locked out more than 200 employees in January 2009, arguing that journalists refused to adapt to changes in their job duties brought on by technologies, including the Internet. To avoid a strike, the company turned to a lockout, which allowed for the suspension of work contracts until an agreement was reached. Union members, heeding the advice of a government mediator, met on Saturday and 64 percent voted for the new offer, ending the 764-day lockout. Sixty of 229 union workers will return to their jobs, while the others will receive a separation payment divided from a total of C$20 million (US$20.5 million).
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