AUSTRALIA
Children may go to Malaysia
The government is resisting pressure from the UN’s child agency to guarantee that 14 unaccompanied children would not be sent to Malaysia as part of a new refugee swap deal. The 14 children are among 55 asylum seekers who arrived by boat on Thursday at an immigration detention camp on one of the country’s island territories. They are to become the first to be sent to Malaysia under a new deal aimed at deterring other asylum seekers from coming to the country by boat. UNICEF Australia chief Norman Gillespie urged Immigration Minister Chris Bowen yesterday to ensure that no unaccompanied child is deported, but Bowen says there cannot be blanket exemptions for children.
UNITED STATES
Joe Biden to visit Asia
US Vice President Joe Biden is set to travel to China, Mongolia and Japan later this month. Biden’s trip to China will include meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabo (溫家寶). The US has a complex, but necessary, relationship with China, which holds about US$1.15 trillion in US debt. In Japan, the White House says Biden will express steadfast US support for its close ally in the wake of the recent earthquake, tsunami and nuclear emergency. The White House says Biden will also underscore support for Mongolia’s two decades of democratic development. The vice president is due to start his trip on Aug. 16.
JAPAN
Experts grow mouse sperm
Researchers in the country used embryonic stem cells to grow healthy mouse sperm on laboratory dishes, a development that could help treat human infertility, they said yesterday. The finding, published in the journal Cell, marks a step forward for using stem cells for regenerative medicine. Scientists at Kyoto University removed stem cells from mouse embryos and managed to coax them into a type of precursor cell known to grow into either mouse eggs or sperm. They then transplanted these cells into the testes of infertile male mice — which apparently went on to produce healthy sperm.
VIETNAM
Hunger striker eating again
A dissident priest with a brain tumor went on a one-week hunger strike after authorities returned him to prison last month, his family said yesterday. Nguyen Van Ly, 65, began refusing food after authorities disregarded international appeals and put him back behind bars on July 25 following medical leave, one relative said, asking not to be named. “He didn’t eat for one week,” but resumed meals after a visit this week from his sister, the relative said, adding the priest’s health had not deteriorated further because of his protest. The EU, US, Canada and international rights groups all expressed concern about Ly’s re--incarceration near Hanoi and said he should be freed.
INDONESIA
Bomb suspect to return soon
An alleged mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people will be repatriated soon from Pakistan, where he was arrested this year, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said yesterday. The most-wanted Islamic extremist in Southeast Asia, Umar Patek, was arrested in March in Abbottabad in Pakistan, the same town where US special forces killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden just weeks later. In addition to the Bali bombings, he is also suspected of involvement in a series of deadly attacks targeting Christians and Westerners in Indonesia dating back to 1999.
SWEDEN
Man builds nuclear reactor
A man was arrested after he tried to build a nuclear reactor in his kitchen and documented his efforts on the Internet, authorities and the man said on Thursday. Richard Handl, 31, from Angelholm, gathered materials, including smoke detectors, clock and watch hands, via purchases on the Internet. He documented his efforts on a blog and his Facebook page. He got as far as mixing some ingredients on a cooker. “The boiling explosion was about three or four months ago and the police came two weeks ago,” he said. After the incident, which he tagged “The Meltdown” on his blog, he said he “cleaned up the mess on the cooker and then I bought some more radium and continued the experiment.” The Radiation Safety Authority said in a statement the authorities raided Handl’s flat on July 20 after hearing that he was handling nuclear materials in an unsafe way. He was detained and shortly after freed.
UNITED KINGDOM
Mr Bean crashes supercar
Actor Rowan Atkinson, famed for his Mr Bean television shows and films, is recovering in hospital after crashing his supercar, the Daily Mirror reported yesterday. The 56-year-old comedian, also known for the Blackadder historical comedy shows, was expected to be discharged yesterday after treatment for a shoulder injury, the paper said. Police and firefighters both said that a vehicle crashed late on Thursday close to Haddon, a village about 137km north of London. The car struck a tree, a lamppost and caught fire, authorities said. Atkinson was driving his McLaren F1 supercar — one of the world’s fastest road cars, the newspaper said.
UNITED KINGDOM
MP offers sex drive curbs
A lawmaker has updated his guide on how his colleagues can stay true to their constituents while staying true to their partners. Labour MP Paul Flynn said his new version of How to Be a Backbencher will include tips on drafting pithy Twitter messages and tongue-in-cheek ways to dampen what the 76-year-old described as parliamentarians’ “sexual magnetism.” Flynn said on Wednesday in media interviews that it was a mystery to him why elected officials were so attractive. His tips on how to stay faithful include taking cold baths.
GERMANY
Gay Nazi victim dies at 98
A gay rights group says Rudolf Brazda, believed to be the last surviving person who was sent to a Nazi concentration camp because of his homosexuality, has died. He was 98. The Lesbian and Gay Association said that Brazda died on Wednesday. Brazda was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp in August 1942 and was held there until its liberation by US forces in 1945.
ISRAEL
Reference to God dropped
The army has dropped references to God in a text read at a ceremony honoring fallen soldiers, a military official said yesterday, following pressure from secular families. The relatives of some dead soldiers had protested against the fact that in many military units, the so-called Yitzkor text had been changed to be given a religious sense. The original text called on “the people of Israel” to keep the soldiers in their memories. The decision to revert back to the original text was taken by a military commission appointed by army chief of staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz.
UNITED STATES
Rumsfeld faces torture suit
A federal judge says former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld can be sued personally for damages by a former military contractor who says he was tortured during nine months in prison in Iraq. The court kept the identity of the contractor — an army veteran in his 50s — confidential for fear of retaliation. His attorneys say he was repeatedly abused during detention at Camp Cropper, a US military facility in Baghdad, after he worked as a translator for the marines. His lawsuit says Rumsfeld violated his constitutional rights by personally approving torturous interrogation techniques on a case-by-case basis and controlling his detention without access to courts.
UNITED STATES
F-16s reroute kit airplane
Two F-16 fighter jets intercepted a plane flown by a 75-year-old woman after it entered restricted airspace during Obama’s visit to Chicago on Wednesday, federal officials said on Thursday. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) told the Daily Herald that the jets were summoned when air traffic controllers could not contact the pilot. Obama was in Chicago for a fundraiser celebrating his 50th birthday. The jets intercepted the Kitfox Model 2, a kit airplane, piloted by Myrtle Rose of South Barrington, a Chicago suburb. Rose turned the plane around and returned to Mill Rose Farm Airport, NORAD spokesman Lieutenant Michael Humphreys said. Rose’s plane did not have a radio, which forced NORAD to use the jets to identify and intercept the plane, Humphreys said. Rose said she did not know she had entered restricted air space.
UNITED STATES
Obama seeks aid for vets
Obama is calling on Congress to pass a series of tax credits for companies that hire unemployed military veterans. He was scheduled to announce the “Returning Heroes” and “Wounded Warriors” tax credits yesterday. His proposal would give companies that hire an unemployed veteran a US$2,400 tax credit. Companies that hire an unemployed veteran with a service-related disability would receive a US$4,800 tax credit and a US$9,600 credit if the veteran has been unemployed for more than six months. The administration says there are more than 1 million unemployed veterans.
VENEZUELA
Chavez seeks deities’ help
President Hugo Chavez told a gathering of soldiers on Thursday that he is seeking divine support from the indigenous deities and spirits of the nation’s central plains to help him survive cancer. “Cancer? What is that for me? I have faith in the spirits of the plains that I’ll prevail. I will live and we will win the elections next year,” he told hundreds of troops massed in formation at Fort Tiuna, the country’s largest military installation. Chavez often describes himself as a devout Roman Catholic, although his religious beliefs are eclectic.
BRAZIL
New defense chief named
Defense minister Nelson Jobim has resigned and will be replaced by former foreign minister Celso Amorim, the president’s office said on Thursday. Jobim, 65, who took the job in 2007 under then-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, resigned after reports that he made derogatory remarks about two female officials. He was quoted in a magazine as saying that Minister of Institutional Relations Ideli Salvatti lacked power and that Cabinet chief Gleisi Hoffmann “doesn’t even know” the capital, Brasilia.
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