INDIA
Politician killed in Kashmir
Police said suspected rebels had shot dead a member of a pro-India political party in Kashmir. Police said Bashir Ahmed was shot in the head at close range in Srinagar yesterday. He was a shopkeeper and member of the ruling National Conference. Police said the gunmen escaped. The shooting was the second strike by suspected rebels in the past two weeks. On Dec. 11, Kashmiri Law Minister Ali Mohammed Sagar survived a militant attack, but his security guard was killed.
AUSTRALIA
Abandoned dollar wins big
A woman has won the right to pocket the A$100,000 (US$101,000) she won on a slot machine, after a casino agreed to pay her the money she won with another gambler’s abandoned dollar.
Cecilia Cubillo used a A$1 credit someone else had left in a poker machine to hit the jackpot 18 months ago. However, joy turned to disappointment when Adelaide Casino said it was unable to honor the prize because it was against regulations set by the gambling watchdog to pay wins on abandoned money. The regulation is aimed at encouraging gamblers to take breaks without losing their seat at their machine of choice. However, the approach by the Office of the Liquor and Gambling Commissioner appears to have softened since then.
AUSTRALIA
Bali tattoo likely gave HIV
Health authorities have said a patient diagnosed with HIV likely caught the virus while having a tattoo done in Bali, Indonesia. They recommended that people who had recently been tattooed on the island, known for its white, sandy beaches, partying and nightlife, should consider being tested for HIV and other blood-borne viruses. Authorities did not reveal any details of the patient concerned. The Department of Health highlighted the risk not only of tattoos, but also of body piercing. Indonesian officials said last year that the number of known HIV/AIDS cases in Bali was soaring, with one in four prostitutes reported to be HIV-positive and the number of infections jumping almost 19 percent from the year before.
TURKEY
Twenty-seven rebels killed
Authorities say troops have killed 27 Kurdish rebels in a helicopter and warplane-backed offensive in the southeast. The office of the governor for Sirnak Province — which borders Iraq — said in a statement issued late on Friday that the rebels were killed in a five-day long offensive in a mountainous region. It said five other rebels were captured alive. Pro-Kurdish news agency Firat confirmed clashes in the area, but made no mention of any rebel deaths. It was the second major offensive against the rebels this week. On Wednesday, officials said 21 were killed in nearby Diyarbakir Province.
TURKEY
AFP photographer released
The state-run news agency says authorities have released an Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer, along with 12 other people who were detained as part of an investigation into a group prosecutors accused of having links to Kurdish rebels. However, Anadolu Agency said that a court early yesterday ordered 35 other suspects formally arrested pending trial over their alleged involvement in the Union of Kurdistan Communities — which authorities say is an offshoot of the PKK rebel group. AFP photographer Mustafa Ozer was among 48 suspects, including a number of other journalists, detained in police raids.
UNITED STATES
Obamas thank troops
US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama yesterday thanked US troops and their families for their sacrifice and service to the country as they wished all Americans happy Christmas holidays. “Our troops are coming home. And across America, military families are being reunited,” the president said in his weekly radio and Internet address. He asked US citizens to give thanks to these men and women in uniform for their service. “Let’s say a prayer for all our troops standing post all over the world, especially our brave men and women in Afghanistan who are serving to protect the freedoms and security we hold dear,” Obama added. The first lady reminded listeners that Christmas was a time to give thanks for the gifts that bless the US every single day.
MEXICO
Agency probes governor
The government’s human rights commission said it would call the governor of Guerrero State in for questioning in the deaths of two students at a violent Dec. 12 protest. The commission says Guerrero Governor Angel Aguirre would be formally called to appear before the body tomorrow. The commission said in a statement on Friday that it had the authority to investigate serious rights violations. Prosecutors have placed 12 Guerrero police officers under house arrest while they investigate the shootings. Protesters from a rural teachers’ college blocked a highway demanding more funding and battled police trying to clear the highway. It remains unclear who fired the shots.
MEXICO
US citizens killed in bus
Three US citizens are among the seven bus passengers who died in shooting attacks on three buses in Veracruz State. An official of neighboring Hidalgo State said the US victims were a mother and her two daughters returning home to spend the holidays with relatives. Hidalgo State regional assistant secretary Jorge Rocha said on Friday the women were originally from the Huasteca region, where the shooting occurred on Thursday.
UNITED STATES
Man imprisoned over trick
A Delaware man who faked his way into Harvard has been sentenced to a year in prison for violating his probation by putting the university on his resume. A probation department spokeswoman says Adam Wheeler was sentenced on Friday at Middlesex Superior Court. Prosecutors say the 25-year-old Wheeler got into Harvard and obtained about US$45,000 in financial aid by falsely claiming he attended elite schools, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Last year, he was convicted of identity fraud and sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison and 10 years’ probation.
UNITED STATES
Cupcake confiscated
A woman said an airport security officer in Las Vegas confiscated her frosted cupcake because he thought the icing on it could be explosive. Rebecca Hains told WCVB-TV the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent took her cupcake, telling her its frosting was “gel-like” enough to constitute a security risk. The TSA has restrictions on taking liquids and gels onto flights to prevent them from being used as explosives. Hains says she had passed through security at Boston’s Logan International Airport with two cupcakes packaged in jars. She says she was stopped on Wednesday on her return from Las Vegas with one of them.
‘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