PAPUA NEW GUINEA
More ferry bodies found
Rescuers, searching for survivors after a ferry sank off the nation’s northeast coast, said yesterday they had found four bodies and that the search would continue for about 100 still missing. Planes, ships and helicopters have been mobilized to search for survivors from the MV Rabaul Queen, which sank in rough weather on Thursday with about 350 people on board. Captain Nurur Rahman, of the maritime safety authority, said the number of confirmed survivors stood at 246. Rahman said he remained optimistic, given the relatively warm water, that more survivors would be found. Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has promised a full investigation into the tragedy. Sea transport is a major communication lifeline in the archipelago nation, most of whose 6 million people live subsistence lives in traditional villages.
CHINA
Officials fired after spill
An environmental protection director and six other officials have been fired after a spill of toxic cadmium in a river in the south of the country threatened drinking water supplies for millions of people, news reports said yesterday. The spill last month prompted residents of Liuzhou, a city of 3.2 million in Guangxi Province, to stock up on bottled water. Officials said efforts to neutralize the cadmium were keeping its levels in river water within safe limits. Hechi Environmental Protection Bureau Director Wu Haique (吳海愨), was fired for negligence and dereliction of duty, the People’s Daily reported. Two other officials were punished but kept their jobs, the reports said. Official reports have provided little information about the exact cause of the spill. It was initially blamed on a mining company. Eight managers of mining and metals companies have been detained and four others fled, the China Daily newspaper said.
BRAZIL
Jackie Chan given jet
Planemaker Embraer on Friday presented a Legacy 650 executive jet to Hong Kong martial arts star Jackie Chan (成龍) to help build its brand in China. The company said in a statement that Chan would help the company promote “its entire line of executive aircraft, not only in the rapidly growing greater China market, but globally.” “This delivery is a moment of historical importance to Embraer because it solidifies an already long and successful relationship between China and Embraer,” Embraer Executive Jets unit president Ernest Edwards said. By turning to Chan, Embraer hopes to translate his charisma and celebrity into increased recognition and sales for its products. “I believe that Embraer is poised to become a major player in the Chinese executive jet market,” said Chan, who described himself as a “brand ambassador” for the manufacturer. The ebullient actor, singer and cultural icon toasted the company’s executives as they stood together in front of the plane customized with the Chinese colors of red and yellow, and the name “Jackie” painted on the tail.
UNITED STATES
Kobayashi destroys record
Japanese competitive-eating champion Takeru Kobayashi ate a record 337 chicken wings in 30 minutes before a crowd of nearly 20,000 at Wing Bowl XX in Philadelphia. He demolished the record of 255 set last year by Jonathan “Super” Squibb. The Friday-morning contest drew thousands to watch competitors stuff themselves with chicken wings. Kobayashi claimed the US$20,000 cash prize.
UNITED STATES
Case linked to serial killer
Charges were dropped on Friday against the son of a murder victim in Santa Ana after detectives linked the case to a suspected California serial killer. Eder Herrera, 24, was arrested shortly after his mother and brother were found stabbed to death in October. A judge dismissed the charges on Friday after detectives linked Itzcoatl Ocampo to the fatal stabbings and found that Ocampo was associated with Herrera. Authorities have also linked Ocampo to a killing spree in December and last month targeting four homeless men. Each of the four men was stabbed more than 40 times with a weapon believed to be a 17.78cm, fixed-blade, military-type knife, authorities said.
UNITED STATES
Ben Gazzara dies at 81
Actor Ben Gazzara, who enjoyed a long and successful career on Broadway and in Hollywood, died of pancreatic cancer on Friday in Manhattan, his attorney said. He was 81. The lawyer told reporters that the actor died at a Manhattan hospital. During his 60-year Hollywood career, the actor appeared in more than 100 films and TV movies, including Husbands, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and Opening Night. He won an Emmy Award for his supporting role in the 2002 HBO drama Hysterical Blindness. He also received an Emmy nomination for the 1985 TV movie An Early Frost, in which he played a middle-aged husband who learns that his son is gay and dying of AIDS.
UNITED STATES
Mother settles Spector suit
A lawyer said the mother of the actress Phil Spector was convicted of killing has settled her wrongful death suit against the legendary music producer. Attorney John Taylor told the Los Angeles Times the terms of Friday’s settlement were confidential, but said his client, Donna Clarkson, was pleased and relieved the suit was over. Lana Clarkson was shot and killed in the foyer of Spector’s Alhambra mansion nine years ago. Donna Clarkson attended the 2009 trial daily, and testified that her daughter was upbeat and not at all suicidal, as Spector’s defense alleged. Spector was convicted in the death and is serving a 19-years-to-life sentence.
UNITED STATES
Keith Urban makes return
Keith Urban is back. The country star returned to the stage during The Grand Ole Opry on Friday night, his first public appearance since vocal surgery late last year. He played three songs and an encore. He was joined by a string quartet on Long Hot Summer, then sang Making Memories of Us microphone-free with the audience. Urban didn’t address the surgery while speaking with the crowd. The 44-year-old Australian had a polyp removed from a vocal cord in November last year.
UNITED STATES
Zalman King dies at 70
Actor and filmmaker Zalman King, who became known for his erotic work after writing and producing his breakthrough film 9-1/2 Weeks, has died. He was 70. King’s son-in-law, Allison Burnett, said the filmmaker died on Friday morning at his home in Santa Monica, California, after a six-year battle with cancer. Born Zalman King Lefkovitz in 1941, King began his career as an actor in the 1960s. He and wife, Patricia Louisianna Knop, collaborated on the screenplay for 9-1/2 Weeks, which became a cult hit starring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not