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.
MONEY MATTERS: Xi was to highlight projects such as a new high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest, as Serbia is entirely open to Chinese trade and investment Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic yesterday said that “Taiwan is China” as he made a speech welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Belgrade, state broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) said. “We have a clear and simple position regarding Chinese territorial integrity,” he told a crowd outside the government offices while Xi applauded him. “Yes, Taiwan is China.” Xi landed in Belgrade on Tuesday night on the second leg of his European tour, and was greeted by Vucic and most government ministers. Xi had just completed a two-day trip to France, where he held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as the
With the midday sun blazing, an experimental orange and white F-16 fighter jet launched with a familiar roar that is a hallmark of US airpower, but the aerial combat that followed was unlike any other: This F-16 was controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), not a human pilot, and riding in the front seat was US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall. AI marks one of the biggest advances in military aviation since the introduction of stealth in the early 1990s, and the US Air Force has aggressively leaned in. Even though the technology is not fully developed, the service is planning
INTERNATIONAL PROBE: Australian and US authorities were helping coordinate the investigation of the case, which follows the 2015 murder of Australian surfers in Mexico Three bodies were found in Mexico’s Baja California state, the FBI said on Friday, days after two Australians and an American went missing during a surfing trip in an area hit by cartel violence. Authorities used a pulley system to hoist what appeared to be lifeless bodies covered in mud from a shaft on a cliff high above the Pacific. “We confirm there were three individuals found deceased in Santo Tomas, Baja California,” a statement from the FBI’s office in San Diego, California, said without providing the identities of the victims. Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter
CUSTOMS DUTIES: France’s cognac industry was closely watching the talks, fearing that an anti-dumping investigation opened by China is retaliation for trade tensions French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at one of his beloved childhood haunts in the Pyrenees, seeking to press a message to Beijing not to support Russia’s war against Ukraine and to accept fairer trade. The first day of Xi’s state visit to France, his first to Europe since 2019, saw respectful, but sometimes robust exchanges between the two men during a succession of talks on Monday. Macron, joined initially by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urged Xi not to allow the export of any technology that could be used by Russia in its invasion