INDIA
Iranians blamed for blast
Police have said that a bomb attack on an Israeli diplomat’s wife was connected to a failed attack in Bangkok the next day blamed on a group of Iranian men. Israel has accused Iran of carrying out both attacks as well as being responsible for a failed bombing in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Iran has denied any involvement. Police issued arrest warrants earlier this week for three Iranians who have already left the country but were accused of involvement in the Delhi blast on Feb. 13. Delhi police commissioner B.K. Gupta told reporters on Friday that one of the men had been in contact with Masoud Sedaghatzadeh, who was arrested in Malaysia and is accused of involvement in the blast in the Thai capital.
GERMANY
Harley hearse a big hit
A man says people are dying for a ride in the sidecar of one of his Harleys — -literally. Joerg Grossmann said on Friday that his prototype hearse for die-hard bikers who want to ride until the very end — a special sidecar fitted to his motorcycle — made its first funeral run last month. The original is a Kawasaki, but the 48-year-old from near Frankfurt said 10 patented Harley hearses, each costing about 60,000 euros (US$78,000), are being assembled and will be ready later this year. He is counting on 1,000 bookings a year nationwide at a cost of 1,200 euros each, compared with 200 euros for a normal hearse.
THE NETHERLANDS
More PIP implants targeted
Health authorities on Thursday recommended the removal of breast implants manufactured by French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) that were done before 2001. “Women who had a PIP breast implant before 2001 should have themselves examined by a doctor and, in consultation, eventually have the implants removed,” the government’s health watchdog said in a statement. The watchdog followed a probe by Dutch investigative TV program Zembla, which discovered that “several hundred” women received PIP implants as early as 1997, public broadcaster NOS reported.
ISRAEL
Army kills man on border
One man was killed and three wounded and arrested on Thursday in an exchange of gunfire on the border with Egypt, the Israeli army said. “After giving chase, the army arrested three injured suspects and evacuated them by helicopter to an Israeli hospital.” The body of a fourth man was found along the border. Border security incidents have increased in recent months and the government has warned that lawlessness in post-revolution Egypt is allowing militants to use Sinai to stage attacks against the Jewish state.
UNITED STATES
Bin Laden targeted Obama
Before his death, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden ordered his followers in Afghanistan and Pakistan to attack the aircraft of US President Barack Obama, the Washington Post reported on Friday. The report, which cited documents seized at the Pakistan compound where bin Laden was killed by US forces, said the al-Qaeda leader also sought to kill General David Petraeus, who then headed international forces in Afghanistan. Bin Laden wanted to kill the president because “Obama is the head of infidelity and killing him automatically will make [Vice President Joe] Biden take over the presidency,” according to a document allegedly from the compound.
PERU
At least 15 die in bus crash
At least 15 people were killed and six injured on Friday in the north when a bus left a road and fell 200m into a ravine, police said. The cause of the accident has not yet been announced. The bus driver was killed in the morning crash, which occurred in Morropon Province about 1,050km north of the capital, Lima. “We have so far identified 15 killed,” police officer Luis Barreto said. The injured were transported to the nearest hospital in Morropon. The country’s roads are among the most treacherous in Latin America, accounting for an average of 3,300 deaths per year over the past decade among its nearly nearly 30 million residents.
COLOMBIA
Landslide kills eight workers
A landslide tore down a wall at a construction site in northern Colombia, killing eight workers who were buried under tonnes of mud and rubble, officials said on Friday. The workers had been laying the foundation for a 24-story building in the city of Bucaramanga, about 400km northeast of Bogota, when the accident occurred on Thursday, a local official said. “Eight people died. The last body was removed around midnight,” Bucaramanga civil defense director Robinson Farfan said. Four other construction workers who were buried in the landslide were rescued and taken to hospital. The construction project was halted and officials launched an investigation into the accident.
HAITI
Murders on the rise
Nearly 150 people have been killed, most often by gunshot, since the start of the year, a rights group said on Friday amid rising insecurity in the poverty-ridden country. The National Human Rights Defense Network said 147 people — including five police officers — suffered violent deaths so far this year, most of them in the capital, Port-au-Prince. Overnight Thursday alone, seven people were shot to death in downtown Port-au-Prince, the group said.
UNITED STATES
Couple held for caging boy
Police say a Florida couple is accused of locking an extremely malnourished boy inside a cage in a closet as punishment for stealing food they were withholding from him. Authorities in Titusville, about 64km east of Orlando on the coast, say the 12-year-old boy had also been strapped to a bed. He was treated at a hospital for malnutrition and dehydration. Brevard County Jail records show 38-year-old Michael Marshall and 48-year-old Sharon Glass were charged on Thursday with three counts of aggravated child abuse. Both were being held without bond. It was not immediately clear if they had an attorney. Child welfare officials are investigating. Other children at the home have since been removed.
MEXICO
Remains of lawmaker found
The remains of a local lawmaker, who was abducted shortly after being elected in 2010, were identified in a hidden grave in the northern state of Durango, an official said on Thursday. Alfonso Pena’s remains were found in one of 12 hidden graves uncovered in Durango since last year, from which at least 330 bodies have been removed, said Sonia de la Garza, the state’s attorney general. Pena had been elected to the state Congress on July 4, 2010, and was reported missing, along with three bodyguards, 26 days later. Pena was the first candidate in the Durango elections to request personal security, which he said was to avoid risks.
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
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
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