VIETNAM
US steps into blogger fray
The US yesterday called on Hanoi to free three bloggers facing trial for propaganda against the state, voicing deep concern at the self-immolation of the mother of one of the trio. The defendants were arrested after posting hundreds of political articles on the banned Web site “Free Journalists Club,” as well as writing on their own blogs, in a case that has been raised by US President Barack Obama. If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison, according to their lawyers. Dang Thi Kim Lieng, the mother of one of the three, died after setting herself ablaze on Monday in front of the local authorities’ offices in Bac Lieu Province, according to people close to the family. “We were deeply concerned and saddened to hear of [Lieng’s] self-immolation, reportedly related to circumstances surrounding the detention of her daughter Ta Phong Tan,” the US embassy in Hanoi said in a statement. Tan, a 43-year-old Catholic former policewoman, used her blog to denounce corruption and injustice in Vietnam’s legal system.
SOUTH KOREA
Seoul rejects terror claims
Seoul yesterday rejected North Korean claims that it is planning terrorist acts as “ridiculous,” and said it would protect Seoul activists threatened by Pyongyang. Pyongyang late on Tuesday said the activists were involved in plots aided by Seoul and Washington to blow up statues of past leaders and stage other acts of terrorism in the North. Offenders “will not be safe no matter where they are and they will not be able to escape merciless punishment,” it said in a statement, which took the unusual step of naming those singled out for possible retribution. “The North is making ridiculous accusations of kidnapping, acts of terrorism and crimes involving some North Korean defectors,” a spokeswoman for the South’s unification ministry said. “None of them have any truth in them and the accusations are not worth responding to.”
UNITED STATES
Sergeant gets jail for abuse
A sergeant in the army was sentenced on Tuesday to 30 days in a military jail for assault and mistreatment of Chinese-American soldier Danny Chen, who committed suicide in Afghanistan. Jurors at a court martial in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, set out the penalty a day after acquitting Sergeant Adam Holcomb on the more serious charges of negligent homicide, reckless endangerment and communicating a threat. The suicide in October last year of Private Chen, 19, the son of Chinese immigrants, outraged New York’s ethnic Chinese community amid allegations that he had been singled out for hazing by his fellow soldiers. Family members and supporters said Chen — the only Chinese-American in his battalion — had faced racist abuse, including name-calling such as “egg roll,” “chink” and “dragon lady,” almost every day of his six weeks in Afghanistan. During the trial, the court martial heard that Chen was ordered to crawl on the ground to be pelted with rocks a few hours before he died.
FRANCE
Law defines sex abuse
The parliament unanimously adopted new legislation on Tuesday, making sexual harassment a criminal offense punishable by up to three years in jail, replacing a law that was deemed too vague. The new law, which also provides for a fine of up to 45,000 euros (US$55,000), was rushed through both houses of parliament to appease public anger as the repeal of the original legislation in May saw all suits going through the courts being dropped.
ITALY
Court rules insult illegal
The nation’s highest court on Tuesday ruled that telling a man he has “no balls” as an insult is a crime punishable with a fine because it hurts male pride in a ruling on a row between two cousins. The case was brought to the supreme court by a lawyer named only as Vittorio against his cousin Alberto, a justice of the peace, for the phrase uttered during a heated courtroom exchange in the southern city of Potenza. “Apart from the vulgarity of the term used, the expression definitely also has an injurious quality,” the male judge, Maurizio Fumo, said in his ruling as quoted by news agency ANSA. The court also found that because the insult was uttered at the workplace with third parties present it could be seen as damaging Vittorio’s reputation. A judge will now rule on the fine that Alberto should pay to Vittorio.
NEW ZEALAND
Dead possum show slammed
A school that staged a morbid fashion show in which children were encouraged to dress possum corpses in colorful costumes has come under fire from animal lovers. The contest, part of an annual fundraiser for Uruti School on North Island, was unacceptable and thoughtless, the New Zealand Royal Society for the Protection of Animals said. The local Taranaki Daily News ran an online gallery of the dead marsupials under the headline “pimped-up possums” reporting an overwhelmingly negative reaction in its comments section, including “sick,” “disgusting” and “psycho.” Uruti School principal Pauline Sutton said she saw nothing wrong with the children dressing up the dead possums, which are considered pests.
UNITED STATES
Anti gay-marriage suit filed
Opponents of gay marriage in California filed an appeal on Tuesday asking the Supreme Court to overturn a federal court decision legalizing same-sex unions. The appeal is one of several on the issue of same-sex marriage the Supreme Court will decide whether to review when it resumes on Sept. 24. Same-sex marriage was briefly legal in California, before the adoption of Proposition 8 in a state-wide vote in 2008. The proposition entered into the state constitution that marriage is between a man and a woman. On Feb. 21 this year, a federal appeals court in California ruled Prop 8 unconstitutional, in a decision that the most recent appeal aims to overturn. Analysts say the nine Supreme Court justices are more likely to take on cases related to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) the subject of litigation in Massachusetts. DOMA stipulates marriage is a legal union between a man and a woman. The law prevents couples in same-sex units from obtaining the same federal benefits — including inheritance rights and tax deductions — accorded to their heterosexual counterparts.
UNITED STATES
Jackson family goes home
Michael Jackson’s mother says she is returning to her family’s Indiana hometown to celebrate what would have been her son’s 54th birthday. An announcement released on Tuesday by a representative of Katherine Jackson said that the events in Gary, Indiana, would also be attended by the singer’s three children. A candlelight vigil is planned for Aug. 29 outside the family’s home on Jackson’s 54th birthday. Details on the events, including a tribute concert and an event honoring Katherine Jackson, are posted on a Facebook page for the event. The Jackson family moved to Los Angeles when Michael and his siblings pursued their music careers, but have kept connections to the town.
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