GREECE
Country seeks Nazi war debt
Greece has set up a “working group” to scour historical archives and tally how much Germany might owe in outstanding reparations for Nazi war crimes during World War II, the finance ministry announced on Monday. Greece has said in recent years that it reserves the right to claim reparations worth an estimated US$7.5 million, saying it was forced to accept unfavorable terms during negotiations in the 1950s. “The matter remains pending,” Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said. “Greece has never resigned its rights.”
THAILAND
Starving rooftop tigers found
Thai police said they had discovered six underfed tigers in specially built cages on the roof of an apartment building on Monday, arresting a man who claimed he had been planning to open a zoo. Four adult cats and two cubs were found at the property on an industrial estate in Pathumthani province, north of Bangkok, in the raid by police from the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division. A 28-year-old man, who lives in the building, was arrested at the scene and claimed to own the animals. “The man said that he was preparing to open a zoo in the province,” said police Captain Montri Neepasee, who said the animals had not been given enough food and did not look “completely healthy.” He added he believed the tigers would have been sent to Vietnam, where there is demand for “their meat and skins.”
UNITED STATES
Casino tycoon wins case
US casino tycoon Steve Wynn won US$20 million in defamation damages on Monday after he was accused of planning to have a businessman killed and buried in the desert over a bad gambling debt. Wynn was awarded the damages after taking legal action against Joe Francis, founder of the entertainment group Girls Gone Wild. The week-long trial heard evidence from both men, as well as legendary music producer Quincy Jones. Francis first made the comments in court in April 2010 — where they were immune from legal action. That trial was about a US$2 million gambling debt, which Francis allegedly ran up at one of Wynn’s Las Vegas casinos, but he was accused of repeating them once outside court when he was overheard by an online gossip reporter and again on a recent morning TV show.
UNITED STATES
Hackers hit Web site firm
A member of a hacker collective claimed credit on Monday for downing the Web hosting firm GoDaddy, which manages millions of Web sites around the world. Credit was claimed on Twitter by AnonymousOwn3r, identified as the “security leader” of the loosely organized hacker group known as Anonymous. When some news sites blamed the attack on Anonymous, the same individual responded on Twitter by saying: “it is not Anonymous coletive it’s only me don’t use Anonymous coletive name on it, just my name.”
SINGAPORE
UK royals start Asia tour
Britain’s Prince William and his wife, Catherine, arrived in the city state on Tuesday to start a Southeast Asian and Pacific tour marking Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. The nine-day trip through Singapore, Malaysia, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu is to feature sentimental stops as well as the former Kate Middleton’s first overseas speech as she settles into her duties with the British monarchy. The glamorous couple’s first visit will be to Singapore’s Botanic Gardens.
A Chinese scientist was arrested while arriving in the US at Detroit airport, the second case in days involving the alleged smuggling of biological material, authorities said on Monday. The scientist is accused of shipping biological material months ago to staff at a laboratory at the University of Michigan. The FBI, in a court filing, described it as material related to certain worms and requires a government permit. “The guidelines for importing biological materials into the US for research purposes are stringent, but clear, and actions like this undermine the legitimate work of other visiting scholars,” said John Nowak, who leads field
Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg was deported from Israel yesterday, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, the day after the Israeli navy prevented her and a group of fellow pro-Palestinian activists from sailing to Gaza. Thunberg, 22, was put on a flight to France, the ministry said, adding that she would travel on to Sweden from there. Three other people who had been aboard the charity vessel also agreed to immediate repatriation. Eight other crew members are contesting their deportation order, Israeli rights group Adalah, which advised them, said in a statement. They are being held at a detention center ahead of a
‘THE RED LINE’: Colombian President Gustavo Petro promised a thorough probe into the attack on the senator, who had announced his presidential bid in March Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, a possible candidate in the country’s presidential election next year, was shot and wounded at a campaign rally in Bogota on Saturday, authorities said. His conservative Democratic Center party released a statement calling it “an unacceptable act of violence.” The attack took place in a park in the Fontibon neighborhood when armed assailants shot him from behind, said the right-wing Democratic Center, which was the party of former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe. The men are not related. Images circulating on social media showed Uribe Turbay, 39, covered in blood being held by several people. The Santa Fe Foundation
NUCLEAR WARNING: Elites are carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers, perhaps because they have access to shelters, Tulsi Gabbard said After a trip to Hiroshima, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday warned that “warmongers” were pushing the world to the brink of nuclear war. Gabbard did not specify her concerns. Gabbard posted on social media a video of grisly footage from the world’s first nuclear attack and of her staring reflectively at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. On Aug. 6, 1945, the US obliterated Hiroshima, killing 140,000 people in the explosion and by the end of the year from the uranium bomb’s effects. Three days later, a US plane dropped a plutonium bomb on Nagasaki, leaving abut 74,000 people dead by the
RSS