JAPAN
US forces put under curfew
The commander of the US forces in Japan says US military personnel will be subject to a curfew and other restrictions following allegations that two US sailors raped a woman in Okinawa. Lieutenant General Salvatore Angelella gave no specific details about the curfew. He said yesterday that US military personnel in Japan will have to take “core values training.” Angellela says US military personnel are “held to a higher standard.” He apologized for the case, which drew protests from the Japanese government and an outcry on Okinawa, host to more than half the US bases in Japan. Seaman Christopher Browning of Athens, Texas, and Petty Officer 3rd Class Skyler Dozierwalker of Muskogee, Oklahoma, were in Okinawa on a brief stopover at the time of the alleged incident. Both are 23.
AUSTRALIA
Flight crew finds sailor
A lucky sailor is back on dry land after passengers and crew on a commercial flight from Canada helped find his crippled yacht adrift in rough seas hundreds of miles off the Australian coast, rescue authorities said. The Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Sydney was one of two diverted on Wednesday to look for solo yachtsman Glenn Ey, who activated an emergency beacon after his 11m yacht flipped and was dismasted. The Boeing 777 dropped down to 1,500m and cut its speed while the crew peered out using binoculars borrowed from passengers. “As we got to about two to three miles of this yacht, the first officer said: ‘There it is, I see it,’” Andrew Robertson, the captain of the Air Canada flight, told Australian television. “A lot of passengers said it was very exciting to be involved in a search like this,” he added. After a second Air New Zealand flight confirmed the location, a rescue crew battled heavy seas and strong winds to reach Ey, who had drifted about 500km from the Australian coast.
CHINA
Teenager gets life in jail
A Chinese court has sentenced a teenager to life in prison for killing a medical intern and stabbing three other workers at a hospital in northeastern China. The attack by 17-year-old Li Mengnan was part of a recent spate of violence by patients against medical staff that has been seen as a symptom of public frustration over China’s dysfunctional healthcare system. Li’s uncle, Li Chunming, said by telephone that a court in the northeastern city of Harbin found his nephew guilty of intentional homicide and sentenced him yesterday morning. Li Mengnan had been seeking treatment for a chronic spinal condition when he attacked medical staff with a fruit knife on March 23 after a dispute with his doctor.
UNITED STATES
Florida gunman kills three
A gunman opened fire in a central Florida beauty salon on Thursday, fatally shooting three women and wounding a fourth before leaving the scene and killing himself, police said. The gunman entered Las Dominicanas M & M Salon in Casselberry shortly after 11am, police spokeswoman Sara Brady said. Two women escaped the salon. Police have not identified the victims or the gunman. Brady said the shooting appears to be part of a domestic dispute. Brady said the fourth victim was being treated at an Orlando hospital. Her condition was not immediately released. Casselberry is about 24km northeast of Orlando.
CANADA
Chihuahua tagged a ‘danger’
A Canadian city has declared Molly, a 1.36kg teacup chihuahua a “dangerous dog” and ordered her muzzled after the animal bit a postal worker, local media said on Thursday. “I don’t even know if they have muzzles that size. I just think it’s kind of silly, to the extreme,” Molly’s owner Mitzie Scott told PostMedia News. “The dog is literally three pounds — it’s the size of an adult shoe.” The controversy erupted after Molly bit a mail carrier’s ankle in August after escaping through an open gate at Scott’s Windsor, Ontario, home. That meant under a city bylaw that Molly must be registered as a “dangerous dog” and the owners would have to obtain a million-dollar liability insurance policy for their dog, muzzle Molly and keep her on a leash at all times. The city also ordered the family to put up signs at the doors of their home which read: “Warning: Dangerous Dog on Premises.” The mail carrier was prescribed an antibiotic cream by her doctor for the injury — four small puncture wounds.
UNITED STATES
Woman angry at Obama slur
An 80-year-old woman has been arrested after tearing down political signs showing an image of President Barack Obama with an Adolf Hitler-style moustache. Nancy Lack tells WVIT-TV she was offended and took down three posters that were hung last week near the post office in Hebron, Connecticut. Workers for frequent presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche, who were putting up the signs, called police. Lack says she knew she would get in trouble, but said she lived through World War II and was angry that someone would portray the president as a Nazi. She was charged with larceny and breach of peace and released on a promise to appear in court next week.
UNITED KINGDOM
Cops in harsh wrongful arrest
British police apologized on Wednesday for using a stun gun to subdue a blind stroke victim they wrongly thought was carrying a samurai sword, a bizarre case of mistaken identity that left the man fearing for his life. Colin Farmer told British broadcasters that he thought he was going to die after he heard a commotion, felt electricity surge through his body and was knocked to the floor by an unknown assailant. The incident occurred in the town of Chorley, in northern England’s Lancashire County, last Friday. “This seemed to be going on forever ... I was convinced I was being murdered in plain sight,” the 61-year-old told Sky News television. “He [the officer] jumped on the small of my back with his knees ... wrenched my arms up my back and cuffed me so tightly I was in great pain.” Farmer told the BBC he was shouting: “I’m blind! I’m blind!” Lancashire Police Chief Stuart Williams said police brought the victim to a local hospital to be checked out after they realized the officer had used the weapon against the wrong man.
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
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