MONGOLIA
Australian cleared of graft
An Australian lawyer who had been barred from leaving the country has been cleared of involvement in a corruption case and will soon be able to leave the country, her employer said yesterday. SouthGobi Resources, a subsidiary of Anglo-Australian resources giant Rio Tinto, said the Independent Authority Against Corruption (IAAC) had ended its questioning of its chief legal counsel, Sarah Armstrong. The Australian was barred from boarding a flight from Ulan Bator to Hong Kong in October as authorities probed a corruption case.
AUSTRALIA
Scottish boy dies in outback
A 14-year-old Scottish boy has died in searing heat in the harsh outback while hiking with his father, police said. Ewan Williamson, who arrived in the country in the middle of the month, collapsed four hours into the walk in the Cape Range National Park on Friday with little water or shade as temperatures soared above 40oC. In naming the boy who died in hospital, police said late on Sunday that his father alerted authorities who located the pair 20km south of Exmouth. The cause of death is yet to be determined, but reports said he was severely dehydrated.
GERMANY
Dead man rides subway
A 65-year-old man thought to be sleeping while sitting upright on a Berlin underground train as it cross-crossed the capital was actually dead, police said on Sunday. “It’s tragic,” a Berlin police spokeswoman said. “We don’t know how long he was sitting dead on the train nor do we know the exact cause of death yet. There are no indications of foul play. He seems to have died of natural causes.” The man was found in the U-8 underground train line that runs all night at the Weinmeisterstrasse station at 5:45am, when a rail worker tried wake the man up by gently shaking him. Medics were called in, but could only pronounce the man dead.
UNITED STATES
License 48 years late
After spending nearly a half-century as husband and wife, Bob and Norma Clark are finally married. The couple from Redlands, California, celebrated their 48th anniversary in August, and last month, they were getting their end-of-life documents in order and sought a copy of their marriage license for Social Security purposes. The Clarks, who met in college, took their vows in August 1964, shortly after Bob had served in the army during the Cuban missile crisis. However, when clerks at the Hall of Records in San Mateo County tried to pull the license last month, they came up empty. On Nov. 21, the couple made their marriage legitimate, obtaining their license at the San Bernardino County Hall of Records, with the maid of honor and a junior usher from the original wedding serving as witnesses.
UNITED KINGDOM
Hillsborough single No. 1
A charity single for the families of those killed in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, featuring Paul McCartney and Robbie Williams, has claimed the country’s coveted Christmas No. 1 spot, officials announced on Sunday. The Justice Collective’s cover version of He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother sold more than 269,000 copies. Funds raised from sales will go toward meeting the families’ ongoing legal costs. Ninety-six Liverpool fans were crushed to death in the Hillsborough soccer stadium disaster in Sheffield, England, in April 1989. A report in September concluded that 41 of those who died could have survived if they had received medical treatment more quickly.
Young Chinese, many who fear age discrimination in their workplace after turning 35, are increasingly starting “one-person companies” that have artificial intelligence (AI) do most of the work. Smaller start-ups are already in vogue in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, with rapidly advancing AI tools seen as a welcome teammate even as they threaten layoffs at existing firms. More young people in China are subscribing to the model, as cities pledge millions of dollars in funding and rent subsidies for such ventures, in alignment with Beijing’s political goal of “technological self-reliance.” “The one-person company is a product of the AI era,” said Karen Dai
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
About 240 Indians claiming descent from a Biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first “bnei Menashe” (“sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government in November last year announced funding for the immigration of about 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from
‘TROUBLING’: The firing of Phelan, who was an adviser to a nonprofit that supported the defense of Taiwan, was another example of ‘dysfunction’ under Trump, a US senator said US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan has been fired, a US official and a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon coming just weeks after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ousted the Army’s top general. The Pentagon announced his departure in a brief statement, saying he was leaving the administration “effective immediately,” but it did not provide a reason or say whether it was his decision to go. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Phelan was dismissed in part because he was moving too slowly to implement reforms to
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