AUSTRALIA
New Cabinet sworn in
Prime Minister Julia Gillard swore in her new Cabinet yesterday, as two major opinion polls showed her government faced likely defeat at elections in September. A poll by Sydney-based market researcher Newspoll published in the Australian newspaper yesterday found support for Labor was trailing opposition leader Tony Abbott’s conservative coalition 44 percent to 56 percent. A poll by Sydney-based Galaxy Research published in News Corp newspapers yesterday found the coalition was leading Labor 54 percent to 46 percent.
ANTARCTICA
‘Shackleton’ team ashore
An exhausted British-Australian expedition recreating Ernest Shackleton’s 1916 crossing of the Southern Ocean in a small boat made landfall yesterday after a perilous 12-day journey. Led by renowned adventurer Tim Jarvis, the team of six reached Peggotty Bluff on rugged South Georgia, where they landed their vessel in the same place Shackleton and his men beached the James Caird nearly 100 years ago. The next leg will see three of the team tackle a two-day climb to 900m over the mountainous, crevassed interior of South Georgia. Jarvis said the boat trip, using only the equipment, navigational instruments and food available to Shackleton, was extremely tough, describing it as “truly about endurance — mental as much as physical. There was just no way to keep dry. The waterproofing with wax didn’t work,” he said.
CHINA
‘Crazy English’ Li divorced
A Beijing court has granted a divorce to a US woman and her celebrity-entrepreneur husband in a high-profile case that highlighted the often-hidden problem of domestic violence. The case began when Kim Lee posted graphic photographs of the injuries she said came from her husband, Li Yang (李陽) on her microblog in 2011. Li Yang’s chain of English language schools, “Crazy English,” is a household name in the country. The photographs went viral. Xinhua news agency said the divorce was granted on Sunday on the grounds of domestic abuse and the court approved Lee’s request for a three-month restraining order against Li. Reports said the court ordered Li to pay his former wife 50,000 yuan (US$8,000) compensation for mental anguish, as well as child support. She will also have custody of their three daughters and receive properties worth more than 12 million yuan.
JAPAN
Chinese fishermen released
The coast guard has released the captain and crew of a Chinese boat who was arrested for illegal fishing southwest of islands claimed by both countries. Coast guard official Yasuhiko Oku said the captain and 12 crewmembers of the 100 tonne boat were released on Sunday after the Chinese consulate in Fukuoka guaranteed payment of a ¥4 million (US$44,000) bail.
SOUTH KOREA
Joint naval drill starts
The country launched a joint naval exercise with the US involving a US nuclear submarine yesterday. A defense ministry spokesman confirmed the three-day drill was underway in the Sea of Japan (known as the “East Sea” in the country), off Pohang. Although military officials said the drill was scheduled before the North threatened to detonate its third nuclear device, the presence of the submarine has been seen as a warning to Pyongyang. The USS San Francisco, armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, is joined in the drill by a 9,800 tonnes Aegis destroyer, the USS Shiloh.
UNITED KINGDOM
Malala recovers post-surgery
Doctors said on Sunday that Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban in October last year, has had successful surgery on her skull. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham said the 15-year-old had undergone two operations on Saturday to insert a titanium plate into her skull and fit an electronic device in her left ear to restore her hearing. A hospital spokeswoman said the schoolgirl’s medical team were “very pleased” with her progress following five hours of surgery.
UNITED KINGDOM
Man tasered outside palace
A man who was shocked by police with a Taser stun gun as he waved large knives outside Buckingham Palace was charged yesterday with affray and possessing a bladed weapon in public. Talhat Rehman, 54, was seen ranting and pressing one of the knives to his chest outside the palace, just before noon on Sunday.
UNITED STATES
Crash leaves eight dead
A tour bus collided with a car and pickup truck, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens of others on Sunday night on a Southern California mountain highway, authorities said. California Highway Patrol spokesman Mario Lopez confirmed the deaths and said 38 people were taken to hospitals with injuries. He also said the bus driver reported having brake problems as it headed down the mountain on two-lane State Route 38, rear-ending a sedan then flipping over and hitting a pickup truck that was pulling a trailer. The bus was carrying a tour group from Tijuana, Mexico.
RUSSIA
Filin heads to Germany
Bolshoi Ballet artistic director Sergei Filin left a Moscow hospital yesterday morning to move to a clinic in Aachen, Germany, for further treatment after he suffered serious eye damage in an acid attack. Filin, wearing dark glasses and supported by his wife, was set to have his first medical examination in Germany later yesterday. “I feel good, I would even say excellent. If only my eyes saw a bit better,” Filin told journalists outside the hospital, describing his vision as “foggy and blurred.” “I sometimes open my eyes, but what I see is only just enough to be able to sense objects or to wash, that is the maximum,” he said in televised remarks. The 42-year-old has already undergone five operations on his eyes since being rushed to hospital on Jan. 17 after being splashed in the face with sulphuric acid.
ITALY
Revellers flock to Venice
About 70,000 revellers, many wearing elaborate costumes and masks, thronged Venice’s St Mark’s Square on Sunday to watch the traditional “flight of the angel,” a highlight of the annual Carnival. Marta Finotto, a 20-year-old student, had the honor of performing the stunt, gliding on a harness from the 99m belltower of Saint Mark’s Basilica to a stage below, wearing a black top hat and a red gown with matching boots. The Venice Carnival, which began on Jan. 26, winds up on Feb. 12.
CUBA
Fidel Castro casts vote
Fidel Castro made a surprise appearance in Havana on Sunday to vote in parliamentary polls. The 86-year-old’s visit to the voting precinct in El Vedado neighborhood was the main event in Sunday’s elections, during which Cubans chose 612 members of the National Assembly as well as deputies of local legislatures. He had not been seen in public since Oct. 21 last year, fueling rumors that his health had worsened.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of