AUSTRALIA
Captured fugitive gets life
A man who eluded police for seven years by living in the bush was yesterday sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murders which prompted his life on the run. Malcolm Naden, the nation’s most wanted fugitive until his capture in a remote cabin in northern New South Wales early last year, had pleaded guilty to strangling two young mothers, Kristy Scholes and his cousin Lateesha Nolan, in separate incidents. Supreme Court Justice Derek Price said the murder of Scholes, who lived next door to Naden’s grandparents, where he lived, was a “cold-blooded merciless killing that was sexually motivated” and required a life sentence. The judge found that the murder of his cousin after she had driven him to a beach to go fishing had not been premeditated, but that the woman had suffered a prolonged period of pain and terror before she died.
AUSTRALIA
Host sacked after gay probe
A radio host was sacked on Thursday after asking Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard whether her live-in partner, Tim Mathieson, is gay. Howard Sattler posed the question on the premise of clearing up rumors and things “you hear.” Speaking on Perth’s 6PR, Sattler told Gillard he would offer her a chance to clear up “myths, rumors, snide jokes and innuendo,” then asked: “Tim’s gay?” Gillard replied: “Well that’s absurd.” “But you hear it,” Sattler said. “He must be gay, he’s a hairdresser. It’s not me saying it.” The prime minister dismissed the claim, saying: “I don’t think that in life one can look at a whole profession full of different human beings and say: ‘Gee, we know something about every one of those human beings.’” Sattler persisted, apparently seeking a direct denial: “You can confirm he’s not [gay]?” Exasperated, Gillard said: “Oh, Howard, don’t be ridiculous. Of course not. Let me bring you back to earth.” Sattler was suspended by Fairfax media following widespread public condemnation of the interview.
AUSTRALIA
Man jailed for whipping
A man who whipped a Muslim convert as a religious punishment for drinking alcohol was sentenced yesterday to at least 16 months in jail. Wasim Fayad, 45, was convicted earlier this year of the 2011 attack on Christian Martinez. Sydney Central Local Court Magistrate Brian Maloney sentenced Fayad, who had been Martinez’s spiritual mentor, to a maximum of two years in jail for assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The attack happened after Martinez called Fayad to admit he had spent a night out drinking and doing drugs. Fayad showed up at Martinez’s Sydney home and whipped him 40 times with an electric cord while three other men held him down on his bed.
SWEDEN
Bestiality banned
Authorities will next year introduce a total ban on bestiality, which until now has only been illegal if cruelty to the animal could be proven, the government said on Thursday. “The government is now tightening the rules surrounding bestiality so there will be no doubt about the fact that it is prohibited to inflict suffering on animals,” Minister for Rural Affairs Eskil Erlandsson said in a statement. “There should be no doubt that bestiality is unacceptable.” Until now, bestiality was illegal in Sweden only if it could be proven that the animal had been subjected to suffering. From Jan. 1, any sexual act with an animal will be punishable by a fine, a maximum prison sentence of two years, or both, even if the animal shows no sign of injury or suffering.
ITALY
Rape comment sparks outcry
A councillor belonging to Italy’s anti-immigrant Northern League party called on Thursday for the country’s first black minister to be raped, sparking an outcry and her expulsion from the party. “Won’t someone rape her, just to make her understand what victims of this terrible crime feel? For shame!” Dolores Valandro, a councilor in Padua, wrote on Facebook alongside a photograph of African-Italian Immigration Minister Cecile Kyenge. Valandro was apparently reacting to an article on a Web site called “all immigrant crimes,” which detailed an alleged attempt by a Somali in Genoa to rape two Romanian girls, media reports said. Kyenge said “everyone should feel offended” by the comments, and said she had long battled against violent language and behavior. Valandro later apologized, saying: “It was a something I said in a moment of anger. When I’m angry I vent that way.”
AUSTRALIA
Hotel to employ jester
Wanted: A jester. Wallflowers need not apply. A hotel is advertising for a modern-day court fool, who is communicative, extroverted, musical, creative and imaginative. Applicants are asked to bring — and play — their musical instrument during the job interview. Also welcome: creative costumes. The successful candidate will earn 1,400 euros (US$1,900) a month. Hotel director Melanie Franke says those interested should not think they are on a fool’s errand in applying. She says the idea is to treat guests like royalty, adding that “jesters were a luxury that royal families indulged themselves in.”
NICARAGUA
Waterway deal approved
Lawmakers on Thursday approved a controversial deal that would allow a Hong Kong company to build a US$40 billion oceanic waterway to rival the Panama Canal, and then manage it for the next 50 years. The law granting the concession to HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment, known as HKND Group and owned by Beijing-based entrepreneur, aims to fulfill a long-held national dream for a waterway linking this nation’s Caribbean coast to the Pacific. The project is highly controversial because the little-known company was founded less than a year ago, and because of its huge pricetag — the equivalent of twice this impoverished country’s GDP. Opposition politicians, environmentalists and indigenous communities have criticized the project, saying the government of President Daniel Ortega is “mortgaging Nicaragua” to a company created by “a Chinese businessman nobody knows.” Ortega — whose administration has diplomatic relations with Taiwan and not Beijing — was set to sign the agreement with the company in Managua yesterday.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese