PHILIPPINES
Bus falls off ravine, 14 dead
Fourteen people, including two foreigners, were killed and 31 were injured as a tourist bus fell into a deep ravine in the northern Mountain Province, police said yesterday. The bus carrying 45 people was traveling on a narrow road when it fell about 120m into the ravine, local police chief Senior Superintendent Oliver Enmodias said. Fourteen of the passengers died on the spot, including a Canadian and a Dutch national, he said. Among the injured were a Dutch woman and the driver of the bus, who were taken to hospital, Enmodias said. Local police spokesman Superintendent Davy Vicente Limmong said they suspect human error or a mechanical problem was the cause of the accident, as there was no traffic and the weather was clear.
CAMBODIA
Stolen relics recovered
Police yesterday said they have recovered a golden urn stolen last year that contains what are considered to be remnants of Buddha’s body. The urn was taken from a mountain shrine 40km outside the capital in mid-December. National police spokesman Kirt Chantharith said it was recovered on Thursday from a house in the southern province of Takeo, and one man was arrested in connection with the theft. Several countries in Asia process relics believed to come from the body of Buddha, and the urn stolen two months ago holds enormous religious and cultural significance for the predominantly Buddhist nation.
MALAYSIA
Execution postponed
Amnesty International yesterday said the government has postponed plans to execute a man for murder in a case that sparked an outcry from Amnesty International. Chandran Paskaran was sentenced to hang in 2008 for killing another man in a fight five years earlier in the southern state of Johor. Amnesty had earlier learned that the execution of Chandran, 35, was set for yesterday. However, the execution was halted on the order of Johor’s state sultan, Amnesty International Malaysia executive director Shamini Darshni said. “The risk to his life, however, is not over, and his death sentence must be commuted immediately,” Shamini said in a later statement.
AUSTRALIA
Police charged with rape
Two police officers were yesterday charged with raping a woman while on duty in a case Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said was a blow to the force’s reputation. The men, aged 28 and 29, were each charged with five counts of rape, one count of assault with intent to commit rape, and with deprivation of liberty. Neither entered a plea when they faced the Mackay Magistrates Court yesterday morning, with both of them granted bail. It is alleged they raped the woman in Mackay, 970km north of Brisbane, on Sunday last week. She filed a complaint on Monday, which sparked an internal investigation.
ARGENTINA
Lawyer demands testimony
The vice president and top tax collector are one step closer to being charged or absolved in a corruption case. A federal prosecutor says evidence supports requiring the testimony by Vice President Amado Boudou, tax agency director Ricardo Etchegaray and at least nine others accused of taking over the company that prints pesos. The bankrupt printer was sold off to a shell company linked to the vice president after he and Etchegaray intervened to lower its tax debts. Prosecutor Jorge DiLello presented his case on Thursday to Judge Ariel Lijo. He says there is evidence of crimes punishable by six years in prison and a lifetime ban from public office.
UNITED STATES
Leno farewells ‘Tonight’
An emotional Jay Leno taped his last Tonight Show with help from a stageful of stars, including Billy Crystal, Garth Brooks and Oprah Winfrey. Leno grew tearful as he brought his 22 years as Tonight host to a close on Thursday, thanking his viewers for being “incredibly loyal.” The comedian, who said goodbye as host once before, called this the right time to leave. Jimmy Fallon takes over Tonight on Feb. 17 in New York. Thursday’s hour-long show included celebrity advice on Leno’s next move, two songs from Brooks and a parody of a song from The Sound of Music.
UNITED STATES
Stradivarius find confirmed
The rare multimillion-dollar Stradivarius violin stolen last month from a concert violinist in Wisconsin has been recovered, police said on Thursday. The violin was found in a suitcase in the attic of a Milwaukee residence overnight on Wednesday, city Police Chief Edward Flynn said. The violin appears to be in good condition, he said. Citizen tips and information about the stun gun used in the theft led to the arrests of three people, Flynn said. Two men, aged 41 and 36, and a 32-year-old woman are in custody, according to prosecutors. Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm said one suspect was likely to be charged yesterday and the others could be charged after that. He said charges were delayed because prosecutors had been negotiating with one suspect for the return of the violin.
FRANCE
Pope’s bike sold for charity
The auction in Paris on Thursday of the pope’s Harley-Davidson motorcycle and jacket saw the combined proceeds of almost 300,000 euros (US$407,000) going to charity. After bidding lasting six minutes, the auctioneer Bonhams said the 1,585cc bike — given to Pope Francis by Harley-Davidson in June — was sold to a private buyer in Europe for 241,500 euros. The jacket, also signed by the pontiff, went to an anonymous buyer for 57,500 euros. The money was earmarked for the renovation of a hostel and soup kitchen in Rome run by the charity Caritas.
MEXICO
Note left with heads
A chilling note was found alongside the severed heads and dismembered bodies of four people on Thursday in the state of Michoacan where vigilantes are battling a drug cartel, authorities said. The heads were placed on top of plastic bags on a street in the town of Zacapu, an official in the Michoacan state prosecutor’s office said. The arms and legs were found near a church. A note was left near the body parts, reading: “This is what will happen to those who support the Knights Templar” cartel. The victims have been identified and authorities are trying to determine whether they are linked to organized crime, the official said.
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