NICARAGUA
President appears in public
President Daniel Ortega reappeared in public on Monday after a 10-day absence that had sparked rumors he was sick or even dead. He did so at Managua Airport as he received Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, arriving from the Vatican after a visit with Pope Francis. “You have carried out the miracle of resurrecting me, because a lot of people thought I was dead,” said a smiling Ortega, 68. Rumors had been flying in the Central American country because of Ortega’s 10-day absence from official ceremonies. These were accentuated on Thursday last week when Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa canceled a planned visit to Managua. Reports has said Ortega had health problems and received treatment in Cuba.
MEXICO
State seizes minerals
More than 119,000 tonnes of minerals suspected of being part of illegal export operations have been seized in a port where a powerful drug gang allegedly has been shipping iron to China, the government said on Monday. More than 400 federal agents, police and military personnel raided 11 sites around the Pacific port of Lazaro Cardenas in the state of Michoacan, and troops seized minerals without proper documentation, Michoacan Federal Government Commissioner Alfredo Castillo said in a statement. The navy took over the port in November to combat an illegal iron ore exporting business to China allegedly run by the Knights Templar drug cartel.
SUDAN
Thousands flee Darfur
Almost 40,000 people may have been displaced by militia arson and looting in the Darfur region, according to new data obtained yesterday. More than 19,000 arrivals have been recorded at two camps for displaced people near the South Darfur state capital, Nyala, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. That is in addition to an estimated 20,000 who the UN’s World Food Program on Monday said fled to safety at Saniya Deleiba, a village about 35km from Nyala. Mario Lito Malanca, the IOM’s chief of mission in the country, said his agency registered 5,473 displaced in Kalma camp and 14,015 in al-Salam camp.
UNITED STATES
Official heads to India
A senior official headed to India yesterday, admitting that the two countries had “real challenges” to overcome as they try to move on from an ugly diplomatic dispute earlier this year. The Indian-born US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Biswal is to be the most high-profile visitor to New Delhi since a row over the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York in December. Several planned trips between Indian and American officials have since been cancelled and a fresh trade dispute has further complicated their relationship.
NEW ZEALAND
Maori king snubs prince
The Maori king has refused to meet Prince William during a royal tour next month, Prime Minister John Key said yesterday, expressing disappointment at the snub. Key said Kensington Palace had hoped Prince William would visit King Tuheitia at the Turangawaewae marae, or meeting place, during his April 7-16 trip to New Zealand with wife Catherine and baby Prince George. However, he said King Tuheitia’s office rejected the offer, arguing that the 90 minutes allotted for the visit to the Maori leader’s base on the North Island was not long enough for proper protocols to be observed.
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
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
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