CHINA
Jailed activist released
Activist Xu Wanping (許萬平), who has spent a total of 20 years in detention, has been freed from prison, New York-based campaign group Human Rights in China and US-funded Radio Free Asia said yesterday. Xu, a former factory worker and member of the outlawed Chinese Democracy Party, was released this week from Yuzhou jail in Chongqing. He was sentenced in 2005 to 12 years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power.” He told the radio station yesterday that he had been freed after authorities granted him a three-year reduction. However, he will be deprived of his political rights for four years.
PHILIPPINES
Clash with rebels kills 15
At least 15 people were killed when security forces and Islamist militants exchanged mortar fire for three hours on Tuesday on Sulu, marine Brigadier-General Martin Pinto said yesterday. He said a soldier was killed and 19 others were wounded as sporadic fighting continued early yesterday in Patikul. Pinto said about 300 Abu Sayyaf rebels launched an offensive to retake their base in Patikul after soldiers captured it on Monday.
CHINA
Zhou protege expelled
A top provincial official reportedly linked to former Chinese Communist Party leader Zhou Yongkang (周永康) has been expelled from the party, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said late on Tuesday. Li Chuncheng (李春城) was described as “morally degenerate” in a statement released by the commission, which also said he was expelled from his “official position.” Li was mayor of Chengdu when Zhou was party boss of Sichuan Province from 1999 to 2002. State media reported in 2012 that Li had been dismissed as Sichuan’s deputy party secretary for “serious violations of discipline.”
YEMEN
Soldiers killed in clashes
Suspected al-Qaeda militants killed 18 soldiers in separate ambushes on Tuesday as the army launched a ground offensive against their remaining strongholds in the south, medical and security sources said. Twelve militants were killed when the ambush in Shabwa Province sparked a firefight, tribal sources said. Ten soldiers were also wounded and 15 captured, medics and an officer said.
CAMBODIA
Asylum deal mulled
Foreign Ministry Secretary of State Ouch Borith has said the country has tentatively agreed to accept asylum seekers who had been seeking to settle in Australia in a potential deal criticized by refugee advocates. He told reporters on Tuesday there was an agreement in principle with Canberra to take the asylum seekers, who are being held in camps in Nauru. However, Phnom Penh had not yet approved the deal, he said. Ouch Barith told reporters that Phnom Penh would act out of humanitarian concerns and that a deal did not hinge on how much money it might be paid.
UAE
Scorpions’ drummer jailed
The drummer for German rock band Scorpions has been in jail for almost a month after being arrested for “insulting” Islam and offensive behavior at Dubai’s international airport, media reported yesterday. James Kottak, a US citizen, was detained on April 3 while in transit to Bahrain, where he was to perform, according to the reports. He was sentenced on Tuesday to one month in jail by an Emirati court and based on time served would soon be released.
MEXICO
Alleged thieves killed
Mexico City officials said on Tuesday that an unidentified man disarmed a thief trying to rob passengers aboard a bus, then shot him and another thief to death before fleeing. The Mexico City prosecutors’ office said the bodies of two men were found at the scene of the shooting on Monday, as were two pistols — one of them a toy. The office quoted witnesses as saying the two men had started robbing passengers at gunpoint when one bus rider wrestled a gun away from one thief, shot him and then killed the accomplice. The other thief may have been holding the toy pistol. No arrests have been made in the shootings.
SPAIN
Suit filed over statue award
The government is being taken to court over a minister’s decision to give the country’s top policing award to a statue of the Virgin Mary. Minister of the Interior Jorge Fernandez Diaz singled out an icon of the Virgin Mary in Malaga to receive the gold medal of police merit — which is normally reserved for police who have died in terrorist attacks. Announcing the award in February, Diaz lauded the Virgin and her congregation for “maintaining a close collaboration with police, particularly during the acts celebrated in Holy Week, and for sharing police values such as dedication, caring, solidarity and sacrifice.” Jose Maria Benito, from the police union, told the online daily El Boletin: “Give the Virgin whatever you like, take her some flowers ... but don’t give her a police medal.”
UNITED KINGDOM
Chopper used in rescue
A 68-year-old woman had to be rescued by helicopter on Tuesday after she fell and became trapped on one of the towers of historic Wells Cathedral. A Royal Air Force chopper winched the woman 45m to safety after she became trapped in a gap between two walls in the bell tower. She was freed after three hours and taken to hospital suffering from hip, arm and leg injuries.
UNITED STATES
FedEx shooting wounds six
A FedEx employee wearing ammunition draped across his chest “like Rambo” opened fire on Tuesday at a package-sorting center outside Atlanta, Georgia, wounding six people before apparently committing suicide, police and witnesses said. In addition to a shotgun, the gunman also had an undisclosed number of Molotov cocktails, but he did not use them, police said. Three of the wounded were hospitalized in critical condition. The suspect, identified by police as 19-year-old Geddy Kramer of Acworth, was found dead inside. He worked as a package handler at the facility, police Sergeant Dana Pierce said. The company offered no details about the attack, saying only that it was “focused on the needs of our team members and cooperating with the law enforcement investigation of this tragedy.”
CANADA
Whale of a concern
The 60 tonne carcass of a blue whale rotting along the shoreline of a Newfoundland town has triggered concerns that it could burst. Trout River town cleark Emily Butler on Tuesday said the 26m blue whale is beached next to a community boardwalk and is emitting a powerful stench that is spreading through the town of 600 people. She said many people in the town fear that the methane gas caused by decomposition could cause the whale to burst. However, a Canadian Fisheries Department research scientist has downplayed the risk, saying the whale is unlikely to burst until someone tries to cut a hole in it or walk on it.
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