JAPAN
Ishihara names new party
Former Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara and several of his loyal lieutenants in their 70s yesterday announced their new political grouping will be called “Next Generation Party.” The 81-year-old has been in search of a new name for his party of mostly elderly male lawmakers since falling out with his previous ally, with whom he jointly led the Japan Restoration Party. “The situation that faces young people today is different from what we experienced. It is our responsibility to lead the people of the next generation,” Ishihara told a news conference.
VIETNAM
Dissident’s term upheld
A court in Danang has upheld a two-year jail sentence against a well-known dissident blogger for posting online criticism of the government. Truong Duy Nhat was convicted of “abusing democratic freedoms” to infringe upon the interests of the state in March. Lawyer Tran Vu Hai said Nhat maintained his innocence during the nearly two-hour-long appeal hearing yesterday.
PHILIPPINES
Aquino met rebel in Tokyo
President Benigno Aquino II held a surprise meeting in Japan with Moro Islamic Liberation Front chairman Murad Ebrahim to address growing concerns over delays in implementing a peace deal, their aides said yesterday. The 15-minute meeting took place Tuesday on the sidelines of a peace conference in Hiroshima where Aquino and Ebrahim were guests, a presidential spokesman said. A rebel spokesman said the group sought the meeting to raise concerns over delays in implementing an accord signed in March, after a draft law that is crucial for a final peace was not passed by Congress this month as planned. Meanwhile, one of three senators accused of plunder refused to enter a plea yesterday during arraignment by the anti-graft court. The court instead entered a not guilty plea for Senator Ramon Revilla Jr, an action movie star accused of receiving 224 million pesos (US$5.1 million) in kickbacks from a scam that allegedly diverted millions of dollars from anti-poverty and development funds allotted to lawmakers’ pet projects. Revilla has denied taking kickbacks or stealing money from state funds, but his lawyer Joel Bodegon said he advised the senator not to enter a plea so that several pending motions they filed with the Supreme Court and the anti-graft court questioning the validity of the charges will not be dismissed.
NIGER
Baby trafficking ring broken
The wives of two prominent politicians have been arrested following the dismantling of an alleged baby trafficking ring this week, a police source said on Wednesday. More than 20 suspects were arrested on Monday as part of an international investigation that also involved police from Nigeria and Benin. Those arrested were “mostly women,” and included one of the wives of former prime minister and current parliament speaker Hama Amadou. The wife of Agriculture Minister Abdou Labo was also detained.
CHINA
Dissident released
A leading figure of the Southern Street Movement was released on bail on Wednesday, nearly one month after he was taken into custody. Wang Aizhong (王愛忠) was detained on May 29. Attorney Zhang Xuezhong (張雪忠) said authorities may have failed to find enough evidence to prosecute Wang on criminal charges. He said Wang’s release should not be seen as a sign that Beijing is relaxing prosecution against activists.
BRAZIL
Man killed for online chat
A Facebook conversation made a man so jealous that he killed and dismembered a friend of his wife, the Rio de Janeiro Police Department said in a e-mailed statement on Wednesday. The police said that Anderson Gomes Aleixo grew jealous when he found out that his wife and a childhood friend, Francisco de Assis Coelho Neve, were chatting on the social network site. Officers said that Aleixo confessed that he forced his wife to invite her friend to their house on June 8, then killed him with a knife and dismembered the body in their bathroom. When Aleixo left the house with the body parts, his wife called police, they said, adding that they are still looking for the body parts, which were apparently dumped in a stream.
SPAIN
Prosecutor backs princess
A public prosecutor yesterday appealed against fraud charges that could bring Princess Cristina to trial, accusing a judge of pursuing her on “mere suspicions.” Judge Jose Castro, on Wednesday brought the 49-year-old royal a step closer to trial by upholding tax fraud and money laundering charges against her. However, Castro is also at odds with public prosecutor Pedro Horrach, who filed an appeal calling that “a sly maneuver, an escape route for an inquisitorial spiral fed by mere suspicions.” The charges are linked to the business affairs of Cristina’s husband, Inaki Urdangarin, who is accused of embezzling millions in public funds.
POLAND
Tusk wins confidence vote
A scandal sparked by leaked recordings of officials’ private conversations lost some steam on Wednesday when parliament voted to back Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Cabinet. The 237-203 vote came hours after Tusk requested the vote of confidence to boost political support as he tries to contain a crisis that has threatened to topple some of his ministers and even the entire Cabinet. Tusk had said that without renewed majority support, he would not be able to effectively represent the nation in the EU, where important structural and personnel decisions are being made this week. Despite the vote, leading opposition party Law and Justice kept up its calls for Tusk to resign and vowed to request a no-confidence vote.
UNITED STATES
Man knifed, goes to McD’s
A man who walked into a McDonald’s with a kitchen knife stuck in his back has been treated for the non-life-threatening injury, the New York City Police Department said on Wednesday. Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said investigators recovered video of an argument between four men that preceded Tuesday’s stabbing. Boyce says the victim has been treated at a hospital and has spoken to detectives, but has not been cooperative. Witnesses told media the man was chatting on his cellphone and appeared composed despite the blade lodged in his back.
BOLIVIA
Time to decolonize: La Paz
The government this week flipped the clock atop the Congress building so that while it still shows the right time, the hands now turn to the left, a direction known almost every where else as counterclockwise. Minister of Foreign Affairs David Choquehuanca announced the change on Tuesday, saying it was only logical that a clock in the Southern Hemisphere should turn in the opposite direction of a Northern Hemisphere clock. Congress President Marcelo Elio on Wednesday called the reform “a clear expression of the de-colonization of the people” under President Evo Morales.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia