FRANCE
Mom stabs teacher to death
A primary school in the commune of Albi was in shock on Friday after a teacher was stabbed to death in front of her young pupils by a student’s mother described as having “psychiatric problems.” After what Education Minister Benoit Hamon described as an “appalling” crime, the 47-year-old assailant fled to her home, but was quickly detained by police. The attack on the 34-year-old teacher took place around 9am as classes began on the last day of term at Albi’s Edouard Herriot primary school, which is attended by 284 students aged from three to 11. Officials said the mother showed up in the classroom with a knife and stabbed the teacher, Fabienne Terral-Calmes, a mother of two young girls, in front of her horrified pupils. The teacher died at the scene while being treated by emergency services. The assailant’s young daughter had been enrolled at the school for about a month and a half, officials said, but it was unclear if the girl was in the classroom at the time of the stabbing.
UNITED STATES
R&B artist arrested
A former member of the 1990s R&B group Hi-Five has been arrested in the stabbing death of his wife in Houston, Texas. Police say Russell Neal, 40, walked into a sheriff’s office on Wednesday and told authorities his wife was dead at their home. Police say he was arrested and made no further comment. Court records show he remained jailed on Friday on a US$100,000 bond on a murder complaint. He is scheduled to appear in court tomorrow. Houston police say 24-year-old Catherine Martinez was stabbed multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene. The group’s hits include I Like the Way (The Kissing Game).
INDIA
Foie gras imports banned
The nation has banned the import of foie gras, a government notice said, after animal rights activists complained that the method used to produce the duck liver delicacy was cruel. “Import policy of the item ‘foie gras’... is revised from ‘free’ to ‘prohibited,’” the Directorate-General of Foreign Trade said in the notice on its Web site. A government official could not immediately say on Friday how much of the gourmet food the country imported, but animal rights groups said the delicacy was being increasingly promoted by upscale restaurants in the country. “Fancy restaurants across India are pushing sales of foie gras on their menus — that’s why we were seeking the ban,” Animal Equality India spokeswoman Amruta Ubale said.
AFGHANISTAN
Fuel trucks set on fire
Attackers set fire to hundreds of fuel tanker trucks in a parking lot on the outskirts of the capital, witnesses said yesterday, prompting angry drivers to block a major highway to demand reimbursement for their losses. Hundreds of other drivers stood by helplessly yesterday morning, unable to salvage any property as flames and smoke rose from the area and several fire engines rushed to the site. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the militants were targeting fuel tankers belonging to NATO forces. Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said about 400 trucks caught fire late on Friday and continued to burn through yesterday morning, but he did not confirm the cause or provide other details. The interior ministry said it has set up a team to investigate the incident.
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
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
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number