NORTH KOREA
American Miller sentenced
American Matthew Miller, who was detained in April for violating his tourist status when he entered the country, was yesterday sentenced to six years of hard labor for “hostile” acts against Pyongyang. “He committed acts hostile to the [North] while entering the territory of the [North] under the guise of a tourist last April,” state-run Korean Central News Agency said in a statement. Miller, 24, of Bakersfield, California, was put on trial yesterday morning. He is believed to have torn up his visa at Pyongyang’s airport and demanded asylum. A trial is also expected soon for Jeffrey Fowle, 56, who entered the country as a tourist, but was arrested in May for leaving a Bible at a provincial club.
AUSTRALIA
Coaches hired strippers
Media are reporting that coaches of the national swim team took part in parties involving strippers, porn movies and binge-drinking at annual bonding sessions. The Sunday Telegraph says two interim reports of an independent inquiry suggest parties were conducted in the presidential suite of a Gold Coast hotel occupied by the then-head coach of the Australian team, and that he was an “active and willing participant” in some. The parties were said to have taken place from 2002 to 2005. The head coach has since resigned.
MALAYSIA
Flight turned back
A Malaysian Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Hyderabad, India, was turned back on Saturday due to a defect with the plane’s autopilot system, the airline said in a statement. Flight MH198 left Kuala Lumpur at 10:20pm on Thursday and returned at 2:10am, with all passengers and crew safe. The loss-making airline has had a difficult year. Flight MH370 disappeared in March and Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine in July. Last month, the airline said it would slash nearly one-third of its 20,000 workforce.
INDONESIA
Terror suspects arrested
Anti-terrorism police have arrested four Turks suspected of being linked to the Islamic State jihadist group, a spokesman said yesterday. The elite Detachment 88 police squad arrested the men, along with three Indonesians, after tailing their car on Saturday in central Sulawesi District of Poso, a known hotbed for militant activity, Boy Rafli Amar said. “They are Turkish,” Amar said, confirming the arrest and adding that the men were being investigated for their connection to the dreaded Islamist group. “We suspect they are linked and are investigating further,” he said. Indonesia is home to the world’s biggest Muslim population of about 225 million and has long struggled with terrorism, but a clampdown has seen the end of major deadly attacks.
GAZA STRIP
Children return to school
About half a million children are making a delayed return to school after a devastating 50-day war with Israel that killed more than 2,100 Palestinians and damaged hundreds of school buildings.Gaza Ministry of Education official Ziad Thabet said yesterday’s opening — delayed two weeks — involved 230,000 first to 12th graders attending public schools, 200,000 going to UN-run schools and tens of thousands enrolled in private institutions. Thabet said that unlike in previous years, the first week of instruction in government schools will be given over to providing psychological counseling and recreational activities to help the children transition to learning. He said 26 Gaza schools were destroyed during the war, and 232 sustained damage.
MEXICO
Hurricane gains strength
Hurricane Odile rapidly grew into a category four storm yesterday as it bore down on the Baja California peninsula, dumping heavy rains and triggering large, destructive waves. Odile’s winds are blowing at 217kph, the US National Hurricane Center said. Odile is now the second highest on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale, which measures wind speed. The narrow peninsula has been hit especially hard, with mountainous areas in some western states expected to see up to 38cm of rain from the storm, the Miami-based center said. “These rains are likely to result in life-threatening flash floods and mudslides,” it said.
UNITED STATES
Navy calls off search
The navy suspended its search on Saturday for a pilot who was missing after his jet collided with another US aircraft in the western Pacific Ocean. The pilot, whose name was not released pending notification to the family, was presumed dead, the US 7th Fleet said in statement. The crash involved two F/A-18 Hornet jets, which collided on Friday at 5:40pm in the western Pacific about 250 nautical miles (463km) west of Wake Island, it said. One pilot was quickly rescued and received medical care on the ship. Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the accident.
COSTA RICA
Tonnes of pot seized
The coast guard has recovered 1.4 tonnes of marijuana that officials say was thrown into the sea by smugglers being chased in the Caribbean after a tip from the US Drug Enforcement Administration. The Ministry of Public Security says the incident happened early on Friday and the suspect boat escaped its Costa Rican pursuers. Minister of Security Celso Gamboa on Saturday said that the pot appeared to have come from Jamaica and that the smugglers were headed for Panama. He says the US agency alerted the coast guard to the suspicious vessel.
UNITED STATES
Artist shuns celebrations
Reclusive artist Robert Indiana was expected to make an appearance outside his Maine island residence on Saturday to take part in a celebration of his art around the world on his 86th birthday, but he did not emerge, disappointing dozens of fans. The event was called International HOPE Day and took place in cities across the world. Indiana was expected to make a public appearance outside his home and studio on Vinalhaven Island, where dozens of fans had hoped to get his autograph on commemorative prints that they purchased from event organizers outside his home. Kathleen Rogers, Indiana’s publicist, said he is in poor health and is not used to being around large groups of people. The artist is best known for his LOVE sculptures, one of which is outside Taipei 101. A similar sculpture is titled HOPE.
FRANCE
Beyonce, Jay Z end tour
An emotional Beyonce was in tears as she and husband Jay Z wrapped up their “On the Run” stadium tour on Saturday night in Paris, where the two said they got engaged years ago. The performers told the audience at Stade de France that Paris was also where their two-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy, was conceived. “We love Paris. It’s special to us because we got engaged here and this is where baby Blue was conceived,” the rap star said. Beyonce and Jay Z were married in 2008. Nicki Minaj joined Beyonce onstage for their collaboration, Flawless, which excited the crowd of nearly 80,000.
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