CHINA
Food safety drive launched
China has vowed to hand out the “harshest penalties” to violators of its food safety laws and to further reform its Food and Drug Administration, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang (汪洋) made the comment during an inspection tour of the Beijing Municipal Food Safety Monitoring Center on Friday, the report said. Food safety is a highly emotive issue in China where there have been numerous scandals, from photos of food oil being scooped from drains, to tales of phoney eggs and melamine-tainted milk powder. More recent scandals have embroiled companies such as McDonald’s Corp and Yum Brands Inc.
AUSTRALIA
CITIC asserts right to mine
Chinese-owned CITIC Pacific has won an interim injunction temporarily halting a bid by Australian tycoon Clive Palmer’s Mineralogy to terminate its mining rights to a multibillion-dollar iron ore project. Mineralogy said on Friday it had served a notice of termination to CITIC Pacific which gave it 21 days before it would no longer be allowed to mine at the Sino Iron project in Western Australia’s resource-rich Pilbara region. However, the Supreme Court of Western Australia heard an application from CITIC in Australia later on Friday and issued an interim injunction against Mineralogy acting on the termination notice. “CITIC is pleased that the WA Supreme Court has granted an interim injunction preventing Mineralogy from terminating or suspending the Sino Iron Project,” the company said in a statement.
INDONESIA
Alleged drug smuggler held
Customs officials said yesterday they have arrested a German man for allegedly trafficking cocaine onto the island of Bali. Hans Peter Naumann, 48, had flown from Bangkok to Bali on an AirAsia flight before he was caught around midday on Friday, officials said. He could be charged with drug trafficking, for which the maximum penalty is a death sentence and a 10 billion rupiah (US$832,000) fine, Bali customs official Djarot Utomo said. “He admitted that he was only a courier,” and would get US$5,000 as payment, Utomo said. Airport authorities spotted Naumann looking pale and acting suspiciously upon his arrival so decided to conduct a body search. They found 11 capsules containing 201 grams of cocaine in his underwear as well as six capsules weighing 38 grams of the drugs he had swallowed, Utomo said. The German embassy in Jakarta could not immediately be reached for comment.
MYANMAR
Army releases child soldiers
The army on Thursday released 109 children and young people from its armed forces, the UN said, commending the country’s “accelerated” efforts to end the use of child soldiers. The move was the largest single release of child recruits since the nation committed to ending the recruitment and use of children in its Tatmadaw army in a June 2012 pact with the UN. A total of 472 children and young people have been released since then as the military has slowed — but not yet completely halted — its use of children. There are no verifiable figures on how many children are currently serving in Myanmar’s huge military, which has faced a slew of accusations over rights abuses, including the forced recruitment of children to work as porters or even human mine detectors.
UNITED STATES
Chelsea Clinton gives birth
Chelsea Clinton has given birth to a daughter named Charlotte, the first grandchild of former US president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton. Chelsea Clinton and her husband, Marc Mezvinsky, announced the birth of their child yesterday morning. The baby’s name is Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky. Chelsea Clinton announced the baby’s birth on Twitter, saying she and her husband are “full of love, awe and gratitude as we celebrate the birth of our daughter, Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky.”
VENEZUELA
Government seizes factory
The government announced on Friday it was temporarily taking control of a Clorox factory, after the US-based firm said it was leaving the country and selling its assets. Vice President Jorge Arreaza was accompanied by a dozen workers as he entered the plant with the slogan “Chavez lives, the struggle continues,” in reference to the late president Hugo Chavez. “The government of President Nicolas Maduro is temporarily occupying these facilities,” Arreaza said from the plant in the central city of Valles del Tuy. California-based Clorox, which began operations in Venezuela in 1990, announced during week it was leaving the country, citing “operational restrictions” and “economic uncertainty.”
UNITED STATES
Uber driver charged
A driver for the popular car-hailing service Uber has been charged with seriously injuring a passenger by hitting him over the head with a hammer, prosecutors said on Friday. Patrick Karajah, 26, allegedly lashed out at one of three passengers he had transported late on Tuesday in San Francisco, a spokesman for the city’s prosecutor’s office said. The victim was seriously injured and treated in hospital. Karajah pleaded not guilty on Thursday and was released in lieu of US$125,000 bail. “We take reports like this seriously and are treating the matter with the utmost urgency and care,” Uber spokeswoman Eva Behrend told the San Francisco Chronicle. “It is also our policy to immediately suspend a driver’s account following any serious allegations.”
GUAM
Witnesses violate court rule
A judge has handed down suspended sentences to two court witnesses who violated an order by speaking to a man who was on trial for killing three Japanese tourists. Raeanne Acasio and Michele Fatovic will not go to prison, but misdemeanor convictions are to appear on their records. However, if they do not report to a probation officer or abide by other conditions set by the judge, they will go to prison for 60 days. Acasio is the girlfriend of 22-year-old Chad DeSoto, who was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison for the killings. Fatovic, 33, is his cousin. DeSoto’s mother, Rae Aiko DeSoto, also faces contempt of court charges for communicating with DeSoto during the trial. Her hearing is scheduled for Nov. 18.
EL SALVADOR
Police detain 140 suspects
Police rounded up 140 suspected gang members on Friday in a broad sweep of several communities across the country, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world. The suspects were arrested in connection to a range of crimes including murder, extortion, robbery and rape, a statement from the attorney general’s office said. El Salvador’s powerful gangs agreed to a truce in March 2012 that initially led to a drop in daily homicides from 14 to five. However, that rate has since crept back up to about 10 per day, according to official statistics.
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