UNITED STATES
Mayor’s son mugged
A spokeswoman for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says the mayor’s 17-year-old son was mugged near the family’s home on Friday. Spokeswoman Kelley Quinn on Saturday said that Zach Emanuel had “injuries that required medical treatment, but was able to join the family for a long planned trip” to Chile. She says the mayor requested the news media respect his family’s privacy. Chicago Police spokesman Thomas Sweeney said police are investigating an attack on Friday night near the mayor’s home in which two males took their victim’s cellphone.
ECUADOR
Quito returns Berlin’s funds
President Rafael Correa on Saturday said that the government is giving back about US$8.5 million donated by Germany last year because of an environmental row. “Go ahead, take your 7 million euros. If you like, we will give you another 7 million euros for training programs in respect, on sovereignty and on international law,” Correa said in his weekly address. Germany had expressed disappointment in Quito’s refusal to allow a German parliamentary delegation to visit Yasuni National Park. Many indigenous and environmental groups oppose government plans to allow oil to be pumped in the remote Amazon basin area that sits atop 920 million barrels of crude oil. Correa said that the German lawmakers “were coming here to supervise what was going on in Yusuni” without government permission, slamming the move as a “lack of respect.” He added that the Germans “are welcome as tourists. They are welcome as brothers. They are not welcome as supervisors.”
UNITED STATES
Muhammad Ali hospitalized
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali was in stable condition after being hospitalized on Saturday with a “mild” case of pneumonia, his spokesman Bob Gunnell said on Saturday night. The 72-year-old Ali was not expected to remain in the hospital long, Gunnell said, without providing further details. Ali last appeared in public in September at an awards ceremony in Louisville, Kentucky.
COLOMBIA
FARC begins ceasefire
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) began a unilateral ceasefire on Saturday hailed as a key step in peace negotiations — but uncertainty marred the truce, which the guerrillas threatened to break if attacked by the army. “Today, the FARC’s unilateral and indefinite ceasefire began. I hope it will turn into a bilateral and final ceasefire, and we can put an end to a war that’s lasted more than 50 years,” President Juan Manuel Santos said at a ceremony in La Guajira. Santos said that he hoped the move would facilitate ongoing peace talks in Havana, Cuba. The rebels declared Christmas ceasefires the past two years, but this is the first without an expiration date.
UNITED STATES
State ready for executions
Oklahoma’s prison system boss says the state has the drugs it needs to execute four inmates early next year and plans to administer the same three drugs used in a botched execution this spring, but with an increased dose. Department of Corrections Director Robert Patton told a federal judge on Friday that the agency plans to use the exact formula used successfully in 11 executions in Florida, one that he believes is “humane.” A judge plans to rule today in a case in which lawyers for 21 death row inmates say one of the three drugs, the sedative midazolam, presents a risk of cruel and unusual punishment.
FRANCE
Drunk driver covers 50km
A drunk driver clocked 50km going the wrong way on a western highway, colliding with three cars along the way, but injuring only one person, police said on Saturday. The 56-year-old from the central city of Tours was driving home from southwestern Bordeaux after drinking heavily late on Friday, they said. After driving for about two hours he lost control of his car, which fishtailed without crashing. When he set off again, he was on the wrong side of the road. Over the next 50km, the slow-moving car struck a guardrail and at least three other cars while causing only one minor injury, rescue workers said, while unable to provide details. The motorist was stopped at a toll booth, visibly “lost” and “in another world,” highway police said. His blood-alcohol level was 2.34 grams per liter, well above the driving limit of 0.5.
ZAMBIA
Ruling party ends rift
Defense Minister Edgar Lungu on Saturday filed nomination papers for presidential elections next month after the ruling party’s two feuding factions agreed to field a sole candidate. The copper-rich southern African nation is set to vote on Jan. 20 to elect a successor to former president Michael Sata, who died in October from an undisclosed ailment. The ruling Patriotic Front Party has been wracked by infighting since Sata’s death. On Saturday, Lungu’s faction and his rivals led by Acting President Guy Scott agreed to field a joint candidate. Lungu arrived at the Supreme Court to submit his papers along with Scott and thousands of supporters. “We are going to the election as a united front,” Lungu told reporters. “I am ready for the elections.”
MOZAMBIQUE
Kidnapped tycoon freed
A wealthy businessman who was kidnapped last month has been released, authorities said on Saturday. Mohamed Bachir Suleman, who had been accused by the US of being an international drug trafficker, was freed by his captors on Friday, according to Minister of the Interior Alberto Mondlane. Mondlane said Suleman was released in the southern Gaza Province and had been held in police custody overnight. Three men were arrested when they tried to flee, police said. Suleman said he believed his kidnappers were Zimbabwean and South African nationals. Suleman looked pale after police transported him to the capital, Maputo, where he also lives. Officials said they did not receive any ransom demands from the kidnappers. Suleman said the kidnappers demanded US$10 million from him when he was abducted. “I told them I don’t have that money,” Suleman said. “They then demanded US$5 million, which I also didn’t have.”
FRANCE
Fishmonger exposes himself
A fishmonger in women’s lingerie has a lot of explaining to do after being arrested after allegedly exposing himself to holiday shoppers through his store window. Police in the northern town of Auchel found the 48-year-old cavorting and drunk, a police source told reporters on Friday. The fishmonger was decked out in a wig and bustier, along with false breasts — and fishnet stockings. However, a codpiece was what he needed. He was showing “his privates,” a source said. He was found to have a .15 blood-alcohol level, police said. The shopkeeper, who has agreed to plead guilty to indecent exposure, said that he was stressed about the new fish shop, citing “pressure from the numbers, the end-of-year holidays and lots of orders.” He was due to appear in court on Feb. 13.
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