PHILIPPINES
Japanese battleship found
Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen yesterday said that he had found one of Japan’s biggest and most famous battleships on a Philippine seabed, about 70 years after US forces sank it during World War II. Allen posted photographs and video online of parts of what he said was the battleship Musashi, found by his M/Y Octopus exploration vessel 1km deep on the floor of the Sibuyan Sea. The discovery was the end of an eight-year search for the Musashi, backed by historical data from four countries and using “advanced technology” that surveyed the seabed, Allen said in a statement on his Web site. US warplanes sank the Musashi on Oct. 24, 1944, at the height of the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
AUSTRALIA
Starving koalas euthanized
Close to 700 koalas have been killed off by authorities in Victoria State because overpopulation led to the animals starving, an official said yesterday, sparking claims of mismanagement. Victoria Environment Minister Lisa Neville said the koalas were euthanized around Cape Otway near the Great Ocean Road in 2013 and last year, with a caravan site owner saying the whole area “smelt like death” before they were put down. “The intervention was necessary to prevent suffering of koalas because they weren’t able to find enough food,” Neville said. She did not ruled out further similar operations. The Australian Koala Foundation blamed long-term mismanagement for the deaths. “What they have done is shocking,” foundation chief executive Deborah Tabart said. “Why did they let it happen in the first place? I think the government should hang its head in shame.”
MYANMAR
Police block student march
Police yesterday formed a human chain across a road leading to Yangon, telling hundreds of student protesters that authorities would “take action” unless they dispersed. The standoff in front of a monastery in Letpadan, 140km from Yangon, entered its third day with no sign either side was ready to back down. Students demanding education reform responded by defiantly shouting: “This is our cause. We will win.”
UNITED STATES
Asiana settles crash claims
Asiana Airlines has settled 72 personal injury claims in lawsuits filed over a July 2013 crash landing at San Francisco International Airport and is continuing to negotiate with other passengers. The airline announced the settlement on Tuesday in a federal court filing in Oakland, California, without describing terms of the agreements. Three people died after an Asiana flight carrying 291 passengers struck a seawall as pilots attempted to land. Of the passengers and crew aboard the plane, 255 suffered either no injuries or minor ones, while 49 suffered major injuries, Asiana said in court filings.
KUWAIT
Father rejects allegations
The father of “Jihadi John” said in an interview published yesterday that there was no proof that his son was the Islamic State executioner. “There is nothing that proves what is being circulated in the media, especially through video clips and footage, that the accused is my son Mohammed, who is being referred to as the alleged executioner of Daesh [Islamic State],” Jassem Emwazi told al-Qabas newspaper. The daily said it spoke to the father of Mohammed Emwazi at a secret location. It was not clear why he appeared to be retracting statements reported earlier that he and his wife had recognized their son’s voice.
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