UNITED STATES
Body in barrel sparks arrest
A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a body was found stuffed inside a plastic barrel that was dumped in front of Sonoma’s City Hall in northern California. Sheriff’s officials said Friday night’s discovery of the blood-stained barrel led detectives to a mobile home where they thought Ronald Sauvageau, 64, was killed. They served a search warrant and arrested Christopher McNatt, 40. An autopsy is to be conducted today to determine the cause of death. Sheriff’s Sergeant Cecile Focha told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat that a weapon thought to be used in the killing was recovered, but she declined to elaborate on the type of weapon, the relationship between the men or a motive.
CHILE
Girl drops euthanasia plea
An ailing Chilean girl who made a public plea for permission to end her life has changed her mind, according to her father. Fredy Maureira told reporters on Sunday that his 14-year-old daughter, Valentina, has changed her mind after meeting people who responded to her plea for euthanasia to escape cystic fibrosis. “Yes, she is thinking about it,” Maureira said. The girl told the El Mercurio newspaper that “there are people who have led me to change my way of thinking.” A video in which Valentina asked Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to let her undergo euthanasia gained global attention last month after it was posted on YouTube. Bachelet, a pediatrician, visited the girl and her family, but the government said it could not approve her request.
CHILE
Earthquake rattles north
The US Geological Survey says a magnitude 6.1 earthquake has struck in far northern Chile. There were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning. The USGS said the epicenter was 33km southeast of Putre at a depth of 128km. It hit at 1:51am yesterday.
GUINEA
Truck accident kills 10
At least 10 people were killed and 11 injured when a truck overturned in the nation’s east, a security source said on Saturday. The accident happened on Friday near the town of Beyla, the source told reporters from the capital, Conakry, adding that the 11 people were “seriously injured.” The truck was headed to a weekly market, but “turned over when the driver approached a turn,” the source said. According to an initial probe, “speeding and reckless driving” appeared to be behind the accident, the source added. It was not clear how many people were on the truck at the time.
THAILAND
Briton shoots self at range
Police yesterday said they were probing the death of a British tourist who apparently shot himself dead at a firing range on Phuket. Officers are examining CCTV footage from the Thalang Shooting Range which appears to show the Briton standing alongside a staff member before turning a gun on himself on Saturday afternoon. The visibly distraught employee is seen walking away from the scene holding his head in his hands. “We are investigating the CCTV images. We have not yet concluded whether it was an accident or suicide,” said police Colonel Chanuchan Chonsuwat of the Thalang district on the island. A spokesman for the British Embassy in Bangkok said it was aware of the incident and providing consular assistance to the family. The spokesman could not immediately provide any further details.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not