COLOMBIA
Army says 18 rebels killed
At least 18 Marxist rebel fighters were killed during an army operation on Thursday, in one of the most deadly confrontations since the guerrillas began peace talks with the government more than two years ago. The bombing raid, followed by ground combat, took place in Cauca Department on the Pacific coast, the army said, a key drug trafficking region where the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have a large presence. “A military offensive produced combat in which 18 rebels died,” an army official said. The military did not immediately report any casualties. The rebel deaths come a month after the FARC broke a unilateral ceasefire and killed 11 soldiers, a move that prompted the government to restart suspended bombing raids on guerrilla camps.
MEXICO
Five kids face murder rap
A Chihuahua State court judge on Thursday charged five children with homicide over the torture and gruesome killing of a six-year-old during a “kidnapping game” that has shocked the country. The two 15-year-old boys, two 13-year-old girls and one 11-year-old boy attended the court hearing, a week after the murder of Christopher Raymundo Marquez. He was found buried under a dead dog and weeds next to a stream on the outskirts of the state’s capital on Thursday last week. Prosecutors say the children had tied him up, nearly asphyxiated him, stoned him and stabbed him. Judge Francisco de Leon Merino ordered that the 15-year-old boys be jailed in the Chihuahua Court for Minors while the three younger ones be kept under the custody of the state child services agency.
FRANCE
Parliament bans food waste
In a rare show of unity the parliament on Thursday voted unanimously to ban food waste in big supermarkets, including outlawing the destruction of unsold food products. “It’s scandalous to see bleach being poured into supermarket dustbins along with edible foods,” bill sponsor Socialist MP Guillaume Garot said. Under the new legislation, supermarkets will have to take measures to prevent food waste and will be forced to donate any unsold but still edible food goods to charity or for use as animal feed or farming compost. All large-sized supermarkets will have to sign contracts with a charity group to facilitate food donations. French people throw away between 20 to 30 kilos of food per person per year, costing an estimated 12 billion to 20 billion euros (US$13 billion to US$22 billion) annually. The government is hoping to slice food waste in half by 2025.
CHINA
Two jailed over drag racing
The Chaoyang District Court in Beijing on Thursday sentenced two young men to up to five months in jail for dangerous driving after they crashed a Lamborghini and a Ferrari in a late-night race through the capital. The crash involving two luxury cars attracted much attention from the public, who speculated about the men’s family backgrounds and how they could drive such expensive cars. The court found Tang Wentian (唐問天), 21, and Yu Muchun (於沐椿), 20, guilty of dangerously operating motor vehicles, a court statement said. Neither would appeal the verdicts, which sentenced Tang to five months in jail and Yu to four, the court said. Both were also fined. The court said Tang’s Lamborghini reached speeds of more than 179kph and that Yu’s Ferrari went past 165kph in their race on a rainy night on April 11. The speed limit was 70kph. One passenger in Tang’s car was injured.
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
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the