INDIA/PAKISTAN
Border firing kills eight
Cross-border firing between India and Pakistan killed at least eight people yesterday, the day India marked the 50th anniversary of a war between the two nations. On the Pakistani side of the frontier, five civilians were killed and 48 were treated for wounds in hospital in the town of Sialkot, a spokesman for the Pakistan Rangers said. India’s Border Security Force (BSF) said three civilians had died and 22 were wounded in firing across the frontier in the northern Jammu region. Both said the other side had opened fire first. “Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked firing. Initially, small arms were used but later mortar bombs were shelled on BSF posts and civilian areas,” a BSF spokesman said. “The BSF also gave a fitting reply.” Pakistan Rangers spokesman Major Waheed Bukhari gave a different account, saying that unprovoked firing had started overnight from the Indian side. It was followed by retaliation from the Rangers.
VIETNAM
Thousands to be released
The government yesterday said it would free almost 18,300 prisoners to mark independence day celebrations, but political activists will be excluded from the nation’s second biggest-ever amnesty. The detainees will be released in batches starting from Monday ahead of the 70th National Day anniversary on Wednesday. “The president has decided to give amnesty to 18,298 prisoners... but none of them have committed crimes against national security,” Deputy Minister of Public Security Le Quy Vuong told a press conference in Hanoi. The prisoners to be freed had been sentenced to a range of crimes including murder, drug and people-trafficking and bribery. However, no one sentenced for “propaganda” against the state or attempting to overthrow the regime — charges frequently used against activists — were among the list to be released. The amnesty includes 34 foreigners: six Laotians, one Cambodian, one Thai, two Australians, 16 Chinese, six Malaysians and two Filipinos.
MYANMAR
Airport project delayed
A long-delayed international airport project has been postponed again, by four years this time, because of a delay in securing funds, state media and an official source said yesterday. A South Korean company first planned to build the Hanthawaddy International Airport on an old World War II Japanese airfield near the town of Bago, about 100km north of Yangon. However, the project was abandoned in 1994, soon after a groundbreaking ceremony. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said the nation’s fourth international airport was now expected to open in seven years. A senior transport ministry official confirmed the project had been delayed because of a difficulty in seeking fund.
IRAQ
PM orders easier access
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi yesterday ordered military commanders to make it easier for civilians to get into Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone while improving access to streets across the country closed off by political and security factions. Militias, political parties and influential figures have created many no-go areas in Baghdad and other cities in response to waves of car bombings since the US-led invasion to topple former president Saddam Hussein in 2003. The Green Zone is a heavily defended district in central Baghdad that is home to many government buildings and several Western embassies. Ahead of fresh street protests expected in the capital and southern cities yesterday, Abadi ordered commanders to implement a plan “to protect civilians ... from being targeted by terrorism,” according to online statements.
MEXICO
ATT lacks reporting rules
Countries backing a major accord to regulate the international arms industry on Thursday failed to agree on a definitive format for reporting arms sales, kicking the issue down the road and disappointing advocates of arms control. Officials from 121 governments have been meeting in Cancun to agree details of how the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) will oversee the multibillion-dollar industry. However, on the final day of the first conference, officials resolved only to work together over coming months on crafting a lasting template for reporting sales. For the ATT to be effective, say arms control groups, there must be full disclosure of weapons sales, but the issue is contentious and officials had already suggested that reaching agreement might prove impossible at the inaugural conference.
UNITED STATES
Vegas canal dive injures two
Two men jumped into a canal at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas and, because they could not swim, had to be rescued and hospitalized, a spokesman for the hotel said on Thursday. The disturbance on Monday morning at the Venetian, which is located on the Las Vegas Strip and draws many tourists for its gondola rides inspired by the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy, was first reported on Thursday. The two men were caught on hotel surveillance cameras jumping over the fence that surrounds the hotel’s canal along Las Vegas Boulevard, hotel spokesman Keith Salwoski said in an e-mail. “Apparently, the individuals were unable to swim and were pulled from the water,” he said. The two individuals were transported in critical condition by ambulance to University Medical Center in Las Vegas, Clark County Fire Department Deputy Chief Jeff Buchanan said. He could not share any details on their latest condition. It was unclear what led the men to jump into the canal.
UNITED STATES
Bison gores conservationist
The head of a conservation group has been gored by a bison on Santa Catalina Island, off the California coast. Forty-three-year-old Chris Baker was airlifted to a hospital on Wednesday after the attack near the Two Harbors area. Baker is president and chief executive of the American Conservation Experience. The Flagstaff, Arizona-based group said Baker was doing field work for a new trail system when he turned a corner and found the bison in front of him. The group said the animal charged Baker. He then walked a half a kilometer on a hiking path until he saw three off-duty firefighters. The group said Baker is recovering from moderate injuries.
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