SOUTH KOREA
Envoy attacker trial ends
Prosecutors yesterday asked for a 15-year prison term for the man they say slashed the US Ambassador Mark Lippert during a breakfast forum in March. Prosecutors made the request at the end of the trial of Kim Ki-jong, who faces charges of attempted murder, assaulting a foreign envoy and obstruction, according to the Seoul Central District Court. The court will issue a verdict on Sept. 11, a court official said on condition of anonymity citing official rules. Police said he attacked Lippert with a knife, inflicting deep gashes on his face and arm. Lippert was treated at a Seoul hospital for five days. Police said Kim told investigators he chose Lippert as a target to highlight his opposition to springtime military drills with the US, which North Korea calls an invasion rehearsal.
SRI LANKA
Tamil leads opposition
Parliament has recognized an ethnic Tamil lawmaker as the opposition leader for the first time in decades in what is seen a positive step toward post civil-war reconciliation with the minority community. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya yesterday announced that Rajavarothayam Sampanthan, leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), was officially recognized for the position. It is the second time an ethnic Tamil has been opposition leader. Appapillai Amirthalingam became opposition leader in 1977, but resigned five years late, refusing to swear that he would not promote a separate state for Tamils. A separatist civil war broke out soon after and continued until it was crushed by the military in 2009. The TNA, earlier accused of being the mouthpiece of the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels, has renounced separatism.
JAPAN
No new tuna protection
An international body that monitors fisheries in most of the Pacific Ocean ended a meeting in Tokyo yesterday without agreement on fresh measures to protect the dwindling bluefin tuna. The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission was unable to get a consensus on either short-term or long-term measures to help restore the bluefin population. Bluefin numbers are estimated to have fallen 96 percent from unfished levels, according to a release by the group. Last year, the commission recommended that the catch of juvenile tuna be cut to half of its average level in 2002-2004. However, conservation groups say more must be done to counter the sharp decline of the species. Further inaction would likely prompt efforts by conservationists to get Pacific bluefin tuna banned from international trading, said a statement by The Pew Charitable Trusts, which is working to save the species.
JAPAN
Street view for cats offered
Tourism bosses have come up with what they hope will draw more feline-loving visitors: a Google-style street view for cats. Billed as a world’s first, officials this week launched an online map that explores the streets of port city Onomichi from the purr-spective of a four-pawed visitor. “We decided to focus on cats because they know everything about the city, including the back streets,” a tourism spokesman for Hiroshima Prefecture said. He added that the city of about 150,000 people is known for its many felines and has a street known as “cat lane.” The map is based on the perspective of Lala, a fluffy kitty with emerald-colored eyes, who lives with a local hair salon owner. So far the map covers just two streets, but plans to expand its reach are in the works using a camera attached to a stick that hovers 20cm above the ground.
UKRAINE
Polio outbreak confirmed
Two polio cases have been confirmed in the country, the first to be recorded in Europe since 2010, the WHO said on Wednesday. A 10-month-old baby and a four-year-old child were diagnosed with the polio virus in the southwestern Zakarpattya region, which borders four EU states, after paralysis associated with the disease was detected, the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday. “It’s the first polio case in Europe since 2010,” WHO spokesman Oliver Rosenbauer said.
UNITED STATES
House to vote on Iran deal
The House of Representatives will vote next week on the Iran nuclear deal, Republican leadership said on Wednesday. With most lawmakers opposed to the accord, the resolution of disapproval is certain to pass the House. Action would then shift to the Senate. Should the resolution pass both chambers, President Barack Obama will veto it, setting up votes in Congress to override his veto, which would require a two-thirds vote in both chambers. However, on Wednesday, a retiring Senate Democrat became the crucial 34th senator to support the accord, ensuring that Obama’s veto would not be overturned.
BRAZIL
Mugger calls for police
A cry for help during a mugging does not sound unusual — except in this case it was the mugger begging police to save him, a report said on Wednesday. Two assailants jumped Monique Bastos, a jiujitsu and mixed martial arts enthusiast on her way to training late on Tuesday, the G1 news site reported. Bastos soon had one of the assailants crushed between her legs and pleading for help. “Call the police, call the police,” the half-strangled alleged robber can be heard yelling on amateur footage posted by G1, as locals mock and threaten the immobilized suspect. The other alleged robber got away with Bastos’ cellphone, G1 reported. Fifteen minutes later, police did arrive. Bastos says she saved her alleged assailant from a worse fate at the hands of locals hoping to dispense rough justice.
UNITED STATES
Swift ‘whitewashes’ video
The director of Taylor Swift’s new music video is defending the singer after some said she whitewashed her video “set” in Africa. Joseph Kahn said that the video for Wildest Dreams includes black people and was produced by a black woman and edited by a black man. Wildest Dreams portrays Swift as an actress who falls in love with her co-star on the set. Black actors are seen in some of the clips from a distance.
UNITED STATES
Teen dies after gun selfie
A Houston teenager believed to have been taking selfies while holding a gun was killed when it went off and a bullet struck him. The 19-year-old was at an apartment in the city on Tuesday afternoon when the weapon fired, hitting him in the throat. Media reports named the man as Deleon Alonso Smith, who had two young children and had been scheduled to start college on Wednesday. “It’s the worst feeling in my life,” his uncle, Eric Douglas, told KPRC local news. “It’s a numb feeling. It’s still unbelievable,” Smith’s grandmother, Alma Douglas said. “According to a witness, the victim was handling a gun he believed to be unloaded,” police said. “The gun then discharged and the victim was struck in the upper body.”
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