SOUTH AFRICA
Fridge suspect blames wife
A Danish man accused of storing female genitalia in his freezer in Bloemfontein has told a Danish newspaper that the 21 pieces of mutilated flesh belong to his estranged wife. The man dismissed the accusations against him as “totally unfounded,” adding “it is my wife who keeps these kinds of things … it is her fridge.” He told the Ekstra Bladet that “I have never ever committed anything criminal in South Africa.” He was interviewed at the gun shop that he owns while police searched the store. He said his wife had befriended witchdoctors. He also said that he was allowed to photograph women being circumcised while visiting remote mountainous regions of neighboring Lesotho, where he owns a second gun shop. Police have accused the man of keeping the genitalia as trophies. He has been charged with sexual assault, intimidation and breaking medical laws.
AUSTRALIA
Rare wallabies spotted
Rare black-flanked rock wallabies have been spotted in Kalbarri National Park for the first time in 20 years. Two of the 45cm-high marsupials, also knowns as warru or black-footed rock-wallaby, were photographed in a gorge by rock climber Remi Vignals last month. Western Australian Minister for Environment and Heritage Albert Jacob said it was clear the notoriously shy animals had been living unseen in the national park since they were last sighted in 1995, because the nearest known population was 450km inland. The exact number of black-flanked rock wallabies in the wild is not known, but they are listed as a vulnerable species. There are 14 known populations in Western Australia.
CHINA
Ex-minister faces trial
Former deputy sports minister Xiao Tian (肖天), who once sat on the nation’s Olympics Committee, will be prosecuted for graft after an investigation found he abused his position and took bribes, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said yesterday. Xiao abused his position to get his wife promotions, took bribes, spent government money on banquets and had private companies arrange for him to play golf, the commission said. He has been expelled from the Chinese Communist Party, it said.
THAILAND
Defense seeks more time
Lawyers for two Burmese migrant workers accused of killing two British tourists on Koh Tao yesterday asked for more time to prove the pair were scapegoats innocent of the brutal, high-profile murders. Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun are on trial for the murders of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller. Lawyers are trying to convince the judge that the two men were framed by police under pressure to solve a case. The defense tentatively had until today to wrap up its case, but chief lawyer Nakhon Chomphupat said there were problems convincing witnesses to testify as some feared retribution.
NEW ZEALAND
New flag option offered
Voters now have a fifth option to choose from when deciding whether to change the national flag after a popular campaign for a geometric design called “Red Peak” prompted lawmakers yesterday to change the rules. About 50,000 people signed a petition urging that the design be considered. Many people felt the original four designs did not offer enough choice, as three featured silver ferns. The flag that wins the November referendum is to face off against the current flag in a second vote in March.
UNITED STATES
Letter urges Liu’s release
Twelve Nobel Peace Prize winners have urged fellow laureate President Barack Obama to press for the release of jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) and his wife when he meets Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) today. In a letter dated Sept. 2 a dozen peace prize winners — including South African churchman Desmond Tutu, Polish anti-communist leader and former Polish president Lech Walesa and the Dalai Lama — call for Liu’s release. “We are writing as your fellow Nobel Peace Prize Laureates to ask that you call publicly on the Government of China to release from house arrest Liu Xia (劉霞), the wife of our imprisoned fellow Laureate Dr Liu Xiaobo, and to allow her to travel abroad for medical treatment as she has requested,” they wrote. “We also ask that you urge his immediate release as well,” they added.
CANADA
Life for terror conspirators
Two men found guilty of plotting to derail a passenger train with support from al-Qaeda were sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison. Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser must serve a minimum of 10 years before becoming eligible for parole on their life sentences. A jury convicted Tunisian national Esseghaier earlier this year of planning to derail a Via train heading from New York to Toronto and four other terror-related charges. Jaser was found guilty of conspiring to commit murder in support of terrorism and two other charges. Jaser, who was born in the United Arab Emirates to Palestinian parents but is not a UAE citizen, was living in Toronto when he was arrested in 2013. Investigators say the men received guidance from members of al-Qaeda in Iran. Iranian government officials denied having anything to do with the plot.
UNITED STATES
Banks to pay for bombing
Three banks must turn over Sudanese funds to victims of al-Qaeda’s deadly 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen to help satisfy a US$315 million judgement, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled on Wednesday. The court rejected Sudan’s claim that the plaintiffs failed to follow proper procedures in seeking the assets, which are held in accounts controlled by Mashreqbank PSC, BNP Paribas SA and Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank. The attack on Oct. 12, 2000, occurred in the Yemeni port of Aden, where the US Navy destroyer USS Cole was refueling. The bombing killed 17 sailors and injured more than three dozen.
RUSSIA
Czar exhumed in death probe
Investigators on Wednesday exhumed the remains of czar Nicholas II and czarina Alexandra as part of a new probe into the notorious 1918 slaying of the Romanov family. A leading investigator involved in the probe, Vladimir Solovyov, told the Echo of Moscow radio station that they had taken “samples from Nicholas II, from the empress, and from the uniform of emperor Alexander II,” the last czar’s grandfather, who was himself assassinated in 1881. The czar, his wife, their five children and their servants were shot by the Bolsheviks and thrown into a mineshaft in 1918 before being burnt and hastily buried. Russia first looked into the murder of the family after a mass grave was discovered in 1991 near Yekaterinburg in the Urals. In 2007, a second grave was discovered at a different spot containing two more bodies, believed to be those of the czar’s heir Alexei and daughter Maria, who were 13 and 19 years old when they were killed.
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