THAILAND
Boats collide, killing one
A trip to see fireflies turned into tragedy when two boats collided in the night, killing a Hungarian woman and seriously injuring a South Korean, along with nearly two dozen other tourists, police said yesterday. One boat with 21 South Koreans and two Hungarians was returning at the end of its trip when it was struck by an empty boat going in reverse, police Lieutenant colonel Bhakin Sivamethakul said. About 20 other people, mainly from South Korea, also suffered injuries. Bhakin said that the 61-year-old Hungarian tourist was hit on the head and died. Her 62-year-old husband was injured.
HONG KONG
Fugitive pedophile arrested
A pedophile on the run from UK police appeared in court in Hong Kong yesterday, after being arrested on an extradition request, police said. Hong Kong Police said they had arrested an unnamed 31-year-old on Friday, but reports identified him as Joseph Tsang, a fugitive convicted of two counts of rape and two counts of sexual assault last month. “Upon a formal extradition request from the British police, Hong Kong police last night arrested a 31-year-old man in connection with two cases of sexual offenses in the United Kingdom,” Hong Kong police said in a statement. The man was denied bail at a magistrates’ court and his case was adjourned until Nov. 23, media reports said.
IVORY COAST
Gbagbo wants trial in Africa
The defense team for former president Laurent Gbagbo, who is awaiting trial for war crimes in The Hague, on Friday asked that he be tried on his home continent instead. Gbagbo’s trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) is due to open in November, with Gbagbo accused of crimes against humanity after his refusal to concede defeat in 2010 elections sparked a bloody stand-off in which about 3,000 people died. However, on Friday his lawyer asked that the trial be moved to Africa, either to Ivory Coast or to Tanzania where an international court trying those suspected of carrying out the Rwandan genocide held its final hearing in April. Gbagbo, 69, and his former army chief Charles Ble Goude are due to face the ICC on Nov. 10 for their roles in the post-election violence. Gbagbo, who was eventually toppled in April 2011 by current President Alassane Ouattara’s forces backed by the UN and France, was transferred to the ICC’s detention unit in November 2011. He is the first former head of state to be prosecuted by the ICC, the world’s only permanent war crimes tribunal. Opening the trial in Abidjan, or Arusha in Tanzania, would “help contribute to the reconciliation process in Ivory Coast,” the lawyer said.
NEW ZEALAND
Lake Takapo storm kills two
Two tourists killed in a freak storm while kayaking on a New Zealand lake were identified yesterday as Daniel Hollnsteiner, 21, of the US and James Murphy, 20, of the UK, who were among a group of 11 kayakers who hit bad weather on Lake Tekapo on Friday afternoon, police said. The nine survivors were treated for hypothermia after spending up to an hour in the freezing waters, with some swimming to a nearby island before being rescued. “It appears their boats got swamped and they were tipped out... they’ve just got caught out by a freak wind, unfortunately here we do get freak winds too regularly,” police inspector Dave Gaskin said. The deceased were students at Australia’s Monash University who were in New Zealand’s South Island on a semester break.
As the sun sets on another scorching Yangon day, the hot and bothered descend on the Myanmar city’s parks, the coolest place to spend an evening during yet another power blackout. A wave of exceptionally hot weather has blasted Southeast Asia this week, sending the mercury to 45°C and prompting thousands of schools to suspend in-person classes. Even before the chaos and conflict unleashed by the military’s 2021 coup, Myanmar’s creaky and outdated electricity grid struggled to keep fans whirling and air conditioners humming during the hot season. Now, infrastructure attacks and dwindling offshore gas reserves mean those who cannot afford expensive diesel
Does Argentine President Javier Milei communicate with a ghost dog whose death he refuses to accept? Forced to respond to questions about his mental health, the president’s office has lashed out at “disrespectful” speculation. Twice this week, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni was asked about Milei’s English Mastiff, Conan, said to have died seven years ago. Milei, 53, had Conan cloned, and today is believed to own four copies he refers to as “four-legged children.” Or is it five? In an interview with CNN this month, Milei referred to his five dogs, whose faces and names he had engraved on the presidential baton. Conan,
French singer Kendji Girac, who was seriously injured by a gunshot this week, wanted to “fake” his suicide to scare his partner who was threatening to leave him, prosecutors said on Thursday. The 27-year-old former winner of France’s version of The Voice was found wounded after police were called to a traveler camp in Biscarrosse on France’s southwestern coast. Girac told first responders he had accidentally shot himself while tinkering with a Colt .45 automatic pistol he had bought at a junk shop, a source said. On Thursday, regional prosecutor Olivier Janson said, citing the singer, that he wanted to “fake” his suicide
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed his pledge to replace India’s religion-based marriage and inheritance laws with a uniform civil code if he returns to office for a third term, a move that some minority groups have opposed. In an interview with the Times of India listing his agenda, Modi said his government would push for making the code a reality. “It is clear that separate laws for communities are detrimental to the health of society,” he said in the interview published yesterday. “We cannot be a nation where one community is progressing with the support of the Constitution while the other