AUSTRALIA
ABC names new director
The Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) yesterday named Google executive Michelle Guthrie its new managing director, the first woman to hold the top post at the public broadcaster. The former media and technology lawyer, who has held senior roles at Foxtel and BSkyB in Britain as well as Star TV in Asia is charged with leading the ABC into the digital era after a stormy period of cuts and government criticism. “Michelle is an exceptional media professional with strong content, operational and board experience within internationally respected media companies,” ABC chairman Jim Spigelman said. “Having grown up with the ABC and having been a professional observer of it over the last three decades, I have profound respect for the important role the national broadcaster plays throughout Australia and internationally,” she said. Just before the announcement, former Cabinet minister and Liberal senator Eric Abetz sounded a warning shot, urging Guthrie to end the “lefty love-in” at the ABC. “The new managing director will inherit an unbalanced and largely centralized public broadcaster which has become a protection racket for the left ideology,” the former employment minister said in a statement.
INDIA
Bloom arrives after delay
British actor Orlando Bloom has arrived in New Delhi after being turned away a day earlier because he did not have a valid visa. The Lord of the Rings star was able to enter the nation after the Ministry of External Affairs intervened and gave him a special visa. Bloom was invited by the top elected official of Uttar Pradesh State to promote tourism. He applied for an e-visa and arrived on Saturday without realizing there was a problem with his application. Bloom was forced to return to London, but arrived in India the following day and was seen posing at the Taj Mahal on Sunday. A ministry spokesman said Bloom must have landed without the confirmation e-mail or forgotten to check whether the visa had been granted.
AFGHANISTAN
Official pleads for help
Insurgents have overrun a strategic district in the southern province of Helmand, delivering a serious blow to government forces, Helmand Deputy Governor Mohammad Jan Rasulyar said yesterday. Taliban fighters have taken control of the Sangin District after days of fighting, he said, adding that only Afghan army facilities in the district have not been taken by the insurgents. Fighting is still ongoing. Rasulyar on Sunday took the unusual step of using Facebook to warn President Ashraf Ghani that Helmand was in danger of falling if central authorities failed to send help. He said more than 90 security forces died fighting in the past month.
NIGERIA
Suicide blast kills nine
A suicide bombing in Borno State on Sunday killed nine people and injured 25, the army said. The blast is believed to have been carried out by three young people aged 10 to 15. The incident occurred at about 8:30pm in the town of Benisheik in the northeast, army spokesman Sani Kukasheka Usman said in an e-mailed statement. The attack came a day after the army killed more than 20 insurgents in Borno after an attack on the town of Buratai. Borno is the birthplace of Islamist group Boko Haram, which has killed tens of thousands of people since it began a campaign in 2009 to impose its version of Islamic law on parts of the nation.
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