UNITED STATES
Prosecutor’s remark panned
Orange County’s district attorney on Tuesday rebuked one of the prosecutors in his office for referring to one of three escaped Southern California inmates as “Hannibal Lecter.” Deputy District Attorney Heather Brown made the remarks to the Orange County Register, comparing escaped inmate Hossein Nayeri to the famed cannibal villain from The Silence of the Lambs and other movies, books and TV shows. “My first reaction was: Oh, my God, they let Hannibal Lecter out,’’ Brown, who is handling the case against Nayeri, told the newspaper on Monday. “He is sophisticated, incredibly violent and cunning.” She also called him “diabolical.” On Tuesday, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, called the statements “inappropriate, uninformed, and rash.” He added that they were not authorized by him or anyone in his office, and they do not reflect the official position of prosecutors. Authorities allege Nayeri and two other people kidnapped a marijuana dispensary owner in 2012 by zip-tying his wrists, beating him and putting him in a van. They drove the man to the desert, tortured him by burning him with a blow torch and cutting off his penis, prosecutors said. Nayeri is charged with kidnapping for ransom and aggravated mayhem, torture and burglary.
UNITED STATES
Hot yoga founder loses case
The founder of Bikram yoga, the heated exercise and breathing routine that enjoys worldwide popularity, on Tuesday was ordered to pay more than US$6 million in damages for harassment. Bikram Choudhury was sued by a lawyer who worked for him, complaining that she suffered damaging consequences after she spoke out against his alleged sexual harassment of other women. A jury in Los Angeles Superior Court deliberated for two hours before ordering the 69-year-old guru to pay US$6.47 million fine in punitive damages. The jury had already awarded the plaintiff, Minakshi Jafa-Bodden, nearly US$1 million in compensation, after it decided that she was the subject of harassment, discrimination and retaliation. Jafa-Bodden smiled after the verdict was announced while the famed yogi remained impassive. His lawyer, Robert Tafoya, gave no comment. Jafa-Bodden’s lawyer Mark Quigley said in his closing statement that Choudhury “thinks that he can do whatever he wants to do.” Bikram yoga first came under an unwanted spotlight when Choudhury tried to copyright the routine. On Tuesday he said he had earned little money in the last three years and was near bankruptcy. During the trial, he said that although he owns 30 to 40 luxury cars, they contain old parts from other vehicles and he plans to give them to the state and charitable organizations. His lawyers said Jafa-Bodden, who filed her lawsuit in 2013, was sacked by Choudhury because she was not licensed to practice law in California.
VIETNAM
Communist leader re-elected
The Communist Party of Vietnam re-elected Nguyen Phu Trong as its leader yesterday, a party source and state media said, a widely expected outcome. The 71-year-old Trong, who analysts see as a party stalwart who would stick to the line on economic reform, was the only candidate nominated by the politburo prior to the party’s congress, which must endorse the decision today. A photograph of Trong holding flowers and flanked by smiling officials was uploaded to the Web site of the official Vietnam News Agency, with a caption saying central committee members were congratulating him on being re-elected.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in