ITALY
Hospital ward killer arrested
A woman suspected of murdering 13 patients in a Tuscan hospital between 2014 and last year has been arrested, Italian police said in a statement yesterday. Called “the hospital ward killer,” the woman allegedly committed multiple homicides while working as a nurse in the intensive care and anesthesia ward of a hospital in Piombino. The nurse’s alleged victims had “various pathologies,” police said, but no further details about the case were given. The national military police — the Carabinieri — detained the woman late on Wednesday.
BRAZIL
Rousseff clinging to allies
President Dilma Rousseff on Wednesday scrambled to hold together her crumbling ruling coalition by negotiating key government posts with remaining allies, aides said, as key partners discussed abandoning her amid impeachment proceedings. A day after Rousseff’s biggest coalition partner broke away and ordered its six ministers in her Cabinet to resign, another coalition ally — the Progressive Party — convened a meeting for April 11 to April 12 to decide whether to leave as well. A presidential aide said the government was reaching out to individual members of allied parties to offer positions that have opened up after the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party bolted on Tuesday.
CANADA
Ford ‘mayor of heaven’
Toronto on Wednesday mourned its former mayor Rob Ford, whom his young daughter in a speech called the “mayor of heaven now.” Ford died last week at age 46 after fighting cancer. His four-year tenure as mayor of Canada’s largest city was marred by revelations about his drinking problems and illegal drug use. As he sought a second term in 2014, his cancer diagnosis forced him to do what months of scandals could not — drop his bid for re-election. He died less than two years later. “I remember at the hospital he smiled at me and he said: ‘Stephanie, I may not be here for too much longer, but I want you to remember that I will always love you. I need you and your brother to be strong for your mom,’” his 10-year-old daughter said on Wednesday.
UNITED STATES
Apology for ugly travel tip
The Department of State on Wednesday issued an apology after posting a tweet that seemed to proffer travel advice for those whose looks are less than a perfect “10.” “Some have been offended by our earlier tweet and we apologize that it came off negatively,” the Bureau of Consular Affairs posted on its Twitter account, after pulling down the offending message. Media outlets posted screenshots of the tweet, part of a campaign warning those headed overseas on spring break how to stay out of trouble while abroad. “Not a ‘10’ in the US? Then not a ‘10’ overseas. Beware of being lured into buying expensive drinks or worse — being robbed” the bureau advised on its @TravelGov account. What was apparently meant as a warning against potential scams initiated by unusual amounts of flattery or alcohol, quickly became the subject of mockery on the Internet. A spoof Twitter account that appeared in the wake of the post offered its own warnings: “If you’re not a ‘10’ in the United States consider whether travel is really going to fill the void inside you.” The Bureau of Consular Affairs said on Twitter it had only been trying to prevent Americans from becoming victims while overseas in the series of tweets, which were hashtagged #springbreakingbadly.
VIETNAM
Woman chairperson named
The Communist Southeast Asian nation yesterday named a woman for the first time to the influential role of chairperson in its rubber stamp National Assembly — the country’s fourth most powerful position — state media said. Veteran lawmaker and senior Communist Party official Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan was elected with 95.5 percent of votes after a poll in the country’s 500-strong legislative body, state-run VTV said. “I would like to thank the National Assembly for electing me,” Ngan said after the ballot, which was broadcast on VTV. “I vow my resolute loyalty to the nation, the people, and the constitution,” added Ngan, who is from the southern Ben Tre Province. Ngan, 61, was selected for the National Assembly chair position in January during the five-yearly Communist Party Congress, which was this year overshadowed by factional fighting.
SOUTH AFRICA
Court rules on Zuma funds
President Jacob Zuma “failed to uphold” the constitution when he did not pay back some of the millions of dollars in state funds used to upgrade his home, the Constitutional Court ruled yesterday. The ruling could significantly weaken the leader, who is fending off multiple accusations of alleged misconduct at the highest levels of government though he still retained the support of powerful factions in his party, the African National Congress. The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, said it would immediately begin impeachment proceedings against Zuma. While parliament has the power to remove him, ruling party lawmakers defeated a no-confidence vote against Zuma earlier this year. Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng also said that parliament, which is dominated by the ANC, had failed in its obligations by not holding Zuma to account in the spending scandal.
YEMEN
Al-Qaeda raided in Aden
A top security official says pro-government forces have carried out a series of raids against al-Qaeda in the southern port city of Aden, arresting dozens of suspects and causing the militants to flee from key areas. Major General Shalal Shayaa on Wednesday said that southern fighters backing the government have set up checkpoints across the al-Mansoura neighborhood, a former militant stronghold. He said the raids are part of a security campaign aimed at consolidating the internationally recognized government’s control over Aden, its de facto capital. Shiite militias known as Houthis seized the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, in 2014. Aden was plunged into lawlessness after government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition drove the Houthis out last year.
UNITED NATIONS
Abuse probe widened
The UN on Wednesday said it has widened an investigation of allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by foreign peacekeepers in the Central African Republic and notified authorities in France, Gabon and Burundi about the charges. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Monday said that the world body had received new sexual abuse allegations against UN peacekeepers from Morocco and Burundi in the Central African Republic, including one that involved a 14-year-old girl. The UN press office released new information about the probe late on Wednesday, saying that a UN team led by the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, known as MINUSCA, had traveled to the Kemo prefecture to investigate.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
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
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was