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.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia