UNITED STATES
Trump sued over ‘mob’
Republican US presidential hopeful Donald Trump is accused in a lawsuit of inciting a “virtual mob” to bully a female political strategist into silence after the fellow Republican questioned his fitness for office. Cheryl Jacobus, a New York public relations specialist, said the real-estate magnate and his national campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, tried to destroy her reputation when their relationship soured over comments she made in on-air interviews. She is seeking US$4 million in damages. “The attacks by Trump’s followers were laced with sexual degradation and pornographic vulgarity,” Jacobus said in the defamation suit filed on Monday in Manhattan.
UNITED STATES
Nooses found on campus
Staff at a Tennessee university called in the police after finding six rainbow-colored nooses — widely seen as a symbol of racial hatred — hanging from a tree, the institution said. Police on Monday took down the row of nooses found near the Austin Peay State University fine arts building on the main campus in Clarksville, Tennessee, after receiving several complaints, the school said in a statement. “This incident is deeply disturbing and is hurtful to our university community,” university president Alisa White said.
UNITED STATES
Suit filed over urinal
A religious organization has filed a lawsuit against the city of San Francisco to remove an open-air urinal it calls unsanitary and indecent from a popular park. The Chinese Christian Union of San Francisco last week filed a civil complaint demanding that the city remove the concrete circular urinal from the iconic Dolores Park. The group said the urinal, which is out in the open and screened only with plants for privacy, “emanates offensive odors,” “has no hand-washing facilities” and “is offensive to manners and morals.” The lawsuit further alleges that the facility, installed in February, discriminates against women and the disabled, and exposes those who use it to “shame and embarrassment.” “The open-air urination hole violates the privacy of those who need to use the restroom, but would be required to expose their bodies, and suffer shame and degradation of urinating in public view,” it said.
UNITED STATES
‘Upskirting’ on the rise
New York City police are on the lookout for illegal “upskirters,” who take voyeuristic photographs of unsuspecting women in crowded train stations and subways, officials have said. Five arrests of so-called “upskirters,” who targeted women in public places, were made during a spate of warm weather last month, according to the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance. “This is a serious crime with serious consequences,” Vance said in a statement. “These are not victimless crimes, but damaging invasions of privacy,” he said. Incidences of “upskirting” increase as seasonal temperatures rise, the prosecutors’ office said. “Upskirters” photograph underneath women’s skirts, typically using smartphones or small cameras that might be hidden in newspapers, briefcases, books, hats or jackets, Vance’s office said. In some of the recent arrests, as many as two dozen photographs were found, the prosecutors’ office said. Women might be targeted on trains, platforms, stairs, escalators, benches and other crowded areas, the office said.
AUSTRALIA
Minister mocks Depp video
Was the filmed apology over an international dog smuggling scandal supposed to look like a hostage video? Was the weirdly wooden delivery a deliberate protest by the unhappy actors? Does the politician at the heart of the world’s most bizarre biosecurity case think he could have directed it better himself? Well, yes — at least to the last question — Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said yesterday when asked about the widely panned videotaped apology from Johnny Depp and his wife, Amber Heard. “I don’t think he’ll get an Academy Award for his performance... he looked like he was auditioning for The Godfather,” Joyce told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio. “At the end of it, we’ve got a message that is going all around the world right now — it’s going off like a frog in a sock — telling people that if you come into this nation and you don’t obey our laws, you’re in trouble.”
CHINA
Three arrested for murder
Police said they have arrested a woman and two men suspected in the killing of a Hong Kong-based British language instructor found dead. Officers in Shenzhen yesterday declined to elaborate on an earlier statement saying that a 38-year-old woman identified by her surname, Xu, had killed 60-year-old Hilary St John Bower, her boyfriend of 17 years, over a relationship dispute. The statement said two men aged 28 and 23 assisted Xu and were arrested with her on April 8. It said the investigation is ongoing. A colleague was quoted by the South China Morning Post as saying Bower was anticipating a windfall from a real-estate investment in Shenzhen.
PAKISTAN
Two convicted of child abuse
Two people convicted in a massive pedophilia scandal were handed life sentences on Monday, officials said, after a law passed in March criminalised child sexual abuse for the first time. Pakistan was rocked by the huge child abuse and extortion scandal in August last year, allegedly involving hundreds of victims in Punjab Province. In Hussain Khanwala village, videos were made of at least 280 children being sexually abused by a gang, who blackmailed their parents by threatening to leak the videos. Police, who had conspicuously failed to act, eventually made dozens of arrests after clashes between relatives and the authorities brought the issue into the spotlight.
ISRAEL
Man convicted of murder
A Jerusalem district court yesterday convicted the main suspect in the July 2014 murder of a Palestinian teenager. The court convicted 30-year-old Yosef Haim Ben David of murder, rejecting a plea that he was not responsible for his actions. Two other men had already been sentenced for their roles in the murder of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir in revenge for the death of three abducted Israeli teenagers earlier that summer. The Israelis snatched Khdeir, drove him to a Jerusalem forest and burned him to death.
SPAIN
Mayor cracks down on poop
Dog owners in Madrid beware: Pick up after your pooch or face working as a street cleaner. Madrid Mayor Manuela Carmena is warning dog owners they will face stiff fines or possibly weekend work as street cleaners if they are caught in an upcoming dog poop crackdown. Dog owners could be fined up to 1,500 euros (US$1,700) if caught. Carmena said she will propose that offenders perform street cleaning assignments as a possible substitute for the fines.
‘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