PERU
UK smuggler to be expelled
Authorities on Friday said they would expel a British woman in prison since 2013 after being convicted of trafficking cocaine. A court in Lima approved the expulsion of Melissa Reid, granting a petition for her release filed by her attorneys. Reid, 22, was arrested in August 2013 at Lima’s Jorge Cavez International Airport along with a woman from Ireland, Michaella McCollum. Both women were said to have cocaine in their luggage which they were trying to smuggle out of the country, according to authorities. Reid has served about a third of her six-year prison sentence, according to a press release issued by the court, which said she also had to pay a fine equivalent to about US$3,000. Officials said she is to remain in prison until her expulsion, which is expected to take place sometime within the next few weeks.
UNITED STATES
World’s oldest cat dies
A Siamese cat recently cited by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest living cat did not live to enjoy the title. Scooter marked his 30th birthday on March 26. However, owner Gail Floyd of Mansfield, Texas, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Scooter had died by the time Guinness conferred its title on April 8. Tricia Latimer, a Mansfield veterinarian, said Scooter had lived to the equivalent of about 136 human years. Scooter was not Guinness’ oldest cat of all time, though. That mark belongs to a fellow Texas cat who lived to be 38.
UNITED STATES
Ukraine wins loan guarantee
Vice President Joe Biden told Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in a call on Friday that Washington is prepared to move forward with a third loan guarantee agreement to support reforms, the White House said. The third US$1 billion loan guarantee was promised in November last year, but was contingent on progress on fighting corruption and on reforms. Biden also welcomed the appointment of a new prosecutor general in Ukraine as “an important first step to bringing much needed reform.”
MONTENEGRO
Parliamentarians scuffle
A parliamentary session was interrupted after an opposition party shouted insults at the prime minister, who they accuse of corruption. Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic was to address lawmakers on Friday when Democratic Front party officials stood up from their seats and started shouting “Milo, thief.” Djukanovic responded by shouting back “Bravo, you idiots,” and minor scuffles followed. The parliamentary session had been focused on how to overhaul the government to include some opposition parties ahead of a general election later this year.
SERBIA
Some banned from Bosnia
Authorities said they have banned 120 people from traveling to Bosnia to take part in parallel rallies this weekend of opposing Bosnian Serb political camps. Minister of the Interior Nebojsa Stefanovic on Friday said the aim was to minimize the possibility of incidents yesterday in the town of Banja Luka, where an opposition alliance and the Bosnian Serb government are both holding rallies. Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has warned of possible violence. Stefanovic said authorities in Serbia “will do all we can so that nothing happens tomorrow... we won’t get involved in politics, but we want peace.” Any violence in Bosnia is potentially explosive, following the 1992-95 war there that claimed about 100,000 lives.
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
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the