PHILIPPINES
Drug lord repatriated
A suspected Philippine drug lord, whose father was killed in an alleged gunfight in prison, was yesterday repatriated from the United Arab Emirates, promising to tell all he knows about the narcotics trade in a move seen to bolster President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. Rolando “Kerwin” Espinosa Jr arrived in handcuffs and flak jacket at Manila’s airport with a police team that fetched him from Abu Dhabi. National police chief Ronald dela Rosa escorted him from the airport to a maximum-security facility at the police headquarters. Espinosa’s father, town mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr, was arrested last month. He had agreed to cooperate with officials, but was killed on Nov. 5 in an alleged gunfight with police inside his jail cell. Senators investigating the case suspect it was an intentional killing. At a news conference at the police headquarters, the younger Espinosa apologized to Duterte and asked for a chance to turn a new leaf.
SINGAPORE
Drug traffickers executed
The city-state yesterday executed two foreigners convicted of drug trafficking, authorities said, a day after its highest court rejected final bids for both men to escape the gallows. The Nigerian and Malaysian were hanged after their last-minute appeals were thrown out. “A 38-year-old male Nigerian national, Chijioke Stephen Obioha, had his death sentence carried out ... at Changi Prison Complex,” the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement. Separately, the bureau also confirmed the execution of 31-year-old Malaysian Devendran Supramaniam, who was convicted of trafficking heroin. He was arrested in May 2011 at the border checkpoint with Malaysia carrying 2.7kg of a powdery substance that contained 83.36g of pure heroin.
AUSTRALIA
Man sets himself on fire
A man set himself on fire in a Melbourne bank yesterday morning, causing an explosion that left himself and five bystanders with serious burns, officials said. Another 21 people ranging from children to adults in their 80s were taken to hospitals with breathing problems following the fire at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia branch in the suburb of Springvale, an ambulance service statement said. The 21-year-old suspect, a local resident, was taken to a hospital in a serious condition, police said. Police Inspector Jacqui Poida said investigators had yet to determine a motive. “He had some sort of accelerant with him in a container,” Poida said. “He walked into the bank and he lighted that accelerant which caused some sort of fire within the bank.”
UNITED STATES
Skit brings reprimand
Two 10th-grade students at a San Antonio high school and their teacher have been reprimanded for the performance of a skit portraying the assassination of president-elect Donald Trump. The San Antonio Express-News reports the skit, titled “The Assassination of Donald Trump,” was performed last week at Marshall High School. One of the boys used a gunfire sound effect from a cellphone; the other boy, playing Trump, fell to the ground. Barry Perez, spokesman for the Northside Independent School District, said the “appropriate action” had been taken against the three, and that the teacher had apologized. The parents of a student who viewed the skit complained to district officials and said they had hoped for harsher measures.
UNITED STATES
Thomas praises Scalia
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is calling fellow conservatives to continue the work of former justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February, to keep the power of the courts and other branches of government in check. Thomas told 1,700 people at a dinner in honor of Scalia that the Supreme Court has too often granted rights to people that are not found in the Constitution. He cited last year’s decision that made same-sex marriage legal nationwide. Thomas said he and his longtime friend and colleague formed an “odd couple” of a white New Yorker and a black man from Georgia. He urged the audience to “be dedicated to the unfinished business for which justice Scalia gave his last full measure of devotion.”
UNITED STATES
Goof mars Grammy award
Mexican singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel on Thursday won the first Latin Grammy Award of his long career, but presenter Andres Ceballos of the Spanish group Dvicio apparently did not realize it was a posthumous prize. “He’s not here,” Ceballos said. “The academy will make sure he receives this award.” Gabriel died in August at age 66. Spanish pop quintet Dvicio was tapped with announcing winners in various categories during the untelevised portion of the ceremony. Ceballos looked confused when Gabriel did not appear to collect the prize for traditional pop vocal album. He also won album of the year.
UNITED STATES
Dress sells for US$4.8m
The skin-tight dress Marilyn Monroe wore to serenade then-president John F. Kennedy at a 1962 fundraising gala was sold on Thursday for US$4.8 million at an auction in Los Angeles. An unidentified bidder purchased the sequin-covered dress, the Beverly Hills-based Julien’s Auctions said. With its color matching her skin tone, the dress, which was so tight that Monroe had to be sewn into it, gave the impression she was nude.
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