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.
‘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
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