UNITED KINGDOM
Scotland to ask for election
The Scottish Parliament on Tuesday voted to demand a new referendum on Scottish independence. By a vote of 69 to 59, lawmakers in Edinburgh approved plans to request a referendum on independence that could take place just before the kingdom completes its withdrawal from the EU. That timing has already been rejected by Prime Minister Theresa May, who must agree to any legally binding referendum on Scotland’s future. Nevertheless, the Scottish Parliament’s vote sets the stage for a constitutional tussle between London and Edinburgh, and illustrates the far-reaching and destabilizing consequences of the kingdom’s divisive decision in June last year to withdraw from the EU.
MEXICO
Prison riot leaves two dead
Two inmates were killed and 13 injured during a prison riot, the Nuevo Leon state government said on Tuesday, the second fatal security breach within a week in the country’s troubled prison system. The deaths occurred in the Cadereyta penitentiary near the city of Monterrey after about 50 inmates attacked the prison’s pharmacy and set fire to cells, the government said. It was the second consecutive day of violence there. On Monday, two guards and five prisoners were hurt after inmates blocked corridors in the facility with burning mattresses. On Friday last week, three inmates died in a prison riot in neighboring Tamaulipas state after a jailbreak.
INDIA
Police increase security
Police yesterday stepped up security in a northern city where a mob attacked African students following the death of a local teenager from a suspected drug overdose. Five people were arrested over the assault in Greater Noida, in which the students were beaten with sticks and metal chairs, with police examining surveillance footage to identify other attackers. “We are increasing security checkpoints and police presence around Greater Noida,” police Superintendent Sujata Singh told reporters, referring to the satellite city outside New Delhi. Police have also identified about 40 others after scanning security tapes and footage shot by onlookers and broadcast by the media, Singh said.
UNITED STATES
Judge sets ‘Dreamer’ free
A Mexican man brought into the country as a child who was arrested and held for more than six weeks, despite being protected under a program for immigrants from the administration of former president Barack Obama, has been released. Daniel Ramirez Medina, a 24-year-old “Dreamer” living near Seattle, was on Tuesday ordered released on bond by a judge, his lawyers said. Authorities last month detained Ramirez, who arrived in the country when he was seven, even though his authorization under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was still valid.
UNITED STATES
Book returned 35 years late
A patron who stole a book from a Montana library in 1982 has returned it after reading it at least 25 times, having it restored and having the author sign it. The man said having the stolen copy of Richard Matheson’s 1975 novel Bid Time Return had been bugging him. He included a US$200 donation to the Great Falls Public Library, while asking “for a chance at redemption here.” The man called the book fascinating and said he considered it one of the greatest science fiction-romance stories ever written, the Great Falls Tribune reported on Tuesday. Library officials did not release his name.
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
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
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