ARGENTINA
Unions vow strike
Unions yesterday vowed a general strike, drawing complaints from President Mauricio Macri as he prepares to host leaders and businesspeople for an economic forum. The strike threat raises pressure on Macri as he struggles to help the nation recover from recession ahead of mid-term legislative elections in October. Three major labor unions have called for a general stoppage, though it remains to be seen to what extent it will be followed. Macri said in a speech on Wednesday that the strike “does not help workers at all,” accusing unions of “mafia-like behavior.”
BRAZIL
Police strikes outlawed
The Supreme Court has ruled that police officers do not have the right to go on strike. The 7-3 ruling handed down on Wednesday afternoon said that strikes by military police officers who patrol the nation’s cities, federal police agents, civil police officers who conduct investigations and anyone else involved in public safety like firefighters, are unconstitutional.
UNITED STATES
Hammer suspect arrested
Authorities say a Virginia woman accused of using a hammer to smash a man’s car and boat at a gas station on Saturday last week before attacking him has been arrested. The Caroline County sheriff’s office said that 26-year-old Angela Jones was arrested on Wednesday in New Jersey. The sheriff’s office said witnesses saw Jones use a hammer to hit the car and boat it was towing. Authorities said she then attacked the man while referring to him as “rich” and “white.” Sheriff Tony Lippa told Masslive.com that Jones scratched and hit the man, but did not hit him with the hammer. The man and his wife told WTVR-TV in Richmond that they were driving from Florida to their home in Massachusetts when the incident happened. It was not immediately clear whether Jones had an attorney.
TURKEY
Militants killed in airstrike
F-16 warplanes on Wednesday launched airstrikes on Kurdish militants in the nation’s southeast, killing eight of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters, a provincial governor’s office said. PKK militants had opened fire on soldiers at a military outpost near the Iraqi border in the mountainous Cukurca area, triggering a clash between the two sides, the Hakkari governor’s office said in a statement. It said that the military had sent a drone to the area, which located the militants, before the F-16 jets carried out their strikes. One soldier was wounded in the clash and taken to a hospital for treatment.
PANAMA
Film distribution lamented
Latin America is producing ever more movies, but they are not being widely seen because of lack of foreign distribution, said Pituka Ortega told, the head of the nation’s International Film Festival said on Wednesday. “Latin American cinema is huge. There are countries with a consolidated industry and experience like Mexico, Argentina and Brazil,” but distribution is the biggest problem, because “while it’s great to produce, it’s futile” if audiences do not get to see the films, she said. “We can’t market like Hollywood, but we have to find a way to do so.” The comments were made on the last day of the week-long festival, which showcased more than 70 productions from 46 countries.
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