AFGHANISTAN
Karzai criticizes US bomb
The US military’s use of the most powerful conventional bomb in its arsenal on a cave complex being used by Islamic State group fighters has stirred up political trouble for the government, as former president Hamid Karzai on Saturday called his successor “a traitor” and declared that he wanted the Americans gone from the country. In an interview with the New York Times, Karzai said there was no justification for the US to drop the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast. He accused the US military of using the presence of Islamic State militants to turn his country into a laboratory for testing its weapons.
GUATEMALA
Mexican fugitive arrested
The former governor of Mexico’s Veracruz state, Javier Duarte, who is accused of running a corruption ring that allegedly pilfered from state coffers, has been detained after six months on the run. A statement from Mexico’s federal Attorney General’s Office said Duarte was detained on Saturday with the cooperation of local police and the country’s Interpol office in Panajachel, a town on Lake Atitlan in the highlands that is popular with tourists. Duarte is wanted on suspicion of money laundering and organized crime. He was to be transferred to Guatemala City yesterday and would later appear before a judge for a hearing on Mexico’s extradition request.
ITALY
Refugees drown in sea
At least 20 refugees trying to reach Europe yesterday drowned in the Mediterranean off the coast of Libya, a Reuters photographer said. Darrin Zammit Lupi, who is aboard the rescue ship Phoenix, said he saw 20 bodies while a dinghy was being helped by the crew of the ship, run by the Malta-based Migrant Offshore Aid Station. On Saturday, coast guard and other boats rescued about 3,000 migrants from unseaworthy boats, as the good weather pushes the numbers up. A total of 35 rescue operations were launched during the day, the coast guard said. Pauline Schmidt, a spokeswoman for Jugend Rettet, a German non-governmental organization that participated in the rescue efforts, said that her group “have never had to deal with so many people at the same time.”
VATICAN CITY
Easter Mass draws crowds
Tens of thousands of faithful yesterday braved heavy security checks for a place in St Peter’s Square as Pope Francis celebrated Easter Sunday Mass on the steps leading to St Peter’s Basilica. In an impromptu homily delivered during the Mass, the pope encouraged people to hold fast in their “fearful hearts” to faith despite all the wars, sickness and hatred in the world, acknowledging that many wonder where God is amid so much evil and suffering. Easter “isn’t a party with lots of flowers,” he said, but an occasion to ponder the mystery of faith. Security included armed police positioned on rooftops and metal detectors.
SPAIN
Britons arrested for drugs
Authorities on Saturday said that they had arrested two Britons after intercepting a stash of synthetic drugs “80 times stronger” than cannabis that had been smuggled inside sacks of coffee into the southeastern city of Alicante. Police said drugs were hidden in packets posted from Hong Kong. Police, who valued the street value of the 12.2kg stash at 3.5 million euros (US$3.2 million), said the second suspect was seeking “to flee justice” when he was tracked down.
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