INDIA
Truck crash kills at least 14
Police said that at least 14 people died when a small truck carrying them fell into a canal after smashing into a concrete railing on a highway in the nation’s north. Police officer Hem Pal Singh said another 22 people were injured in the accident early yesterday in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah district. Singh said the victims were returning home after attending a pre-wedding ceremony, adding that the driver apparently dozed off and lost control of the vehicle. Police figures showed that the nation has the world’s highest road accident death toll, with more than 110,000 people dying each year in crashes.
JAPAN
Patrol aircraft to be donated
The government plans to donate retired military patrol aircraft to Malaysia, a report said yesterday, as alliances strengthen in response to China’s maritime claims. The two countries are among a number in the region stepping up defense cooperation against what they see as Beijing’s aggressive stance on the high seas. Beijing insists it has sovereign rights to almost all of the South China Sea — strategically vital waters, where Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also have claims. Responding to a request by Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo plans to offer decommissioned Lockheed P-3C Orion patrol aircraft, the Nikkei said, quoting an unnamed official at the Ministry of Defense. The National Diet is deliberating a bill that would allow the nation to provide military equipment to other countries at no cost. Malaysia would likely be the first beneficiary once the bill is passed, the Nikkei said, without clarifying how many P-3Cs the government plans to hand off. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force has about 60 P-3Cs in operation and plans to retire those that have logged about 15,000 hours of flight time. Immediate confirmation of the report was not available.
NEPAL
Sherpas prepare for climbs
Sherpas are fixing the final route to the summit of Mount Everest and the first climb of the season could be days away, an official said. High winds and snow near the summit were yesterday slowing down the work, but the first climb could happen as early as tomorrow, said government official Gyanendra Shrestha, who is stationed at base camp. The workers were fixing ropes above the last camp before the final approach to the summit, at the South Col, located at about 8,000m, he said. The Department of Tourism has issued a record number of permits to 317 climbers to attempt to scale the 8,850m summit this year. An equal number or more of Sherpa guides are to accompany them. May is the best month to climb Everest and there are at least a couple of windows of favorable weather on the summit. Last year, the government issued permits to 289 climbers.
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
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
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