BRAZIL
Car rams into residence
A driver on Wednesday rammed his car through the gates of the presidential residence and was arrested, security forces said, though President Michel Temer was not inside the building. Guards fired warning shots and then opened fire at the vehicle when it refused to stop, before detaining the driver, who appeared to be a minor, the statement said. The driver was not wounded and the car stopped inside the compound of the Alvorada residence. Images published by the G1 news site show the presidential residence gate knocked to the ground and shotgun shells over the floor outside the residence. Access to the area was closed after the incident. Temer lives in Jaburu, another official residence, less than 1.6km away from Alvorada.
UNITED STATES
Sept. 11 volunteer pardoned
A onetime Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center cleanup volunteer who faces possible deportation over a 1990 drug conviction, but was pardoned by the New York governor was freed from immigration detention on Wednesday. Carlos Cardona was released from custody and would be required to check in periodically pending the outcome of his immigration case, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. Cardona entered the country illegally in 1986 from Colombia and was convicted in 1990 of attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance. Cardona, a co-owner of a construction business in Queens, helped clear out rubble at the trade center after the attacks. He had been detained since February at the Hudson Correctional Facility in Kearny, New Jersey. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo last week pardoned Cardona, saying if Cardona is deported he might not be able to receive health treatments he needs for ailments he suffers after working in the recovery effort.
UNITED STATES
Hate crimes underreported
A new federal report said the majority of hate crimes experienced by residents over a 12-year period were not reported to police. The special report released yesterday by Bureau of Justice Statistics has stoked advocates’ concerns about ongoing tensions between law enforcement and black and Latino communities. The report said more than half of the 250,000 hate crimes that occurred each year between 2004 and 2015 were not reported. Most often, hate crimes were not reported to police because they were handled some other way. However, those surveyed also said they did not come forward because they did not feel it was important or that police would help.
UNITED STATES
Exhibit to woo rock fans
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is opening an exhibit that is to give fans a taste of its famous induction ceremonies. The Cleveland-based museum is to unveil its “Power of Rock” experience this weekend. The exhibit is to feature a 12-minute reel of ceremony highlights by Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme. The film is to be played on five moving screens accompanied by laser lights, concert smoke and under-seat speakers. Rock disciples are also to see a Prince outfit, a Talking Heads bass guitar and other memorabilia from induction ceremonies. The exhibit is the centerpiece of an overhaul of the Hall of Fame, which has inducted 802 artists since 1986. The renovations have cost US$15 million to date. The “Power of Rock” exhibit opens to the public tomorrow.
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