COLOMBIA
Police seize cocaine cache
Police have seized 7 tonnes of cocaine at a banana farm in northern Antioquia Department, the defense minister and police said on Friday. The shipment, worth about US$200 million, belonged to the Golfo Clan crime gang, police said, adding that five people were arrested in the operation. “The shipment was being guarded for a later transport to Central America, with the United States as a final destination, camouflaged in legal shipments of banana and fruits,” the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement. The Golfo Clan said this month it would be willing to surrender to the government. The group, also known the Usuga Clan, is accused of operating profitable drug trafficking routes in partnership with Mexican cartels and taking part in illegal gold mining. President Juan Manuel Santos has said the government is looking into the request, but will not negotiate with the group.
IRAQ
Barzani delays word on vote
Kurdistan Region President Massud Barzani yesterday delayed a scheduled news conference on a controversial independence referendum he has called for next week as pressure mounts for a postponement. There has been uncertainty about whether the vote will go ahead as the country’s key allies, the US and Iran, as well as powerful neighbor Turkey, have stepped up their opposition. “The news conference will take place on Sunday and the time and venue will be announced later,” Barzani’s office said, without elaborating.
UNITED STATES
Boston cop admits to lying
A Boston police detective is pleading guilty to lying to federal officials so he could fly armed on personal trips and allow a friend to avoid going through airport security. The US attorney’s office in Boston on Friday said Sergeant Detective Bruce Smith has agreed to resign from the police force and pay a US$7,500 fine. Smith also faces up to a year of probation under the terms of a plea deal. The 53-year-old Randolph, Massachusetts, resident was charged in June with making false statements to Transportation Security Administration officials that he was on official police business and was authorized to carry his firearm. Prosecutors alleged he flew armed on about 28 trips from Boston’s Logan International Airport. Police have declined to comment. Smith’s attorney has not responded to a request for comment.
UNITED STATES
Man indicted for bestiality
A man accused of performing a sexual act with a dog has been charged under a new state law that criminalizes bestiality. The law went into effect on March 21 and makes sexual contact with an animal a misdemeanor offense that carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail upon conviction. Previously, animal cruelty laws applied, but Cleveland Animal Protection League president Sharon Harvey said those cases were difficult to prosecute, because they required proof the animal suffered. Cleveland.com on Thursday reported that 47-year-old Scott Turner was charged with the misdemeanor. Turner told Cleveland Animal Protection League investigators that he was caring for a woman’s dog in May when he abused it, court records showed. He previously served more than 12 years in prison for sex crimes involving children. The Humane Society of the US said bestiality has been criminalized everywhere in the US except Washington and the states of Hawaii, Kentucky, New Mexico, West Virginia and Wyoming.
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