LEBANON
President appeals for unity
President Michel Aoun on Monday appealed for national unity after Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri quit in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia. The parliamentary speaker said it was still too early to say whether the coalition government had actually resigned or to talk about the formation of a new government. Aoun has said he will not decide whether to accept or reject al-Hariri’s resignation until he returns from Saudi Arabia.
ZIMBABWE
Mugabe gets rid of VP
President Robert Mugabe on Monday fired Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the government said, as the veteran leader appeared to clear the way for his wife Grace to succeed him. The move came after a tense weekend in which Mnangagwa and Grace Mugabe — who were seen as the leading candidates to replace the 93-year-old president — openly traded barbs. “The vice president has consistently and persistently exhibited the traits of disloyalty, disrespect, deceitfulness and unreliability,” Minister of Information Simon Khaya Moyo told a news briefing. Mugabe has given no indication that he will step down soon. His ZANU-PF party has already named him as its candidate for next year’s presidential election.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Water, food appeal rejected
A court yesterday rejected a refugee’s appeal to restore water, electricity and food supplies to a shuttered Australian detention camp where hundreds of men have barricaded themselves in. The remote camp on Manus Island was closed a week ago after the Supreme Court ruled last year that it was unconstitutional, but about 600 men have refused to leave. One refugee, Iranian Behrouz Boochani, sought an injunction to restore water, power and food supplies, but his application was rejected. Supreme Court Chief Justice Salamo Injia said in his judgement that there was “no real good reason why they should not voluntarily move” to three transition facilities.
THAILAND
Biometrics required for SIMs
Face scans or fingerprints are to be needed to buy SIM cards in Thailand from next month as the kingdom tries to crack down on electronic fraud and encourage mobile banking. The new biometric system is to begin on Dec. 15, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission said. “We’re entering the digital age, our money now is linked to mobile services. By doing this, trust in mobile banking or payment systems will be improved,” commission Secretary-General Takorn Tantasith said. Tourists are also to be required to have face scans checked against their passport photographs.
INDIA
Marital dispute stops flight
An enraged woman forced an airliner to make an emergency landing after she discovered mid-flight that her husband was apparently cheating on her. The woman was traveling from Doha to Bali with her husband and child on a Qatar Airways flight on Sunday, the Hindustan Times reported yesterday. As her husband slept, she used his hand to unlock his fingerprint-protected phone, revealing the alleged affair. Angered, the woman reportedly started to hit her husband. The cabin crew intervened, but were unable to calm the situation. With the episode spiraling out of control, the pilots decided to make an unscheduled stop in Chennai. The woman, her husband and their child were taken off the plane, which then resumed its journey to Indonesia, an unnamed security official said.
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
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
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number