UNITED KINGDOM
Lawmakers grow restive
Forty members of parliament from Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party have agreed to sign a letter of no confidence in her, the Sunday Times reported. That is eight short of the number needed to trigger a party leadership contest, the mechanism through which May could be forced from office and replaced by another Conservative. An earlier attempt to unseat May in the wake of her disastrous speech at the annual party conference fizzled out, but many Conservatives remain unhappy with her performance and talk of a leadership contest remains.
IRAN
Bahrain’s claims denied
The government has denied allegations it was behind a militant attack on a pipeline outside Bahrain’s capital. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Bahram Ghasemi was quoted by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency yesterday as rejecting the “baseless and fake claims” and “childish finger-pointing” from Bahraini authorities. Bahraini Minister of the Interior Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa said Saturday’s blast was “the latest example of a terrorist act performed by terrorists in direct contact with and under instruction from Iran.”
INDONESIA
Arrests made in murder
Two men have been arrested over the murder of an elderly Dutch man whose decomposing body was found at his home on Bali. The corpse of Robert Gilhooad, 80, was found on Nov. 3 at his rental property in the fishing village of Jimbaran. An autopsy concluded the long-term Bali resident had been murdered, said policeman Aris Purwanto, the region’s criminal investigative chief. Police believe there was a monetary motive for killing Gilhooad, the second murder in as many months in Jimbaran. An elderly Japanese couple were found slashed and burned at their home on Sept. 4.
SAUDI ARABIA
Abdication rumors rebuffed
King Salman is not planning to abdicate in favor of his son, a senior official said, dismissing mounting speculation that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman would soon ascend to the throne. “There is no possibility whatsoever that the king will abdicate,’’ the official said in response to written questions. Abdication is unthinkable especially since King Salman, 81, enjoys “perfect’’ physical and mental powers, the official said. Those who suggest otherwise “do not understand royal customs and traditions in Saudi Arabia,” the official said.
SOUTH AFRICA
Clegg on final tour
At 64, his pancreatic cancer in remission, musician Johnny Clegg on Saturday night kicked high and stomped five consecutive times — the signature move of Zulu war dancing — during a packed Johannesburg concert that he says is one of his last. The man sometimes called the “White Zulu” is making what he calls his “Final Journey” tour. Amid concerns about his stamina, Clegg said: “This is my last chance.”
UNITED STATES
Police pioneer dies at 84
Herb Lee, San Francisco’s first Chinese-American police officer, has died at age 84. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Lee died on Nov. 1 of colon cancer. Lee joined the police force in 1957 and spent his first years working undercover in Chinatown investigating gangs. He eventually became executive director of the Police Activities League, overseeing athletic and enrichment programs for poor children before retiring in 1987.
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