UNITED STATES
NBC sacks TV host Lauer
Matt Lauer, the host of NBC television’s Today show on Wednesday was fired for what NBC called “inappropriate sexual behavior” with a colleague and was promptly confronted with a published report accusing him of crude and habitual misconduct with other women around the office. Network news boss Andrew Lack said in a memo to the staff that NBC received a complaint about Lauer’s behavior on Monday and determined he violated company standards. NBC said the misconduct started when Lauer and a network employee were at the Sochi Olympics in 2014 and continued beyond that assignment. Lack said it was the first complaint lodged against Lauer in his 20 years at NBC, but “we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident.” In other developments, former Prairie Home Companion host Garrison Keillor was cut loose by Minnesota Public Radio over an allegation of “inappropriate behavior.” It gave no details, but the 75-year-old Keillor said he inadvertently put his hand on a woman’s bare back in an attempt to console her.
AUSTRALIA
Lawmaker quits party posts
Federal Senator Sam Dastyari yesterday resigned from his Labor Party leadership roles over scandals involving wealthy Chinese businessman and political donor Huang Xiangmo (黃向墨) that have raised accusations of China buying influence. Dastyari had been deputy Labor whip and chairman of a parliamentary committee examining the future of journalism. Fairfax Media reported this week that Dastyari gave the Chinese Communist Party-linked businessman countersurveillance advice when they met at Huang’s Sydney mansion in October last year. Dastyari has not denied the reports, but yesterday said he had no knowledge about whether Huang was under government surveillance at the time.
BANGLADESH
Pope to meet Rohingya
Pope Francis landed in Dhaka yesterday after wrapping up a diplomatically sensitive trip to Myanmar with a Mass for young people. The government is hoping that the pontiff’s three-day visit, during which he is to meet a group of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in Dhaka, will help pressure the international community to find a lasting solution to the influx of Muslim Rohingya fleeing their homes in Myanmar amid what the UN has said is a textbook case of ethnic cleansing.
GAZA STRIP
Power transfer delayed
Fatah and Hamas on Wednesday agreed to delay final transfer of power of the Gaza Strip from Hamas to the Western-backed Palestinian government from today to Dec. 10 to allow time to “complete arrangements,” officials said. The factions signed a reconciliation deal last month that said Hamas would complete the handover by today, but disputes over the transfer process have emerged in recent days.
UNITED STATES
Chinese actress picked
It took a year of searching and nearly 1,000 candidates, but Walt Disney Studios has found its Mulan (花木蘭). The studio on Wednesday said Chinese actress Liu Yifei (劉亦菲, Crystal Liu) is to play the warrior in a live-action epic from director Niki Caro. The 30-year-old actress is well known in China as a model, actress and singer. She started in television and has appeared in more than a dozen films. Liu speaks fluent English and spent part of her teens in New York City. Caro’s film is expected to be released in 2019.
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