JAPAN
N Koreans to be deported
Six of 10 North Korean “fishers” rescued from a tiny wooden boat drifting off Hokkaido are to be deported, immigration official Koichi Tanaka said yesterday. Three of the crew have been arrested on suspicion of theft after they reportedly admitted to “taking out” electronic products from a remote Japanese island where they landed briefly to take refuge. They are suspected of stealing a variety of items — including fridges, televisions and even a door knob. One of the men is still in hospital, reportedly suffering from a stomach illness, Tanaka said. Experts say some North Korean fishermen are traveling far out to sea to satisfy government mandates for bigger catches, but their old and poorly equipped vessels are prone to mechanical and other problems. Some experts have said that once they are deported, they might be executed out of fear they must have been turned into Japanese spies.
UNITED STATES
Transgender ban ineffective
Transgender people will be able to join the US military as of Jan. 1, a federal judge ruled on Monday, denying a request by President Donald Trump’s administration to enforce his ban on transgender troops while the government appeals an order blocking it. Washington District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly refused to lift part of her Oct. 30 order stopping the ban from taking effect until the case is resolved, because it likely violates the constitution’s guarantees of due process and equal protection. Several transgender service members filed a lawsuit after Trump announced in July he would ban transgender people from the military, citing concern over military focus and medical costs.
SINGAPORE
Dog circus canceled
A circus show starring performing dogs has been canceled after an online outcry, with a lawmaker on Monday welcoming the decision to axe the “outdated” form of entertainment. The event was scheduled for February to coincide with the start of the year of the dog, and a poster advertising it showed poodles with dyed pink fur clapping their paws and doing handstands. However, the show, reportedly from China and set to include acrobatics and clown acts, came under fire online and a petition was started on Change.org that quickly garnered more than 7,000 signatures. As anger mounted, the company selling tickets for the event, Sistic, announced that it would not go ahead.
JAPAN
US defector to N Korea dies
A US soldier who deserted to North Korea more than half a century ago, but who was eventually allowed to leave, has died in Japan aged 77. One of the Cold War’s strangest dramas began in 1965 when Charles Robert Jenkins disappeared one January night while on patrol near the demilitarized zone. At an emotional court martial in Japan in 2004, Jenkins said he deserted to avoid hazardous duty in South Korea and escape combat in Vietnam. While in North Korea, where he taught English to soldiers and portrayed an evil US spy in a propaganda film, Jenkins met and married Hitomi Soga, a Japanese woman who had been kidnapped by North Korea to help train spies. Soga was allowed to return to Japan in 2002 and Jenkins followed with their two daughters in 2004. After serving a token 30-day sentence for desertion, Jenkins in 2004 moved with his family to Sado, Japan, where he worked in a gift shop and wrote a book about his experiences in North Korea.
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