NEW ZEALAND
Envoy rapped over tweets
A top diplomat in Washington was reportedly censured yesterday over social media posts expressing fears “we will all die” if US President Donald Trump is re-elected. Caroline Beresford, the No. 2 diplomat in the US, tweeted “get your shit together” discussing a Democratic ticket of US senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren against Trump in the 2020 election. “Please get your shit together or we will all die,” she tweeted, since deleted, later adding: “They’ve learned nothing.” The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade told stuff.co.nz it “does not in any way endorse the content or tone of the tweets” and that Beresford’s tweets were prompting “appropriate action.”
SINGAPORE
Firms probed over N Korea
The government yesterday said it was investigating two local companies accused of supplying luxury goods to North Korea in violation of UN sanctions. Citing a leaked draft of a UN report, the BBC earlier this week said the two firms were OCN and T-Specialist, sister companies that share the same director. “The Singapore authorities are aware of these cases and we are in correspondence with the UN Panel on them,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “However, we are unable to provide additional details as investigations are ongoing.” OCN and T-Specialist could not be immediately reached for comment, neither could lawyer Edmond Pereira, who local media reported was representing the firms.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Quake death toll rises to 125
The Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary yesterday said that an earthquake last month killed at least 125 people and forced another 35,000 from their homes. It said that major relief efforts are under way in the central region where the magnitude 7.5 quake struck on Feb. 26. The official death toll rose from 55 last week and police said it could rise further. The region is remote and undeveloped, and assessments about the scale of the damage and injuries have been slow to filter out. Strong aftershocks have continued to rattle the area.
UNITED STATES
Dog dies in overhead bin
A dog died on a United Airlines plane after a flight attendant ordered its owner to put the animal in the plane’s overhead bin. United on Tuesday said that it took full responsibility for the incident on the Monday night flight from Houston to New York. The dog was in a small pet carrier designed to fit under an airline seat. Passengers reported that they heard barking during the flight and did not know that the dog had died until the plane landed at LaGuardia Airport. United spokesman Charles Hobart said the airline is investigating the incident and talking to the flight attendant, whom he declined to identify.
UNITED STATES
VA chief may be replaced
President Donald Trump is considering putting Secretary of Energy Rick Perry in charge of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), replacing David Shulkin as he faces criticism within his department. Two people familiar with Trump’s thinking said the president has floated the notion of moving Perry to the VA. One official said Trump raised the idea with Perry on Monday, but did not offer him the job. The VA inspector general is looking into a complaint by a member of Shulkin’s security detail. Two people familiar with the allegation said that the person was asked to accompany Shulkin to a Home Depot and carry furniture into his home.
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