MYANMAR
Nineteen killed in clashes
At least 19 people have been killed in clashes between the military and an ethnic armed group yesterday in northern Shan State, the army and local sources told reporters, the most deadly flare-up in recent years as fighting in the borderlands intensifies. Rights defenders have said clashes in the country’s north near the Chinese border have ramped up since January as the international community focuses on the Rohingya crisis in the west of the country. Yesterday’s violence was between the military and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, one of several insurgent groups fighting for more autonomy in the north.
EAST TIMOR
Second vote held in a year
The nation yesterday voted in its second election for parliament in less than a year after the collapse of a minority government. A three-party alliance led by independence hero Xanana Gusmao’s National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction party is vying against Fretilin, which headed the short-lived government formed following the July last year election. Both sides in the election are promising economic development to reduce widespread poverty in the country. “I wish the winning party may look after the clean water, the roads to villages, education system and health sector,” farmer Sergio Soares Ximenes said.
UNITED STATES
Doe killer faces charges
A central Indiana man is facing charges for allegedly shooting a three-legged doe that other hunters had agreed to spare. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources on Friday said that conservation officers have filed misdemeanor charges against a Hamilton County man for shooting the deer from his vehicle on a public roadway in January last year. It said residents around the town of Deming, about 40km north of Indianapolis, had frequently spotted the doe over several years while it raised several sets of fawns. The agency said local deer hunters had formed a pact to leave the doe alone.
UNITED STATES
‘Fuck the NRA’: candidate
A Democratic congressional candidate in New Mexico on Friday used an expletive in a television ad to condemn the National Rifle Association (NRA) and inaction by lawmakers on gun control, beginning a 15-second spot with the words: “Fuck the NRA.” In the ad, Albuquerque City Council member Pat Davis goes on to say that NRA policies have “resulted in dead children, dead mothers and dead fathers,” and that “if Congress won’t change our gun laws, we’re changing Congress.” The ad was broadcast on KRQE-TV in Albuquerque, where general manager Bill Anderson said the station was not permitted by law to censor or edit Davis’ commercial and must provide equal access to candidates.
GUATEMALA
Two envoys told to leave
The country on Thursday said Swedish envoy Anders Kompass and Venezuelan envoy Elena Salcedo had to go, to be replaced by new ambassadors. Minister of Foreign Affairs Sandra Jovel said Kompass had to be withdrawn because he described Guatemala as having a “corrupt society.” Salcedo was alleged to have links to a rural organization opposed to President Jimmy Morales. Luis Linares, an analyst with the Association for Social Studies and Research, said that Salcedo’s ejection might be an attempt by Morales to ingratiate himself with the US, which is stepping up its campaign against Caracas.
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
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
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