UNITED STATES
Tillerson warns of crisis
Former secretary of state Rex Tillerson on Wednesday took a veiled shot at President Donald Trump, warning that a growing national crisis of ethics and integrity has put the nation’s democracy at risk. In remarks to graduates of the Virginia Military Institute, Tillerson said assaults on facts would lead to a loss of freedom if not countered. Only societies able to pursue the truth and challenge alternate realities can be truly free, he said. “When we as people, a free people, go wobbly on the truth, even on what may seem to be the most trivial of matters, we go wobbly on America,” he said. “If we do not as Americans confront the crisis of ethics and integrity in our society among our leaders in both public and private sector, and regrettably at times in the non-profit sector, then American democracy as we know it is entering its twilight years.” He did not mention Trump by name, but alluded to some administration policies.
FRANCE
Harassment bill approved
Men who wolf-whistle or sexually harass women on the street face fines of up to 750 euros (US$885) after the National Assembly in an overnight session approved tougher legislation to combat sexual violence. However, a proposal to change age of consent laws to protect minors in rape cases was diluted after the Council of State said it could be ruled unconstitutional. It now states that sex between a person of 15 or under and an adult can be considered rape if the victim “lacked the necessary discernment to consent.” The law will also give underage victims of rape an extra decade to file a complaint.
JAPAN
Monk sues temple
A monk is suing his temple, claiming he was forced to work non-stop catering to visiting tourists, at one point for two consecutive months, and that the heavy workload made him depressed, lawyer Noritake Shirakura said yesterday. The monk, in his 40s, is seeking ¥8.6 million (US$78,000) from his temple on Mount Koya, one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in the nation. The monk started working at the temple in 2008 and became depressed in December 2015, Shirakura said. “You provide labor, but you are told it’s part of religious training. And if it’s training, you must endure even it causes you significant hardship,” he said, adding that some days his client worked 17 hours straight.
NEW ZEALAND
PM’s partner fights shark
“First bloke” Clarke Gayford yesterday said he fought off an angry shark with a pole while diving off Auckland, while a dolphin just watched from a distance. The partner of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern tweeted a picture of himself keeping the shark at bay while a dolphin swims in the background. Gayford said he was helping a camera operator shoot footage for an educational show when the incident occurred. He said he was keeping watch so the cameraman could concentrate on filming bottle-nosed dolphins and false killer whales off Great Barrier Island. “So it turns out that not only do dolphins not help, they actually quite like watching,” he tweeted. “A childhood myth is ruined.”
AUSTRALIA
Water guns for diners
Annoyed at seagulls that pester its patrons, a restaurant in Perth has armed customers with water pistols. The owner of 3Sheets restaurant on Wednesday said the seagull problem was unusually bad. “Now they are getting cheekier and cheekier,” he said. Customers say the strategy works.
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