ARGENTINA
Pregnant child fuels debate
The pregnancy of a 10-year-old girl raped by her stepfather has shocked the nation, with the debate on decriminalizing abortion running full force ahead of a congressional vote next month. The child was found to be 21 weeks pregnant when she was taken to hospital with stomach pain. Current legislation allows terminations in the event of rape or danger to the mother’s health, but in conservative Salta Province, where the girl lives, abortion in case of rape is permitted only during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Provincial authorities said the girl and her mother declined an abortion in a letter, but feminist activist Mariana Carvajal has expressed doubts about that version of events. “The family is terrified. They told the mother than an abortion was very risky. What we don’t know, is what the girl thinks. An abortion is still possible,” said Carvajal, founder of the feminist NiUnaMenos movement against gender-based violence. Carvajal added that the child was first hospitalized in February, during the first 12 weeks of her pregnancy, but was diagnosed with constipation. It was during a second visit that she revealed she was regularly raped by her mother’s partner.
LIBYA
Bomb kills at least seven
A car bombing on a busy street in Benghazi early yesterday morning killed at least seven people, including a girl, and wounded 10. The blast took place behind the city’s largest hotel, Tibesti, on a commercial street full of people. Benghazi, the second-largest city in nation, is under the control of the Libyan National Army led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, whose forces and supporters control the east of the country. Haftar launched his military campaign in Benghazi in May 2014 in response to bombings and assassinations blamed on Muslim militants in the chaos that followed an uprising that ended the rule of long-time leader Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
MEXICO
Female journalist found dead
A female journalist was on Thursday found dead at her home with stab wounds to the back of the neck, the Nuevo Leon state attorney general’s office said. Alicia Diaz Gonzalez, 52, was found by her children, who were upstairs at the time and did not hear anything awry, the office said. The woman “was on the floor, face down, in a pool of blood having suffered blows,” a source from the state prosecutor’s office told reporters on condition of anonymity. The death was confirmed by newspaper El Financiero, where she had worked since January. Authorities have not established a motive for the crime. Diaz’s colleagues said she reported on local business activity and financial issues, not “sensitive” information, such as drug trafficking.
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