EL SALVADOR
Extradition of Funes sought
Prosecutors are seeking the extradition of former president Mauricio Funes and three family members on corruption charges. Funes, the relatives and ex-officials are accused in connection with the alleged embezzlement of US$351 million in public funds. Funes and his family have been living in nearby Nicaragua, which granted them political asylum. He denies wrongdoing. Friday’s extradition request came a day after a separate investigation was begun into the alleged diversion of US$10 million donated by Taiwan during Funes’ 2009-2014 government. The money was purportedly transferred from the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the presidency and used for political campaigning by Funes’ party.
AUSTRALIA
Berry saboteurs hunted
Queensland yesterday offered a A$100,000 (US$71,510) reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for sabotaging strawberries with sewing needles. Police have said that six brands of strawberries are believed to be contaminated with needles and pins, prompting warnings from authorities to slice the fruit before eating. “Someone is trying to sabotage the industry, but also in doing that, they are putting babies’ and children’s and families’ lives at risk,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said at a news conference, where she confirmed the reward. The Berry Obsession, Berry Licious, Donnybrook Berries, Love Berry, Delightful Strawberries and Oasis brands of strawberries are believed to be affected, the police said.
INDIA
China’s Uighur abuse decried
About 150 Muslims on Friday protested in Mumbai to demand that China stop detaining thousands of minority Uighur Muslims in camps and political indoctrination centers in its Xinjiang region. The protesters chanted: “Down with China,” as they demonstrated outside a mosque after Friday noon prayers. Organizer Mohammed Saeed Nori said China had detained many Muslims in camps and “snatched their religious freedom.” Beijing has said it tightened restrictions over the instruction of Islam and the Uighur language in an effort to assimilate the minority group into the Chinese mainstream.
CHINA
Maduro and Xi deepen ties
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday met with President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a trip to deepen ties and seek increased financial support from one of his ailing country’s biggest creditors. The two leaders reaffirmed their ties, with Maduro saying that their relationship was “a model of international cooperation,” state broadcaster CCTV reported. Maduro later met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強), who said China was willing to provide “whatever assistance is within our means,” CCTV said, adding that Maduro and Xi oversaw the signing of several agreements, but gave no details.
UNITED STATES
Chinese steals secrets
A Chinese scientist has pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal biopharmaceutical trade secrets from GlaxoSmithKline in what prosecutors said was a scheme to set up companies in China to market them. Li Tao (李陶) on Friday pleaded guilty in federal court to a single conspiracy count. The change of plea comes two weeks after Xue Yu (薛宇), a high-ranking researcher who worked at GlaxoSmithKline’s suburban Philadelphia research facility, also pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
China would train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction,” its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪) told an annual global security forum. Wang made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organizations such as Interpol. The forum is part of ongoing