MEXICO
Gangster dies after siege
A Guatemalan gang leader who was freed from custody in a bloody hospital attack last year died on Thursday of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound after being located and surrounded by police in Mexico City. Police spokesman Pablo Castillo confirmed the death of Anderson Daniel Cabrera, alias “Little Boy,” after agents acting on intelligence laid siege to a home where he was around midnight. Castillo said Cabrera became aware of the police presence hours later, fired at officers and asked for his partner and eight-year-old son to be allowed to exit. “When they left ... a shot was heard [and] on entering we saw his body,” Castillo said. Cabrera was a leader of the feared Mara Salvatrucha gang, or MS-13. He had been sentenced to 162 years in prison for murder, murder conspiracy and extortion, and was facing further prosecution on other charges.
UNITED STATES
Free Snapcrap app released
A 24-year-old has created a free app to make it easier for people to report poop and used needles on the famously dirty streets of San Francisco. Sean Miller moved to San Francisco from Vermont after college last year and said he was astonished by the amount of public grime. His “Snapcrap” app was released over the weekend for iOS users. He said downloads are in the “few hundreds.” Miller, who lives and works downtown, passes on the photos to the city’s Public Works Department. San Francisco already has a 311 app to report feces and trash, as well as potholes and graffiti. There were more than 24,300 requests last year for human waste cleanup. Miller said he plans to work with the city to improve a very San Francisco problem.
UNITED STATES
‘Suge’ Knight gets 28 years
Marion “Suge” Knight was sentenced on Thursday to 28 years in prison for mowing down and killing a Compton businessman in a case that completed the former rap music mogul’s downfall from his heyday as one of the biggest — and most feared — names in the music industry. Knight, 53, will likely live out most, if not the rest, of his life in a California prison. He showed no emotion in court as relatives of Terry Carter, the man he killed, described their loved one as a devoted family man and peacemaker. Carter was killed after Knight and one of his longtime rivals, Cle “Bone” Sloan, started fighting outside a Compton burger stand in January 2015. Knight was upset about his portrayal in an N.W.A. biopic, Straight Outta Compton, on which Sloan was serving as a consultant. Knight clipped Sloan with his pickup truck, seriously injuring him, before speeding through the parking lot and running over Carter and fleeing.
UNITED STATES
Evans hangs up Cap’s shield
Chris Evans has wrapped his final performance as Captain America. Evans on Thursday tweeted that his last shooting day on Avengers 4 was an “emotional day.” The 37-year-old actor thanked his colleagues and fans for his eight years as Captain America, saying it “has been an honor.” Evans first joined the Marvel cast in 2010. He has starred in three Captain America films, including 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, as well as numerous team-up films. The actor previously suggested he would soon depart the role. Earlier this year, Evans told the New York Times he wanted to “get off the train before they push you off.”
SOUTH KOREA
Ex-president Lee jailed
Former president Lee Myung-bak was yesterday jailed for 15 years for corruption, becoming the latest ex-leader to be sent to prison. The 76-year-old CEO-turned-president, who served from 2008 to 2013, was found guilty on charges including bribery and embezzlement and ordered to pay a fine of 13 billion won (US$11.51 million) by the Seoul Central District Court. “Bringing everything into consideration, heavy punishment for the accused is inevitable,” a judge said during the trial. The court found that Lee was the de facto owner of DAS Corp — a controversial auto parts company which he claimed was his brother’s — which he used to create slush funds of about 24 billion won. He was also found guilty of accepting nearly 6 billion won from Samsung Electronics in return for a presidential pardon for its chairman, Lee Kun-hee.
AUSTRALIA
Scouts apologize to victims
Scouts Australia yesterday apologized to victims of child sex abuse within the organization that recently joined a national compensation program. Scouts Australia Chief Commissioner Phil Harrison said the apology was part of the group’s commitment to acknowledge and address the harm that some of its members have suffered. “Scouting sincerely hopes that the apology will help those who suffered through their time in Scouting, as well as their families who have also been affected,” Harrison said in a statement. “The apology is a genuine and heartfelt admission that, for some young people, their time in Scouting was a negative experience. For this, we are truly sorry.” Harrison said that Scouts Australia had listened to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, survivors’ groups and survivors who have said that an apology might help with healing.
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
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