NEW ZEALAND
Beheaded baby seals found
Six baby seals have been found decapitated in what wildlife rangers yesterday branded a “cruel and senseless” act against a protected species. The bodies of the fur seal pups were on Monday found by a tourism operator at Scenery Nook near the South Island city of Christchurch, the Department of Conservation said. Local operations manager Andy Thompson said the animals, which are protected under the law, were estimated to be 11 months old. “We believe it’s incredibly unlikely sharks would have bitten the heads off six seals, but left the bodies untouched,” he said.
MYANMAR
Facebook deletes army links
Facebook Inc has removed hundreds of additional accounts, pages and groups from its social networks after discovering what it called “coordinated inauthentic behavior” and links to the military. The social media giant had previously removed accounts after criticism that it had failed to act on hate speech amid violence against Rohingya Muslims. Facebook in a blog post late on Tuesday said that it had removed 425 pages, 17 groups and 135 accounts from its social network and 15 accounts from its Instagram photograph-sharing service.
CHINA
Third Canadian detained
A third Canadian citizen has been detained, Canada’s National Post newspaper reported yesterday, citing the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At a daily news briefing in Beijing, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) said she was unaware of the report. Two Canadians — former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor — were detained after Canadian police arrested Huawei Technologies Co (華為) chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟) on Dec 1.
SRI LANKA
Lawmakers defect to PM
Three lawmakers from President Maithripala Sirisena’s party defected to the government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday after a dispute between the two leaders. The nation was in October plunged into crisis after Sirisena replaced Wickremesinghe without the backing of parliament. Rajapaksa failed to win a parliamentary majority and on Saturday resigned as a government shutdown loomed. Wickremesinghe was then sworn in as prime minister for the fifth time in a remarkable comeback.
SYRIA
IS kills 700 prisoners
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights yesterday said that Islamic State (IS) militants had executed about 700 prisoners in nearly two months in eastern Syria. The UK-based war monitoring group said the prisoners were among 1,350 civilians and fighters that IS had been holding in territory near the Iraqi border. The militants control a shrinking strip of land east of the Euphrates River around the town of Hajin, which US-backed forces entered this month.
TURKEY
US offers Patriot system
The US Department of State said the US has proposed the sale of a US$3.5 billion Patriot missile system to the nation. The State Department said the deal “will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by improving the security of a key NATO ally on the front lines of the fight against terrorism.” It comes amid US concerns that its NATO ally would buy surface-to-air missile systems from Russia.
POLAND
Pirates free kidnapped crew
All of the crew kidnapped by pirates from a container ship off the coast of Nigeria in October, including eight Polish nationals, are safe and would be reunited with their families, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday. “We would like to thank the shipowner, its coworkers and advisers for their professional handling of this difficult matter. We are grateful also to the Nigerian authorities,” the statement said. The attackers targeted the MV Pomerenia Sky, a container ship owned by Midocean (IOM) Ltd and headed for the Nigerian port of Onne.
FRANCE
Nearly 50 held for trafficking
A police operation targeting migrant smugglers has led to the arrest of 49 people across the Americas, Interpol said on Tuesday. The arrests took place during four days of “coordinated action” in 11 countries, it said. “With another 13 investigations opened across the region, what we are seeing is just the tip of the iceberg,” Interpol secretary-general Juergen Stock said in a statement. Police in Nicaragua rescued 22 African and Haitian migrants, including children, as part of “Operation Andes,” and “30 potential victims of human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation” were rescued in the Dominican Republic, it said, adding that 31 people were arrested in Colombia, “uncovering nearly US$2 million in financial transactions.”
FRANCE
Pair create plastic recycler
A French actor and a self-taught inventor have designed a low-tech machine that converts plastic waste into diesel and gasoline, which they say could help fight pollution and provide fuel for remote communities. Proponents of plastics-to-fuel technology say the sector could be worth hundreds of millions of US dollars in the next five years and provide a solution to the planet’s plastic waste crisis. Opponents worry that the process creates harmful fumes. “The idea is to encourage the collection of waste before it ends up in the oceans with a machine that fits in a shipping container and can create an income,” said Samuel Le Bihan, who has starred in movies such as Disco and Mesrine.
CUBA
No marriage in constitution
The commission in charge of writing the new constitution has revised an original draft to remove the concept of marriage altogether after amending it to open the doorway to same-sex unions. Article 68 in the first draft redefined matrimony as gender-neutral rather than between a man and a woman, a project promoted by the daughter of former president Raul Castro. The commission on Tuesday told the National Assembly that the issue of matrimony should instead be addressed in the family code that is to be updated shortly after the constitution has been approved.
UNITED STATES
Jail not off table for Flynn
The court case against US President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn is not over yet. Flynn was expected to be sentenced on Tuesday in federal court for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russians. Instead, District Judge Emmet Sullivan gave the retired general a tongue-lashing for his conduct and raised the prospect that he could spend time in prison. Prosecutors had not recommended prison, citing Flynn’s extensive cooperation. Flynn’s lawyers decided to request a postponement of sentencing to allow Flynn to cooperate even more with prosecutors.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia