INDONESIA
Police sorry for snake tactic
Police have apologized and pledged disciplinary action after officers draped a live snake around the neck of a suspect to persuade him to confess during an interrogation session in the easternmost area of Papua. A video circulated online shows a man being questioned about stolen mobile phones seated with his hands tethered behind his back and yelling in distress as a snake is pushed toward his face by an officer. A voice can be heard ordering the man to open his eyes and at one stage threatens to put the snake into his mouth and under his trousers. Jayawijaya Police Chief Tonny Ananda Swadaya issued an apology, saying: “The investigator was not professional in doing his job.”
MYANMAR
Tourist faces jail over drone
A French tourist has been arrested for flying a drone near parliament in Naypyidaw, the French embassy and local police yesterday confirmed, under a law that could see him imprisoned for up to three years. The man, named by police as 27-year-old Arthur Desclaux, tried to fly a drone over the government building, which is illegal in Myanmar. He has been charged under section 8 of the export and import law, Police Officer Min Tin said, adding that Desclaux faces “up to three years imprisonment” if found guilty. It remains unclear why he was flying the drone.
INDIA
Toxic alcohol kills 99
At least 99 people have died and scores have been hospitalized in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand after drinking toxic alcohol, triggering a crackdown against bootleggers, officials said yesterday. News of the deaths has trickled in over the past three days, with police suspecting the moonshine had been cut with methanol. In one district of Uttar Pradesh, a senior police officer said nine had died, adding that 66 suspected bootleggers had been arrested and samples of the liquid sent for testing. Newspaper reports said about 3,000 people linked with the illegal trade were arrested across Uttar Pradesh in the aftermath of the tragedy.
UNITED STATES
Klobuchar joins 2020 race
Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar on Sunday joined the 2020 White House race, adding a pragmatic voice from the heartland state of Minnesota to an ever-growing field of contenders hoping to unseat President Donald Trump. In a speech that was almost a point-by-point rejection of the president’s policies, she told supporters: “We are tired of the shutdowns and the showdowns, of the gridlock and the grandstanding.” Klobuchar, the 58-year-old granddaughter of an iron miner, made the announcement before a bundled-up crowd under gray and snowy skies along the Mississippi River, as volunteers passed out handwarmers.
UNITED STATES
Shutdown looms as talks snag
As negotiations over a border security hit a snag, the White House on Sunday would not rule out another federal government shutdown even as it signaled a willingness to obtain funding for President Donald Trump’s proposed wall by other means. Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, in appearances on NBC’s Meet the Press and Fox News Sunday, said that “you absolutely cannot” eliminate the possibility of another shutdown on Friday if a deal is not reached over the wall. The White House had asked for US$5.7 billion, and the mood among bargainers has soured, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
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
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
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the