NEW ZEALAND
Measles treated outdoors
Doctors are treating unimmunized people in parking lots and outdoor areas in an attempt to reduce the spread of measles, as the number of confirmed cases of the contagious disease rose to 25. A severe measles outbreak, described as the worst “in years” continues to spread in the Canterbury region of South Island, with health authorities saying that 100,000 people need to be urgently vaccinated. As a result, doctors have moved their clinics outside, to reduce the chance of the disease spreading in confined surgeries and waiting rooms. Vaccine supplies have run out in the affected region and extra supplies are being flown in.
AUSTRALIA
Cardinal gets six years in jail
The most senior Catholic convicted of child sex abuse was yesterday sentenced to six years in prison for molesting two choirboys in a Melbourne cathedral in a crime that a judge said showed “staggering arrogance.” Victoria State County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd ordered Cardinal George Pell to serve a minimum of three years and eight months before he is eligible for parole. The five convictions against Pell carried a maximum possible sentence of 10 years each. “In my view, your conduct was permeated by staggering arrogance,” Kidd said in handing down the sentence.
ISRAEL
Online dope dealers busted
Undercover officers have broken up a drug-dealing network that used a popular messaging app and had connections in the US, Ukraine and Germany, police said on Tuesday. “After several months of covert investigation, 42 suspects were this morning detained in Israel and abroad for questioning under caution on suspicions of trafficking various types of drugs,” a police statement said. The transactions amounted to “hundreds of millions” of dollars, it said, adding that the suspects traded through the encrypted messaging app Telegram.
ISRAEL
Netanyahu bashes Erdogan
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday slammed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a “dictator” and “a joke” in the latest exchange of insults between the two leaders. Turkey on Tuesday denounced Netanyahu’s “blatant racism” after he called Israel the nation-state of “the Jewish people” only. On Tuesday, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin weighed in, writing on Twitter: “I strongly condemn this blatant racism and discrimination.” Netanyahu early yesterday struck back in a statement from his office. “Turkey’s dictator Erdogan attacks Israel’s democracy, while Turkish journalists and judges fill his prisons,” it read. “What a joke.”
MOZAMBIQUE
Floods kill at least 66 people
At least 66 people have been killed and 141,000 affected after heavy rains deluged the country’s central and northern regions, the government said yesterday, as it appealed for funds to manage the crisis. “The government has decreed a red alert due to the continuing rains and the approach of the Tropical Cyclone Idai,” Cabinet spokeswoman Ana Comoana said. The floods in one of Africa’s poorest countries have destroyed 5,756 homes, affecting 15,467 households and 141,325 people. There are 111 people with injuries, 18 hospitals destroyed, 938 classrooms destroyed and 9,763 students affected. More than 168,000 hectares of crops were also destroyed, the government spokeswoman added. Authorities have ordered the compulsory evacuation of people living in flood-prone areas.
BRAZIL
Ex-cops charged over killing
Authorities on Tuesday arrested two former police officers in the killing of Rio de Janeiro Councilor Marielle Franco and her driver, an assassination that sparked protests in several countries. The arrests came two days before the first anniversary of the killings. The suspects were identified as Ronnie Lessa, 48, a retired military police officer, and Elcio Vieira de Queiroz, 46, who was fired from a police force in 2015 for unknown reasons. Lessa is alleged to have shot Franco, and De Queiroz to have driven a vehicle involved in the attack. Franco’s vehicle was hit with 14 bullets, while four shots hit Franco in the head and three hit her driver, Anderson Gomes, in the back.
UNITED STATES
Google paid accused exec
Google paid former search executive Amit Singhal US$35 million in an exit package when he was reportedly forced to resign after a sexual assault investigation, according to court documents released on Monday. Previously redacted portions of a lawsuit showed that Singhal received two US$15 million payments and a payment of between US$5 million to US$15 million as part of a separation agreement. The company in November last year was pressured to make changes by employee action after tens of thousands of Google workers around the world walked out of work in protest.
UNITED STATES
Pilots report Boeing issues
Airline pilots on at least two US flights have reported that an automated system seemed to cause their Boeing 737 Max 8 planes to tilt down suddenly. The pilots said that soon after engaging the autopilot, the nose tilted down sharply. In both cases, they recovered quickly after disconnecting the autopilot. The voluntary pilot reports were filed last year in a data base compiled by NASA. In one report, an airline captain said that immediately after putting the plane on autopilot, the copilot called out “Descending,” followed by an audio cockpit warning: “Don’t sink, don’t sink.” The captain immediately disconnected the autopilot and resumed climbing.
UNITED STATES
Troop trans rules approved
The Department of Defense has approved a policy that would largely bar transgender troops and military recruits from transitioning to another sex and require most people to serve in their birth gender. Under the rules, serving transgender troops and anyone who has signed an enlistment contract by April 12 may continue with plans for hormone treatments and gender transition if they have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Any serving troops diagnosed with gender dysphoria after April 12 would have to serve in their birth gender.
FRANCE
Fox henpecked to death
Chickens in a poultry farm are suspected of killing a fox who tried to sneak into their coop. The young predator is thought to have entered the henhouse at an agricultural school at dusk last week and become trapped inside by light-controlled automatic hatch doors that close when the sun goes down. Students at Le Gros Chene school in Brittany discovered the body of the animal when making their rounds to check on the chickens the following morning. “There, in the corner, we found this dead fox,” head of farming Pascal Daniel said. “There was a herd instinct and they attacked him with their beaks.”
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
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number