AUSTRALIA
Rush wins defamation suit
Academy Award-winner Geoffrey Rush yesterday won a defamation case against an Australian newspaper over reports that he behaved in an inappropriate sexual way to an actress. A front-page story in 2017 claimed that the Sydney Theatre Company received a complaint that Rush had inappropriately touched a female costar during a staging of King Lear. A judge in Sydney yesterday ruled that the Daily Telegraph had produced a “recklessly irresponsible piece of sensationalist journalism” and awarded Rush A$850,000 (US$608,345) in damages. Justice Michael Wigney said that reasonable readers would assume from the reporting that Rush was a “pervert” from a series of reports that he ruled were mostly uncorroborated. The judge said that actress Eryn Jean Norvill’s evidence was inconsistent and that she “was at times prone to exaggeration and embellishment.”
NEW ZEALAND
Police hunt abuse suspect
Police were yesterday seeking a man who allegedly hurled abuse at worshipers outside one of the Christchurch mosques where dozens were killed in a massacre last month. Police said that the man was wearing a “Trump” T-shirt and black cap, and had “shaken” the Muslim community late on Wednesday at the Masjid al-Noor mosque by shouting abuse at people. “Our community has no tolerance for those who target or victimize others because of their identity, and nor does police,” Canterbury District Commander Superintendent John Price said in a statement on Wednesday. “This is especially so for members of our Muslim community who are already dealing with so much.” The man walked off into the park opposite the mosque after the incident. Police said that they were reviewing their response as two armed officers were at the mosque at the time of the incident.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Finance minister resigns
Minister for finance James Marape yesterday resigned, days after the government signed a multibillion-dollar gas contract with energy majors Total and ExxonMobil. Marape, who also leads the government in parliament, resigned citing the failure of the government to ensure national firms and locals benefit from the contract. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill announced the US$13 billion project that includes the extraction, pipelines and an upgraded liquefied natural gas facility to ship the gas overseas. “This decision is not easy to make,” Marape said in a statement, adding that trust between him and the prime minister was at its “lowest.” The project would almost double the nation’s gas exports, but local communities have complained bitterly about not getting benefit from similar deals in the past.
UNITED NATIONS
Panel to continue monitoring
The Security Council has voted unanimously to extend the mandate of a UN panel of experts monitoring sanctions on North Korea, with Russia urging that panel members “correct” the negative effects of the tough measures on the lives of ordinary citizens. Adoption of the resolution was delayed until Wednesday over Russia’s demands that the committee address the humanitarian impact of sanctions. Deputy Russian Ambassador to the UN Vladimir Safronkov said after the vote to extend the experts’ mandate until April 24 next year that the panel must quickly address “the negative impact of sanctions,” especially on women and children.
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