CHINA
Death of rare turtle leaves 3
The world’s rarest turtle has moved a step closer to extinction after a female specimen died in a zoo, leaving behind just three known members of the species. A Yangtze giant softshell turtle, believed to be above 90 years of age, died in Suzhou Zoo on Saturday, the Suzhou Daily reported. Its death came a day after zoo officials made a last-ditch effort at artificial insemination using semen from a male companion estimated to be more than 100 years old, the daily said. The zoo tried unsuccessfully for several years to get the pair to mate and reproduce naturally. It is to conduct an autopsy to determine what caused the reptile’s death, the newspaper reported. Conservations say there are now only two other known members of the species left, both living in the wild in Vietnam and of unknown gender.
UNITED STATES
Trump camp raises US$30m
President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign raised more than US$30 million in the first quarter of the year, it said on Sunday, far outpacing the total raised by individual Democratic hopefuls during that period. Trump’s first-quarter haul, leaving his re-election effort with US$40.8 million in cash, showed Republican donors were willing to invest in him as he girds for what is likely to be a difficult bid for a second term. US senators Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris have led the field of Democratic contenders in fundraising so far this year, raising US$18.2 million and US$12 million respectively in the first quarter. The Trump campaign said its average donation during the same period was US$34.26, and that nearly 99 percent of its donations were US$200 or less.
UNITED STATES
Man sues parents over porn
An Indiana man is suing his parents for getting rid of his vast pornography collection, which he estimates is worth US$29,000. The 40-year-old man last week filed a lawsuit in federal court in Michigan, where he moved in with his parents in 2016 following a divorce. He said that when he moved out 10 months later, they delivered his things to his new home in Muncie, but that his 12 boxes of pornographic films and magazines were missing. He said his parents admitted that they dumped the porn, which included titles such as Frisky Business and Big Bad Grannys. The man filed a complaint with police, but the Ottawa County prosecutor declined to press charges. The lawsuit includes an e-mail excerpt from the man’s father, who told his son: “I did you a big favor by getting rid of all this stuff.” The man is seeking triple financial damages of about US$87,000.
SOUTH AFRICA
Police halt rhino horn export
Police have intercepted 167 rhino horns believed to be destined for Southeast Asia, in one of the biggest such hauls ever in the nation. Two suspects, aged 57 and 61, were arrested with the horns on Saturday, police said on Sunday. They had been tipped off about the suspects’ vehicle. “The value has not been determined — it’s one of the biggest hauls in the country,” police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said by text message yesterday, adding that an investigation was underway. Nearly 80 percent of the world’s rhinos live in the nation, with more than 1,000 killed each year from 2013 to 2017, conservation group Save the Rhino said. That figure fell below 1,000 last year, but it still means more than two rhinos were killed each day of the year. Two rhino species have fewer than 80 animals left in the wild.
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
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