AUSTRALIA
Official expedites coal mine
A state government leader yesterday intervened to fast track a proposed coal mine days after voters rejected tougher action to curb greenhouse gas emissions in the country’s general election. The Carmichael mine proposed by India’s Adani Mining in the state of Queensland was a bitterly polarizing issue ahead of the election, which returned the conservative coalition government for a third three-year term. The election results defied opinion polls that suggested that the center-left Labor Party would win the government and implement its policies of slashing greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. The coalition had committed the nation to a target of 26 to 28 percent in the same time frame.
NEW ZEALAND
Abuse by lawmakers ‘rife’
Speaker Trevor Mallard, the lawmaker in charge of parliament, yesterday said that he fears a rapist works in the building after an inquiry exposed the toxic work culture that staffers endure. Mallard said he was disturbed by the findings of the independent inquiry, which said that bullying, harassment and other abusive conduct were rife in the parliament. The most serious accusations concerned three sexual assault allegations against an unnamed man. “We’re talking about serious sexual assault. Well, for me, that’s rape,” he told Radio New Zealand, saying that he did not know the identity of the alleged perpetrator. “I get the sense that the man is still on the premises,” he said, adding that he hopes the women involved would contact police directly and receive support from rape counseling services.
INDIA
Officials deny altered ballots
The Election Commission has rejected opposition fears of possible tampering of electronic voting machines ahead of today’s vote count to determine the outcome of the national elections. Authorities yesterday tightened security at counting centers where the electronic voting machines have been kept in strong rooms. Opposition parties were stunned by exit poll projections from mainstream TV channels of a massive victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
GABON
Officials sacked over timber
President Ali Bongo on Tuesday announced the dismissal of Vice President Pierre Claver Maganga Moussavou and Minister of Forestry and the Environment Guy Bertrand Mapangou amid a scandal over the smuggling of precious timber. There have been calls for Mapangou to resign after the theft of hundreds of seized containers of kevazingo, a rare wood considered sacred. Nearly 5,000m3 of kevazingo worth US$7.8 million was found at two Chinese companies in Libreville in February and March, but 353 of the containers — which had been confiscated — disappeared.
TURKEY
Troops gets Russian training
Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar has said that military personnel are receiving training to operate the S-400 missile defense system, despite US and NATO objections to Ankara’s decision to purchase the Russian technology. The government was “making preparations” and “considering all options” against possible US sanctions over the purchase, Akar told reporters on Tuesday. The government has repeatedly said that the S-400 agreement is a “done deal” and cannot be canceled, but Akar said that US officials insist that “no deal is a done deal.”
FRANCE
Families sue Boeing
Two French families have filed lawsuits against US aircraft manufacturer Boeing over the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX jet on March 10, lawyers said on Tuesday. The crash killed all 157 people on board, including seven French citizens. The first complaint, filed in Paris by a family of one of the victims, refers to the crash of a Lion Air 737 MAX plane on Oct. 29 last year and says “technical failure could not have been ignored” by the manufacturer and other actors involved in constructing the aircraft. It accuses Boeing of “involuntary homicide.” Boeing on Saturday last week acknowledged it had to correct flaws in its 737 MAX flight simulator software used to train pilots.
CANADA
MPs to press for release
Liberal lawmaker Robert Oliphant is leading a parliamentary delegation to China to press for the release of two men formally arrested for espionage last week, Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland said on Tuesday. Businessman Michael Spavor, who worked with North Korea, and former diplomat Michael Kovrig were picked up separately in December last year. Ottawa has condemned the detentions as “arbitrary.” Freeland, in an interview with Canadian Broadcasting Corp radio, said she sought “repeatedly” to speak with her Chinese counterpart, but to no avail. She said it “is really important for the Chinese to be hearing directly from us.”
POLAND
Sextuplets doing well
A 29-year-old mother who gave birth to sextuplets has been able to leave her hospital bed and visit her babies in another ward, where the infants are said to be doing fine, doctors said on Tuesday. The sextuplets were a surprise to the family: Their mother, Klaudia Marzec, said on TVN24 the family was not expecting six, but five babies. “We have made some logistical plans at home for five, but now they will need to be changed,” Marzec said. “Now we just want them to leave hospital in the best condition possible.” They were conceived naturally, the hospital said. The couple have a two-year-old son.
UNITED KINGDOM
Group challenges police
A legal challenge against a police force’s use of facial recognition technology on passers-by in public spaces began on Tuesday in a potential landmark case that could set limits on the increasingly common surveillance method. Ed Bridges and civil rights group Liberty are to argue that South Wales Police is violating citizens’ rights by recording their faces without consent or any grounds for suspecting they have committed a crime. “Facial recognition technology snatches our biometric data without our knowledge or consent, making a mockery of our right to privacy,” said Megan Goulding, a lawyer at Liberty.
UNITED STATES
Officials clarify goal on Iran
Officials who briefed the House of Representatives about Iran on Tuesday sought to convince lawmakers that President Donald Trump’s administration wants to deter Tehran’s aggression, not attack the Islamic republic, lawmakers said. “I hope they’re tamping down [the rhetoric]. They tried to give that impression,” Representative Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, told reporters after the classified briefing. “There is no intention to go to war in the region. This is a deterrent operation to stop Iran’s escalation and aggression,” Representative Mike McCaul told reporters.
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
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
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