BRAZIL
Attack on Bachelet’s past
President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday criticized UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, a former Chilean president, by praising the 1973 military coup that led to her father’s death. Bolsonaro mentioned Bachelet’s father Alberto, an air force officer who opposed General Augusto Pinochet’s coup, and was imprisoned and tortured. He died in captivity in 1974. “If Pinochet’s people had not defeated the left in 1973 — among them, your father — today Chile would be a Cuba,” Bolsonaro told reporters. Among those arrested were Michelle Bachelet, who said she was tortured, and her mother, although they were later released and went into exile. Bolsonaro spoke after Michelle Bachelet raised concerns about an increasing rate of killings by police in Brazil, as well as alleged restrictions on civil liberties. Without naming Bolsonaro, Michelle Bachelet criticized his stated wish to celebrate Brazil’s 1964 military coup, as well as his denial of past state crimes.
INDIA
Three killed in flooding
Three people were killed and dozens of flights were canceled or delayed after severe flooding in Mumbai, with authorities yesterday warning of more heavy monsoon rains. Mumbai — home to 20 million people — has been hit by torrential downpours over the past two months amid the annual monsoon deluge. Nonstop rain over several hours on Wednesday paralyzed traffic, halted trains and delayed airport operations. Residents spoke of being trapped in traffic for several hours amid chaotic scenes. Maharashtra State Minister Ashish Shelar said that schools were to be closed yesterday “as a precautionary measure.”
THAILAND
Bangkok tops visitor list
Bangkok last year ranked first for the fourth straight year as the city with the most international visitors, Mastercard said in a report released on Wednesday. With almost 23 million international visitors last year, Bangkok outpaced Paris and London, which were second and third with just more than 19 million visitors each. Other top cities in order were Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Singapore; Kuala Lumpur; New York; Istanbul, Turkey; Tokyo; and Antalya, Turkey. The report pointed to broad increases in international travel, with the total number of international visits up 76 percent since 2009. Nine of the top 10 cities saw increases compared with 2017. London was the exception, with a drop of 4 percent. Dubai topped the list as far as consumption, with travelers spending an average of US$553 per day and visitors spending a total of nearly US$31 billion.
AUSTRALIA
Wreck foils drug smugglers
An alleged plot to smuggle A$1 billion (US$681.9 million) of drugs on a yacht unraveled when a Frenchman and a Briton ran the boat aground on a remote reef, police said yesterday. The two men — 51-year-old Antoine Dicenta and 34-year-old Graham Palmer — on Monday became stranded in the Albrolhos Islands off Western Australia after their yacht Zero ran into a reef. Police said the pair unloaded about 1 tonne of drugs from their yacht onto a smaller boat and ferried it to a nearby island where they took refuge. Local fishers alerted authorities, sparking a search that resulted in the alleged smugglers being discovered late on Tuesday along with 40 bags filled with drugs. Western Australian Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said that the men had made a “pretty poor attempt” to cover the bags of drugs with seaweed before they were arrested.
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