AUSTRALIA
Kangaroo killer avoids jail
A man who deliberately mowed down at least 20 kangaroos with a truck avoided jail after pleading guilty to animal cruelty, local media reported yesterday. The dead animals, including two joeys, were found littered over roads in Tura Beach, New South Wales, in September last year. Bega District News reported that Nathan Sanger, 20, yesterday appeared in Bega District Court, where he admitted his role in the killing spree, which lasted an hour and sparked widespread outrage. The court heard Sanger had caused “a lot of suffering to a large number of defenseless animals” in an act of “gratuitous cruelty,” the newspaper said. Sanger was facing up to five years’ jail for torturing or beating and causing the death of an animal, but the first-time offender was ordered to complete 500 hours of community service.
COLOMBIA
Teenager dies amid protests
A young protester died on Monday after being hit in the head by a projectile fired by riot police as demonstrations against the government continued for a fifth day. Dilan Cruz, who local media said was 18 years old, died from wounds sustained at a protest in Bogota on Saturday. Cruz had become a symbol of the protest movement that sprang up last week after video clips circulated showing him slumping face down an instant after the sound of a weapon being fired. Demonstrators chanted his name while he was in intensive care. Earlier, tens of thousands marched in Bogota, as heavy-handed police tactics in the past several days gave them an additional grievance. Schools shut early and some banks and stores boarded up their windows. After Cruz’s death was reported, some people banged pots, until after midnight. President Ivan Duque said on Twitter that he “deeply regretted” Cruz’s death.
MALAYSIA
Granny freed after appeal
An Australian grandmother yesterday won her final appeal against a death sentence for trafficking and walked free. Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto looked delighted and kissed her lawyer in court after the ruling, which brings down the curtain on a saga that began in 2014, when she was arrested with crystal methamphetamine in her backpack while transiting in Kuala Lumpur. The 55-year-old, who was detained while heading home, had said that she was fooled into carrying the bag after traveling to China to meet a man she met online. The mother of four was briefly held by immigration authorities, but soon left court in a car with her lawyers, who said they hope that she can fly home within two days once her documents have been processed.
SAMOA
Measles deaths rise to 32
The death toll from a measles epidemic yesterday rose to 32 as infection rates continue to soar out of control, official data showed. Government figures showed that 28 of the dead were children aged four or younger. The total number of measles cases was 2,437. The government has declared a state of emergency, but overstretched medical services are struggling to contain the outbreak, which has been exacerbated by low vaccination rates. The number of cases has risen fivefold in the past week and fatalities have more than tripled, despite the government launching a compulsory vaccination program. A total of 57,000 people have been vaccinated in the past few weeks, but Prime Minister Tuilaepa Malielegaoi said that every citizen needed to be vaccinated.
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