BELGIUM
Doctors acquitted of murder
A jury yesterday cleared three doctors accused of murder in a euthanasia case in a landmark trial in a country that legalized assisted dying nearly two decades ago. The prosecution said that the doctors had not respected the conditions for euthanasia in the case of Tine Nys, a 38-year-old woman who asserted her right to die in 2010 because of severe mental suffering. The Belga news agency reported that the jury at the court in Ghent acquitted the doctors of poisoning Nys, prompting members of the public present to burst into sustained applause, drawing a rebuke from the judge. The accused are the doctor who gave Nys the lethal drip, as well as a general practitioner and a psychiatrist whose green light was needed for the assisted suicide. The case followed the complaints of two of Nys’ sisters, who deplored what they said was a hasty decision and who accused the suspects of “poisoning” their sister. The sisters claimed that not all treatments were tried for Nys following her diagnosis for autism two months before her death.
INDIA
Police kill hostage-taker
A man who held nearly two dozen children hostage at his daughter’s birthday party was shot dead by police before locals beat his wife to death as she tried to escape, authorities said yesterday. All 23 children — the youngest was six months old — were rescued as anxious parents gathered outside the house in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh late on Thursday. The man, identified as Subhash Batham, was demanding that murder charges against him be dropped, as well as a ransom of 10 million rupees (US$140,156) per child, police officer Amit Mishra told reporters. “He fired several rounds, injuring a few persons,” Mishra said. “We tried to negotiate with him, but to no avail. Concerned over safety of the children, we eventually broke open the rear door of the house and shot him.” The man, who was apparently celebrating his daughter’s first birthday, was out on bail over the murder charge. The wife was killed as she tried to run away.
JAPAN
One likely dead in avalanche
An avalanche at a ski resort on Hokkaido on Thursday hit a group of eight foreign skiers, likely killing at least one. The avalanche occurred when the group was skiing outside of a designated course near the Tomamu ski resort in central Hokkaido, the nearby Shimukappu village office said. One skier who escaped from the snow called police asking for help, village official Atsushi Tada said. The caller said that one of them, a Frenchman in his 40s, was feared dead, but six others survived, although further details of their conditions were not available. Rescuers from Hokkaido police were expected to head to the site to carry out a rescue operation.
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
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