AUSTRALIA
Ex-spouse burns family alive
An ex-rugby league player is suspected of murdering his three children and estranged wife by burning them alive inside their vehicle, in what police have said was one of the most horrific incidents they have encountered. Officers said that 31-year-old Hannah Clarke died in a Brisbane hospital on Wednesday just hours after her three children — aged three, four and six — were found dead in the vehicle on a suburban street. Her husband, Rowan Baxter, who also died, allegedly approached the vehicle and doused it with gasoline before setting it alight, The Australian reported. “How long before we stop this slaughter in our suburbs?” Our Watch chairwoman Natasha Stott Despoja tweeted.
SOUTH KOREA
Cult infection cluster spikes
A cluster of COVID-19 infections centered on a cult church in Daegu yesterday leaped to 39 cases. Almost half of the country’s patients are linked to a 61-year-old woman who is a member of the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. She first developed a fever on Monday last week, but reportedly twice refused to be tested on the grounds that she had not traveled abroad, and attended at least four services before being diagnosed. The group claims its founder, Lee Man-hee, has “donned the mantle of Jesus” and will take 144,000 people with him to heaven on the Day of Judgement. Of the 1,001 church members in the city, 90 are showing symptoms, the city said.
NETHERLANDS
City planning ‘erotic center’
Amsterdam is looking at moving part of its red light district indoors to an “erotic” complex, where prostitutes would no longer beckon customers through street-front windows that often attract rowdy tourists. The city said in plans released on Wednesday that the complex could include a bed-and-breakfast for prostitutes, as well as a sex club, sex theater and cafes. Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema has vowed to clean up the city’s red light district, as her staff say that throngs of tourists have “disrespected both prostitutes and residents.”
MEXICO
Killers of girl arrested
Police have arrested suspects in the killing of a seven-year-old girl whose murder rocked the capital with protests, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. The body of Fatima Cecilia Aldrighett was discovered over the weekend in a plastic garbage bag, sparking outrage over growing violence against women in the country.
CANADA
Whiteout trips 200-car pileup
Police on Wednesday said that whiteout conditions that came about suddenly most likely triggered a massive pileup involving about 200 vehicles in La Prairie, Quebec. There were no immediate reports of deaths, but the Quebec Provincial Police said that about a dozen people were sent to hospital with minor to serious injuries after the midday crash. The area has heavy winds that come off the river, creating sudden blizzard-like conditions, Quebec Minister of Transport Francois Bonnardel said. “People were driving, there were strong winds ... and, suddenly, you couldn’t see anything — and then, well, the pileup started,” Bonnardel said. About 50 vehicles drove away from the collision, but 75 others would need to be towed, Quebec Provincial Police spokesman Sergeant Stephane Tremblay said, adding that many vehicles were mangled, including several large trucks.
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
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