UNITED KINGDOM
Salmond trial to start
Former first minister of Scotland Alex Salmond was to go on trial yesterday accused of sexual offenses, including an attempted rape at his official residence in 2014. The 65-year-old is facing two counts of indecent assault, 10 of sexual assault, an attempted rape and a sexual assault with intent to rape, according to the indictment. The case, before a 15-member jury and judge Leeona Dorrian, is being heard at the High Court in Edinburgh and has been scheduled to last four weeks. Salmond told reporters outside the court when he was charged in January 2019: “I am innocent of any criminality whatsoever. I refute absolutely these allegations of criminality and I will defend myself to the utmost in court.”
UNITED STATES
Veteran sees commissioning
A 96-year-old war hero looked on as military officials commissioned a Navy warship in honor of the veteran, the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from the Battle of Iwo Jima. The USS Hershel “Woody” Williams was commissioned on Saturday in Norfolk, Virginia. With its commissioning, the vessel’s designation changed from a support ship to a warship, and command transferred from the Military Sealift Command to Naval Surface Force Atlantic. Williams described the commissioning as “a moment in history that is beyond my comprehension.” He said: “May all those who serve aboard this ship that bears my name be safe and proud. May she have God’s blessings for a long life of service to America, the greatest country on Earth.”
UNITED STATES
Statue rules approved
Some of Virginia’s scores of Confederate monuments could soon be removed under legislation state lawmakers approved on Sunday. The state House and Senate passed measures that would undo an existing law that protects the monuments and instead lets local governments decide their fate. The legislation now heads to Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, who has said he supports giving localities — several of which have already declared their intent to remove statues — control over the issue. One of the bill’s sponsors, Virginia Delegate Delores McQuinn, said that many places would likely opt to keep the monuments. “I think more of them are going to be interested in contextualizing ... making sure that there is a sense of truth told and shared with the public,” she said.
UNITED STATES
Dog’s long wait ends
A dog who waited more than five-and-a-half years in a Kansas City, Missouri, shelter for adoption has found a permanent home after a benefactor paid US$3,000 for his photograph to appear on a giant billboard. Merrick, a six-year-old mixed breed, sat for dozens of photoshoots and videos in a prolonged, but unsuccessful social media campaign to find him a home during more than 2,000 days of confinement at the Humane Society shelter. Nobody came for him until his new owner, Jordan Nussbaum, saw the photograph on a billboard in the city and persuaded his girlfriend that Merrick was the dog they wanted. “It breaks my heart that he sat there, but I think it was destined that he waited that long,” Nussbaum told Kansas City TV station KMBC. “It was love at first sight. What they wanted was someone without kids who had a lot of energy to keep up with him because he’s a huge dog, but he’s still a puppy.” The billboard was paid for by Scott Poore, owner of Mission Driven, a clothing company that gives financial support to shelters for homeless pets.
SUDAN
Assassination bid fails
Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok has survived an assassination attempt targeting his convoy in the capital, Khartoum, state television and a Cabinet source said yesterday. Hamdok has been moved to a safe location, they said. Images broadcast on regional TV channels and social media showed a convoy of several damaged white SUVs and a badly damaged car. Three witnesses told Reuters that the attack happened near the northern entrance to Kober Bridge, which connects Khartoum North with the city center, where Hamdok’s office is. The convoy appeared to have been targeted from above, they said.
PHILIPPINES
Locsin locked out of Twitter
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin’s Twitter account has reportedly been locked, limiting his access to the social media platform, according to the activist group Bayan, whose members he said last week should be shot. Locsin, known for his controversial tweets, last week reacted to an article in which Bayan questioned why the Balikatan military exercises would still be held in May despite the cancelation of the military pact with the US.
SOUTH KOREA
Disgraced K-pop star enlists
Former K-pop star Seungri yesterday enlisted in the army, meaning a military court would hear his trial on charges stemming from a sex and drug scandal last year. The 29-year-old BIGBANG singer, whose real name is Lee Seung-hyun, has been indicted on accusations including arranging prostitution, embezzlement and illicit gambling. Wearing a black hooded shirt and matching mask, Seungri arrived at a military boot camp in Cheorwon, north of Seoul. Seungri — whose military service was postponed last year because of ongoing police inquiries — bowed to reporters, but did not answer questions before checking in, Yonhap news agency reported.
ISRAEL
PM seeks trial delay
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lawyer yesterday asked for a 45-day delay in his corruption trial that was due to open on Tuesday next week, saying prosecutors had not provided all information relevant to the case. The delay would allow the prosecution to transfer the material and give the defense time to review it and assess how much time it would need to prepare for any pretrial motions, Amit Hadad wrote in a letter to the Jerusalem District Court. Netanyahu has been indicted on various charges, including receiving improper gifts and offering a media mogul lucrative regulatory changes in exchange for positive coverage. He has denied the allegations.
JAPAN
Official sorry for mask sales
Shizuoka prefecture assembly member Hiroyuki Morota apologized yesterday after he made ￥8 million (US$86,000) auctioning masks online. Morota, the owner of an import firm, defended his decision in a televised press conference, but conceded that the move was ill-timed. He said he auctioned packages of masks, which he bought 10 years ago in China, dozens of times over a one-month period. “Those were inventory items that had been stored at my firm for years. It was not that I was earning unjust profits,” Morota said. “But as a member of the prefecture assembly, I feel I have a moral responsibility.” Morota said he would step down as the head of the firm, giving the top management post to his wife, but would keep his public office. He also said he was in talks with the local government about donating the proceeds from the sales.
PARLIAMENT CHAOS: Police forcibly removed Brazilian Deputy Glauber Braga after he called the legislation part of a ‘coup offensive’ and occupied the speaker’s chair Brazil’s lower house of Congress early yesterday approved a bill that could slash former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence for plotting a coup, after efforts by a lawmaker to disrupt the proceedings sparked chaos in parliament. Bolsonaro has been serving a 27-year term since last month after his conviction for a scheme to stop Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 election. Lawmakers had been discussing a bill that would significantly reduce sentences for several crimes, including attempting a coup d’etat — opening up the prospect that Bolsonaro, 70, could have his sentence cut to
China yesterday held a low-key memorial ceremony for the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not attending, despite a diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Tokyo over Taiwan. Beijing has raged at Tokyo since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last month said that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Japan. China and Japan have long sparred over their painful history. China consistently reminds its people of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, in which it says Japanese troops killed 300,000 people in what was then its capital. A post-World War II Allied tribunal put the death toll
‘UNWAVERING ALLIANCE’: The US Department of State said that China’s actions during military drills with Russia were not conducive to regional peace and stability The US on Tuesday criticized China over alleged radar deployments against Japanese military aircraft during a training exercise last week, while Tokyo and Seoul yesterday scrambled jets after Chinese and Russian military aircraft conducted joint patrols near the two countries. The incidents came after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi triggered a dispute with Beijing last month with her remarks on how Tokyo might react to a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan. “China’s actions are not conducive to regional peace and stability,” a US Department of State spokesperson said late on Tuesday, referring to the radar incident. “The US-Japan alliance is stronger and more
FALLEN: The nine soldiers who were killed while carrying out combat and engineering tasks in Russia were given the title of Hero of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended a welcoming ceremony for an army engineering unit that had returned home after carrying out duties in Russia, North Korean state media KCNA reported on Saturday. In a speech carried by KCNA, Kim praised officers and soldiers of the 528th Regiment of Engineers of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) for “heroic” conduct and “mass heroism” in fulfilling orders issued by the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea during a 120-day overseas deployment. Video footage released by North Korea showed uniformed soldiers disembarking from an aircraft, Kim hugging a soldier seated in a wheelchair, and soldiers and officials
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