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.
A ship that appears to be taking on the identity of a scrapped gas carrier exited the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, showing how strategies to get through the waterway are evolving as the Middle East war progresses. The vessel identifying as liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Jamal left the Strait on Friday morning, ship-tracking data show. However, the same tanker was also recorded as having beached at an Indian demolition yard in October last year, where it is being broken up, according to market participants and port agent’s reports. The ship claiming to be Jamal is likely a zombie vessel that
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) yesterday faced a regional election battle in Rhineland-Palatinate, now held by the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD). Merz’s CDU has enjoyed a narrow poll lead over the SPD — their coalition partners at the national level — who have ruled the mid-sized state for 35 years. Polling third is the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which spells a greater threat to the two centrist parties in several state elections in September in the country’s ex-communist east. The picturesque state of Rhineland-Palatinate, bordering France, Belgium and Luxembourg and with a population of about 4 million,
LAW CONSTRAINTS: The US has been pressing allies to send warships to open the Strait, but Tokyo’s military actions are limited under its postwar pacifist constitution Japan could consider deploying its military for minesweeping in the Strait of Hormuz if a ceasefire is reached in the war on Iran, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi said yesterday. “If there were to be a complete ceasefire, hypothetically speaking, then things like minesweeping could come up,” Motegi said. “This is purely hypothetical, but if a ceasefire were established and naval mines were creating an obstacle, then I think that would be something to consider.” Japan’s military actions are limited under its postwar pacifist constitution, but 2015 security legislation allows Tokyo to use its Self-Defense Forces overseas if an attack,
Ugandan wildlife authorities have reintroduced rhinos into a remote protected area where they were once poached into extinction, an event seen by conservationists as a milestone in efforts to support the recovery of a species threatened by poaching. On Tuesday, two southern white rhinos from a private ranch in the East African country were reintroduced into Kidepo Valley National Park in the country’s northeast. Two more rhinos in metallic crates arrived on Thursday. There have been no rhinos in the park since 1983, the result of poaching. However, a private ranch in central Uganda — the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary — has been
RSS