■CHINA
Sandstorms strike Xinjiang
Violent sandstorms engulfed the northwest yesterday, leaving three people dead and one missing, as visibility dropped to near zero. The region was swept by a blast of cold weather, stirring up clouds of dust and sand in weather expected to continue through today, the state meteorological administration reported. On Saturday the violent storms in Xinjiang’s Turpan region left three people dead and one missing, Xinhua news agency reported. Black clouds of sand and dust blanketed much of Gansu Province yesterday leaving visibility in parts of the province at between zero and 2m, the Gansu weather bureau said. Sandstorms are an annual occurrence in arid northern China in the spring.
■MALAYSIA
Parliamentary polls held
Voters went to the polls yesterday in a parliamentary by-election seen as a test for the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s reform program. The BN has lost seven out of nine by-elections since a disastrous 2008 national poll that dealt the coalition its worst results in half a century. A win would give the government a much-needed boost and show backing for Prime Minister Najib Razak’s reforms, including plans to dismantle race-based policies. The opposition Pakatan Rakyat alliance, led by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, on trial for sodomy, wants to show that a bout of political infighting and defections have not damaged its credibility. Najib, who came to power a year ago, last month unveiled plans for economic reforms including a review of an affirmative action policy for Muslim Malays who are in the majority in the multicultural nation.
■CHINA
‘Princeling’ to be promoted
Li Xiaopeng (李小鵬), whose father former Chinese premier Li Peng (李鵬) is reviled by many as the “Butcher of Beijing” for his role in the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, will be promoted to a ministerial position, two sources said. His move will cement the family’s position as one of the ruling Communist Party’s most powerful dynasties, and is another sign that jockeying has begun ahead of the 2012 Party Congress, where President Hu Jintao’s (胡錦濤) successor will be named. He will be promoted to governor of Hunan Province, two sources with ties to the leadership said. He will replace Zhou Qiang (周強), who will be Hunan party chief after his predecessor’s move to restless Xinjiang. Li Xiaopeng is currently vice governor of Shanxi Province. Now-retired Li Peng, as the adopted son of former Premier Zhou Enlai (周恩來), is a “princeling,” a term used to describe the children of government leaders. One source said Li Xiaopeng’s move into politics from the business field would ensure Li Peng’s legacy would be protected and any reversal of the Tiananmen verdict would be unlikely.
■AFGHANISTAN
Bombing kills three
A suicide bomb attack in the south early yesterday killed three people and injured seven others, a provincial official said. The suicide bomber — on foot and wearing an explosives-packed vest — targeted a group of security guards as they stood in a bazaar, said the spokesman for the Zabul provincial government, Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar. “The bomber exploded near them. Three people, including one security guard and two civilians were killed and seven others, all civilians, were injured,” he said. He said the attack happened in a highway bazaar in the Sharjoy district, which has long been troubled by violent Taliban activity.
■SPAIN
Thousands protest immunity
Thousands of demonstrators took to streets across the country on Saturday to protest against immunity for Civil War crimes and charges against a prominent judge for investigating deaths under Francsico Franco’s 1939-1975 dictatorship. Protesters in support of High Court judge Baltasar Garzon, say charges against him are an assault on judicial independence. He is accused by far-right parties of abusing his judicial powers by attempting to launch the first comprehensive investigation into Spain’s 1936-1939 Civil War. Garzon came to the world’s attention in 1998 when he issued an international arrest warrant for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet for the alleged deaths and torture of Spanish citizens. Demonstrations were staged in 20 Spanish cities on Saturday, as well as at Spanish embassies in London, Dublin, Brussels, Lisbon, Paris, Mexico and Buenos Aires.
■ISRAEL
Policeman shoots tourist
A policeman shot and seriously wounded a British tourist after he drew a knife on officers and priests at Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, police said on Saturday. “The man in his 40s was seriously wounded by shots from a policeman on Friday evening after he attempted to stab priests and police,” spokesman Shmulik Ben Rubi said. Police did not give the man’s name but said he had bought the knife in a street market in Jerusalem’s Old City. No motive was given for the attack. A police statement said the officer had opened fire “as set out in the instructions to the forces of order in the case of aggression.”
■IRAN
Minister to meet IAEA chief
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was to meet UN atomic watchdog chief Yukiya Amano in Vienna yesterday for “decisive” talks on a stalled nuclear fuel swap proposal, state television reported. Mottaki also planned to meet his Austrian counterpart to discuss the controversial issue, the report said. Austria is one of the 15 UN Security Council members. Mottaki told reporters on his arrival in Vienna that he would meet Amano, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger. “The fuel swap is on the agenda. We have been keeping the UN Security Council members updated regarding the swap,” Mottaki was quoted as saying on the state television Web site.
■UKRAINE
Klitschko launches party
Former world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko announced on Saturday the launch of a new political party to reform the country, giving it the feisty name of “OUDAR,” an acronym which means a “punch.” Klitschko did not indicate the political leanings of his party, whose full name is the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform.
■SUDAN
Two killed in clashes: US
The UN says clashes between security forces and election protesters have left two people dead in southern Sudan. David Gressly, the UN regional coordinator for south Sudan, says four others were also wounded on Friday in the city of Bentiu when police opened fire to disperse a crowd of protesters. Gressly said on Saturday the demonstrators were supporters of a losing candidate in Sudan’s April 11-April 15 elections. He said the supporters took to the streets after vote results were announced by election officials in Bentiu and not in the capital Khartoum, leading them to suspect vote fraud.
■UNITED STATES
Mississippi barge explodes
The Coast Guard — already battling an oil spill off the Louisiana coast — responded to an unrelated tank barge explosion on Saturday — approximately 116km up the Mississippi River from New Orleans. The barge exploded while taking on a load of benzene at the LBC Tank Terminals at Sunshine, Louisiana, Coast Guard officials in New Orleans reported. Two people were injured in the barge blast, but the fire from the blast was extinguished by firefighters.
■BRAZIL
Judge orders son given up
For the second time in four months, a judge has ordered a woman to relinquish custody of a child to his US father. In this case, Hilma Aparecida Caldeira, a former member of the national volleyball team and ex-Olympic contender has been ordered to return her four-year-old son to his American father, US Embassy spokeswoman Orna Blum said on Saturday. Contacted in Sao Paulo, the boy’s 43-year-old father, Kelvin Birotte of Houston, Texas, said the court deadline for him to receive his son was Thursday. Birotte said Caldeira brought their son to Brazil to visit relatives sometime in 2006 and stayed on as she filed the same year for divorce and custody of the child.
■CHILE
Ex-Nazi cult leader dies
Former Nazi Paul Schaefer, who founded a secretive German cult in Chile in the 1960s and was later convicted of sexually abusing children, died of heart failure in a prison hospital on Saturday, officials said. Local media initially said he was 88 at the time of his death, but a death certificate released later by doctors listed his age as 89. Courts began investigating Schaefer on sex abuse charges in 1997. He fled to Argentina, where he hid until he was found in 2005. He was extradited and sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing 25 children. Courts also investigated Schaefer for keeping a huge cache of illegal weapons and helping former right-wing dictator Augusto Pinochet’s secret police kidnap and torture political prisoners. For decades, the residents of Villa Baviera, initially called Colonia Dignidad, submitted to the authoritarian whims of Schaefer, who banned almost all contact with the outside world at the commune 350km south of Santiago, the capital.
■PARAGUAY
Congress suspends rights
Congress approved a temporary suspension of constitutional rights in five northern provinces on Saturday as part of a crackdown on violence attributed to an armed leftist group, congressional sources said. Lawmakers authorized the partial, 30-day suspension of constitutional guarantees to give the armed forces greater powers to combat the Paraguayan People’s Army (PPA), blamed for the murders of four policeman on Wednesday, the sources said.
■CANADA
Czar warns of Facebook
Facebook users may be targets of blackmail after changes that erode personal security protections on the world’s most popular social network Web site, Canada’s privacy czar said on Saturday. In assessing Facebook’s announcement that it was embracing third-party integration, privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart expressed concern over how outside technology firms that develop games and other applications for the network could mine users’ personal data and keep it indefinitely.
DEBT BREAK: Friedrich Merz has vowed to do ‘whatever it takes’ to free up more money for defense and infrastructure at a time of growing geopolitical uncertainty Germany’s likely next leader Friedrich Merz was set yesterday to defend his unprecedented plans to massively ramp up defense and infrastructure spending in the Bundestag as lawmakers begin debating the proposals. Merz unveiled the plans last week, vowing his center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/Christian Social Union (CSU) bloc and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) — in talks to form a coalition after last month’s elections — would quickly push them through before the end of the current legislature. Fraying Europe-US ties under US President Donald Trump have fueled calls for Germany, long dependent on the US security umbrella, to quickly
RARE EVENT: While some cultures have a negative view of eclipses, others see them as a chance to show how people can work together, a scientist said Stargazers across a swathe of the world marveled at a dramatic red “Blood Moon” during a rare total lunar eclipse in the early hours of yesterday morning. The celestial spectacle was visible in the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the westernmost parts of Europe and Africa. The phenomenon happens when the sun, Earth and moon line up, causing our planet to cast a giant shadow across its satellite. But as the Earth’s shadow crept across the moon, it did not entirely blot out its white glow — instead the moon glowed a reddish color. This is because the
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
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