BANGLADESH
Yunus fights back
Nobel-winning microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus began a legal battle yesterday to overturn an attempt by the government to sack him from the bank he founded. The central bank fired the 70-year-old leader of Grameen Bank on Wednesday, saying he had been “removed from his position” as managing director for breaking the law when he was re-appointed in 2000. The country has a mandatory retirement age of 60. However, Yunis defied the order yesterday, returning to work as normal at Grameen’s headquarters in Dhaka and lodging a case in the High Court contesting the decision to remove him. Yunus’s troubles are thought to stem from 2007 when he floated the idea of forming a political party, earning the wrath of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has publicly disparaged his work. Local economists have warned the government’s “hasty decision” could prompt a collapse of confidence or even a bank run in the country’s vast microfinance sector.
PAKISTAN
US diplomat to stand trial
A court yesterday said that the murder trial of a CIA contractor would go ahead, despite the insistence of the US that he has diplomatic immunity. The hearing against Raymond Davis took place in Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore where he is being held, and was adjourned until Tuesday. The issue of Davis’ claim to diplomatic immunity is pending before the Pakistani High Court, which is due to rule on it on March 14. “The court passed an order today saying that he [Davis] had failed to produce any legitimate document proving his diplomatic immunity,” said Asad Manzoor Butt, the lawyer representing the two men shot by him, after a closed-door hearing.
INDIA
Forty killed in plunges
Two separate accidents in Himachal Pradesh killed at least 40 people on Wednesday, after an open truck carrying a wedding party and a bus rolled into gorges, police said. The truck flipped over at a curve in the road in Chamba district and fell into a 90m gorge. Rescuers recovered 33 bodies and took seven injured people to a hospital, police said. Seven people died in the second accident as workers on a power project were being driven home. Both drivers were killed and investigations have been opened into the cause of the accidents.
JAPAN
Hachiko’s death explained
Scientists have settled a decades-old mystery by naming a cause of death for the country’s most famous dog. Hachiko became legendary for his loyalty by waiting for his owner every day at a train station for 10 years after his master died. He has been immortalized in children’s books and two movies. He was considered such a hero that his organs were preserved when he died in 1935. Hachiko was rumored to have swallowed a chicken skewer that ruptured his stomach. However, veterinarians examining his organs said on Wednesday that he had terminal cancer.
INDIA
Appointment rejected
The Supreme Court yesterday quashed the appointment of P.J. Thomas as the head of the federal anti-graft commission because of his involvement in a controversial palm oil import case, in another rebuke for the Congress-led coalition government. The court said the appointment of Thomas was made last year without taking into account the 1992 case in which he, as a state official, had been accused of signing a deal to import palm oil from Malaysia at higher prices.
UNITED KINGDOM
Traders stuck in elevator
It turned out to be an all-nighter, but not the fun kind. Seven high-powered traders and brokers who went out for a night on the town in London’s Canary Wharf business district ended up curled up together on the floor of an elevator after it malfunctioned and their calls for help went unheeded. An investigation is under way to determine the cause of the elevator failure, but some news reports have speculated that the group was jumping up and down inside the elevator, causing it to stop working. Building employees found the seven traders and brokers asleep on the elevator floor at 3am. The seven had been eating sushi and drinking at a Japanese restaurant in the Canary Wharf business district before they became trapped.
UNITED STATES
Decades-old letter delivered
A World War II-era letter addressed to a woman at a Red Cross hospital in California has been delivered almost 70 years after its postmark in Alabama, but the mystery of the message remains. The Montgomery Advertiser reports that the letter is addressed to Miss R.T. Fletcher, American Red Cross Station Hospital, Camp Roberts, California. That building was torn down years ago. Camp Roberts was closed in 1970, so the letter was delivered to the Camp Roberts Historical Museum. Curator Gary McMaster said he hasn’t opened the letter for privacy reasons. The envelope is torn where the return address would be located, so it’s not clear who sent it. However, the tear reveals a handwritten letter inside.
CANADA
Consultant charged
Authorities on Wednesday charged an immigration consultant with helping foreigners obtain permanent residency or citizenship in a huge fraud scheme, police said. About 1,100 applicants mostly from the Middle East and their dependents were implicated in the fraud, including 76 who obtained citizenship. Immigration minister Jason Kenney said the consultant had allegedly “fraudulently helped individuals create the appearance they were residing in Canada in order to keep their permanent resident status and ultimately attempt to acquire citizenship.”
CANADA
Cuban dancers stay
Five members of the National Ballet of Cuba, including one of its principal dancers, have remained in Canada after performing there, dance officials said on Wednesday. National Ballet of Canada spokeswoman Catherine Chang said the five are taking classes with the ballet in Toronto, adding that she can’t confirm that they have defected. However, an official with the National Ballet of Cuba said the dancers had decided to stay in Canada. The official was not authorized to talk to the press on the issue and spoke on condition of anonymity. The Montreal Gazette reported that among the Cubans was a principal dancer, Elier Bourzac, who said he was staying in Canada for “artistic” reasons.
UNITED STATES
Death sought against doctor
Prosecutors in Philadelphia say they will seek the death penalty against a doctor charged with killing a patient and seven babies at his abortion clinic. Kermit Gosnell is charged with running a filthy medical practice that allegedly served as a pill mill by day and an abortion mill by night. City prosecutors cite as aggravating circumstances the multiple deaths and the tender age of the babies allegedly killed with scissors after being born alive.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
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