VIETNAM
US naval exchange starts
The nation is hosting a week-long naval exchange with the US Navy this week. Three ships from the US 7th Fleet began their five-day visit to Danang yesterday. No live-fire drills are planned, but the two sides are expected to practice salvage and disaster training as they have done in recent years.
HONG KONG
Victoria Beckham under fire
Former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham flew into controversy yesterday after she posed for a picture in a crew-only seat on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong. “Cabin crew prepare for landing! Welcome to Beijing!! X vb,” she wrote on Twitter alongside a photograph of her sitting in the crew seats aboard the Beijing-bound flight on Friday. Wearing sunglasses and a peach-colored dress, she appears to be making an announcement on the public address system while a stewardess sitting next to her pulls a funny face. An airline spokeswoman said the stunt was harmless but “inappropriate.” The photograph was not taken at any critical stage of the flight, such as take-off or landing, she added. The Hong Kong Standard newspaper reported that Beckham had been criticized on Internet forums for putting the flight’s safety at risk.
NEPAL
Rights groups protest plan
Leading rights groups yesterday urged the government to drop plans for a blanket amnesty over thousands of killings and other atrocities committed during the country’s 10-year civil war. More than 16,000 people died in the conflict between Maoist rebels and the state, which ended in 2006, and more than 1,000 are still missing. The parliament is setting up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate wartime killings, torture and forced disappearances and is debating proposals to grant an amnesty for abuses by government and rebel forces. Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) released a joint statement calling on political leaders to fulfill a commitment made in the post-war peace agreement to prosecute violations of international law. “Amnesty for gross human rights abuses — such as torture, including rape and enforced disappearance — would violate international law,” said Frederick Rawski, of the Geneva-based ICJ. “Amnesty for these crimes would also contradict well-established Nepal Supreme Court jurisprudence and the government’s own public commitments at the UN Human Rights Council.”
JAPAN
Crash kills two pedestrians
A seven-year-old girl and a pregnant woman were killed yesterday when a car hit a group of elementary-school children near Kyoto. Five children were seriously hurt when the car, driven by an 18-year-old without a license, crashed into the nine youngsters and one adult. Yukihi Matsumura, 26, who was seven months pregnant, and seven-year-old Mao Odani, were declared dead several hours after the crash, which happened at around 8am as the youngsters were being taken to school. Matsumura’s fetus also died in the accident in Kameoka City near Kyoto, a police spokesman said. Officers arrested the teenage driver, who had been up all night with two friends, police said, with local media reporting he might have fallen asleep behind the wheel. “He has said he was playing around all night,” a police spokesman said, while declining to spell out whether alcohol or drugs were a factor.
UNITED STATES
Zimmerman out on bail
George Zimmerman, charged with second-degree murder in the killing of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, left a Florida jail early yesterday after posting bail of US$150,000 in the racially charged case, a spokeswoman for the sheriff in Seminole County, Florida, said. Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch volunteer, was released from the county’s John E. Polk Correctional Facility shortly after midnight after posting bail and meeting other conditions set for his release at a pretrial detention hearing on Friday. Under the conditions set by Judge Kenneth Lester Jr, Zimmerman must wear an electronic monitoring device, although he might be allowed to leave the state. He must also observe a dusk-to-dawn curfew and is prohibited from consuming illegal drugs or alcohol or possessing a firearm. No date has been set for Zimmerman’s trial, but due to safety concerns, his whereabouts are expected to remain a closely guarded secret until his next appearance in court. Zimmerman shot and killed Martin in Sanford in central Florida on Feb. 26 in an incident that triggered civil rights protests nationwide. Police initially declined to arrest Zimmerman.
NIGERIA
Blast kills five sect suspects
The military says five suspected members of a radical Islamist sect were killed in an explosion that struck a small town in the country’s restive northeast. Colonel Victor Ebhaleme said on Sunday the blast struck the town of Biu in Borno State, where the sect known as Boko Haram has carried out a series of attacks in recent months. Ebhaleme said investigators arrived in Biu after the explosion on Saturday and found the remains of five people they believe belong to Boko Haram. He said two others were arrested in the operation. Boko Haram is waging an increasingly bloody fight against the weak central government in its effort to enact strict Shariah law across the multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people and free its imprisoned members.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Coalition set to disband
Prime Minister Petr Necas has said the leaders of the three parties that form his government have agreed to end their coalition. Necas said the coalition’s existence would be terminated on Friday, but it did not mean the government had collapsed, since a new party might be formed that would replace Public Affairs, a junior coalition partner. Sunday’s announcement came after Vit Barta, an informal chairman of the centrist Public Affairs, was convicted of paying bribes. Barta announced he would quit politics, but refused to resign his parliamentary seat, angering Necas. A number of prominent members and lawmakers of Public Affairs walked out earlier this week and are forming a new group that might replace the party in the government.
UNITED STATES
Gibb still in intensive care
Bee Gees star Robin Gibb has colorectal cancer and remains in intensive care after waking from a coma, his doctor said on Sunday. Andrew Thillainayagam said Gibb was being treated for advanced colorectal cancer and had caught pneumonia as he was weakened from grueling doses of chemotherapy and two operations. The 62-year-old singer fell into a coma last week after contracting the pneumonia. Thillainayagam said that three days ago, he had told Gibb’s family that he might not wake up. Instead, Gibb is now fully conscious and able to speak. Thillainayagam said Gibb was still in intensive care and was “exhausted, extremely weak and malnourished.”
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
Two people died and 19 others were injured after a Mexican Navy training ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said yesterday. The ship snapped all three of its masts as it collided with the New York City landmark late on Saturday, while onlookers enjoying the balmy spring evening watched in horror. “At this time, of the 277 on board, 19 sustained injuries, 2 of which remain in critical condition, and 2 more have sadly passed away from their injuries,” Adams posted on X. Footage shared online showed the Mexican Navy ship Cuauhtemoc, its sails furled
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