VIETNAM
Bus falls off bridge, 34 die
A crowded overnight bus plunged off a bridge into a river, killing 34 passengers and injuring 21. The 50-seat bus lost control and ripped through the bridge’s guardrails on Thursday night, diving about 18m and landing on its top, partially submerged in the Serepok River, local official Tran Bao Que said. “I vaguely heard a noise like a gun fire and then people were screaming when the bus was overturned ... I managed to escape through a window which was smashed opened by others,” survivor Nguyen Van Khanh said. Que said it took rescuers four hours to pull the bodies from the bus.Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash.
PHILIPPINES
Anti-Gaga rally in Manila
About 70 Christian youths have chanted “Stop the Lady Gaga concerts” at a rally calling for the singer’s shows in Manila next week to be canceled. Members of a group called Biblemode Youth Philippines said yesterday that they are offended by Lady Gaga’s music and videos, in particular her song Judas, which they say mocks Jesus Christ. Protest leader and former Philippine Congressman Ben Abante says his group plans to file a case against Lady Gaga and concert organizers if she sings Judas at her Manila gigs on Monday and Tuesday. Former Manila mayor Jose Atienza says the singer and organizers can be punished for offending race or religion. Lady Gaga scrapped an Indonesia concert following protests there from conservative Muslims.
THAILAND
Man caught with fetuses
Six human fetuses which had been roasted and covered in gold leaf as part of a black magic ritual have been seized from a British citizen in Bangkok, police said yesterday. Chow Hok Kuen, 28, who is of Taiwanese origin, was arrested with the grisly haul in the city’s Chinatown on Thursday, police said. The corpses had been packed into luggage and were set to be smuggled to Taiwan. The suspect bought the fetuses several days ago from a Taiwanese man in Thailand for 200,000 baht (US$6,500) and planned to sell them in Taiwan for up to six times that amount, police said. The man faces one year in prison and a 2,000 baht fine for possession of the fetuses. In black magic rituals, preserved fetuses are believed to bring good fortune to the owner.
MYANMAR
Thein Sein recuperates
Reformist president Thein Sein was recuperating yesterday at his private home in Yangon after feeling unwell, officials said, denying rumors of a more serious illness. “He has a cold but he is well now,” said an official at the presidential office who did not want to be named. The 67-year-old former general has a heart condition and uses a pacemaker. A second government official said Thein Sein had been for a “routine medical check-up in Yangon” on Thursday.
NEW ZEALAND
‘Millionaire’ convicted
A woman who went on the run with some of the millions of dollars mistakenly deposited into her partner’s bank account has been convicted of theft, attempted fraud and money laundering. Kara Hurring and her partner were dubbed the “Accidental Millionaires” after Westpac bank in 2009 gave them a credit line of NZ$10 million (US$7.7 million) — 100 times their approved limit. The couple transferred millions into other accounts and left for China.
IRAN
Google threatened with suit
Tehran said it plans to sue Google for dropping the name Persian Gulf on Google Maps. The threat came after the search engine left the body of water between the nation and the Arabian Peninsula nameless on its online map service. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that if Google did not restore the name it would face “serious damages.” Mehmanparast told the semi-official Mehr news agency on Thursday that Tehran had already warned Google of possible legal action. The government is sensitive about the name of the body of water, which has historically been known as the Persian Gulf, though some Arab states insist on calling it the Arabian Gulf.
RUSSIA
Court convicts worker ‘spy’
The Sverdlov Regional Court in the Yekaterinburg yesterday handed down an eight-year prison sentence to Alexander Gniteyev, a worker at a defense company dealing with automatic systems, for passing information to a foreign intelligence service. Court spokesperson Yelena Maryina said Gniteyev had also been ordered to pay a 100,000 ruble (US$3,200) fine. Anna Lastovitskaya, a spokeswoman for the regional branch of the Russian Federal Security Service, said Gniteyev had divulged missile secrets to foreign intelligence, but would not say which country. Local media said that Gniteyev handed over secrets related to the Bulava missile that has been developed to arm the latest generation of Russian nuclear submarines.
GEORGIA
March ends in scuffle
A gay-rights march involving about 50 people in the capital on Thursday ended after scuffles broke out with opponents. It was the first such demonstration in Tbilisi and was held to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. The march, on the sidewalk, started at the national concert hall and aimed to reach Rustaveli Prospekt, about 1km away, but several dozen members of the conservative religious group Union of Orthodox Parents blocked the way. A scuffle broke out, but was broken up by police. No injuries were reported.
INDIA
Star banned from stadium
Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan has been banned from entering a Mumbai cricket stadium after scuffling with security guards. Mumbai Cricket Association official Vilasrao Deshmukh said yesterday that Khan would be banned from the stadium for five years. Khan denied reports he was drunk when he went to the stadium to pick up his children at an Indian Premier League game on Wednesday evening. He said he lost his temper when he saw security guards pushing his children. Last month, Khan was in the news when he was stopped at a suburban New York airport for an hour and a half by US Homeland Security agents, who later apologized.
IRAQ
Bird market hit by blasts
Officials said three bombs struck a bird market in eastern Baghdad, killing four people and wounding dozens. Police said the attack yesterday morning targeted a market crowded with shoppers in the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City. They said 34 people were wounded in the blasts. A hospital official confirmed the casualty toll. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Violence has ebbed in Iraq, but insurgents carry out frequent attacks in an attempt to undermine the Shiite-led government.
CANADA
Man ‘swallows’ diamond
A man accused of stealing and swallowing a US$20,000 diamond is being held in custody until he has a bowel movement and produces the evidence, police said on Thursday. “We’ve given him a container [a bucket] and are monitoring his bowel movements. Our forensic officers are combing through his shit to find the diamond once it passes,” Sergeant Brett Corey said. “But so far they haven’t found anything.” The 52-year-old was seen on a store surveillance video swallowing the 1.7 carat gem at a jewelry shop in Windsor, Ontario, on May 10 after a clerk accused him of switching the diamond with a sleight of hand and called police. Corey said the suspect is cooperating and has taken laxatives, but the loot has remained stuck in his intestines.
HONDURAS
Inmate dies in prison fight
At least one inmate has died and 11 were wounded during a prison fight in the city of San Pedro Sula — the same place where 13 prisoners died in a riot in March. Prison director Orlando Leyva said San Pedro Sula Bishop Romulo Emiliani is inside the prison negotiating with the inmates. He said police have not been sent in because authorities are waiting for Emiliani to come out. Some inmates were holding some women hostage, he said.
BRAZIL
Green planet debate starts
The government and the UN have launched an Internet debate around 10 themes for a green planet to elicit suggestions from experts and the public for next month’s Rio+20 summit. “The objective of this initiative is to bring civil society closer to the negotiations” of Rio+20, the June 20 to 22 UN summit on sustainable development, Brazilian chief negotiator Andrea Correo do Lago said on Thursday. The site www.Riodialogues.org is open to all those who wish to make or vote on suggestions. The 10 themes revolve around 10 sustainable development targets, including unemployment, the economic and financial crisis, fighting poverty and food security and nutrition. The discussions will serve as a basis for a June 16 to 19 roundtable hosted by the UN and Brasilia.
CHILE
Quake shakes south coast
A strong magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck off the southern coast on Thursday, but authorities said there was no danger of a tsunami. The US Geological Survey said the quake’s epicenter was 542km west-southwest of Castro, Los Lagos. It struck on Thursday evening off the coast of the Aysen region and at a depth of 10km. Aysen Governor Pilar Cuevas said that the quake “was not felt in Coyhaique or Puerto Aysen and the population remains calm.” The Interior Ministry Emergency Office said no damages to infrastructure were reported.
UNITED STATES
Lucom case dismissed
A federal judge in Miami has thrown out a racketeering lawsuit filed by a US lawyer against members of a powerful Panamanian family in a lengthy struggle over a multimillionaire’s estate. US District Judge Robert Scola ruled on Thursday that the four-year statute of limitations had expired when the lawsuit was filed last year. The suit sought US$725 million and accused members of Panama’s Arias family, attorneys and three judges of trying to steal the estate of Wilson Lucom, who died in 2006. Attorney Richard Lehman says Lucom wanted to create a foundation to feed poor children in Panama. Lawyers for the Arias family say Lehman concocted the foundation to gain control over the estate for himself.
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
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