JAPAN
US forces put under curfew
The commander of the US forces in Japan says US military personnel will be subject to a curfew and other restrictions following allegations that two US sailors raped a woman in Okinawa. Lieutenant General Salvatore Angelella gave no specific details about the curfew. He said yesterday that US military personnel in Japan will have to take “core values training.” Angellela says US military personnel are “held to a higher standard.” He apologized for the case, which drew protests from the Japanese government and an outcry on Okinawa, host to more than half the US bases in Japan. Seaman Christopher Browning of Athens, Texas, and Petty Officer 3rd Class Skyler Dozierwalker of Muskogee, Oklahoma, were in Okinawa on a brief stopover at the time of the alleged incident. Both are 23.
AUSTRALIA
Flight crew finds sailor
A lucky sailor is back on dry land after passengers and crew on a commercial flight from Canada helped find his crippled yacht adrift in rough seas hundreds of miles off the Australian coast, rescue authorities said. The Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Sydney was one of two diverted on Wednesday to look for solo yachtsman Glenn Ey, who activated an emergency beacon after his 11m yacht flipped and was dismasted. The Boeing 777 dropped down to 1,500m and cut its speed while the crew peered out using binoculars borrowed from passengers. “As we got to about two to three miles of this yacht, the first officer said: ‘There it is, I see it,’” Andrew Robertson, the captain of the Air Canada flight, told Australian television. “A lot of passengers said it was very exciting to be involved in a search like this,” he added. After a second Air New Zealand flight confirmed the location, a rescue crew battled heavy seas and strong winds to reach Ey, who had drifted about 500km from the Australian coast.
CHINA
Teenager gets life in jail
A Chinese court has sentenced a teenager to life in prison for killing a medical intern and stabbing three other workers at a hospital in northeastern China. The attack by 17-year-old Li Mengnan was part of a recent spate of violence by patients against medical staff that has been seen as a symptom of public frustration over China’s dysfunctional healthcare system. Li’s uncle, Li Chunming, said by telephone that a court in the northeastern city of Harbin found his nephew guilty of intentional homicide and sentenced him yesterday morning. Li Mengnan had been seeking treatment for a chronic spinal condition when he attacked medical staff with a fruit knife on March 23 after a dispute with his doctor.
UNITED STATES
Florida gunman kills three
A gunman opened fire in a central Florida beauty salon on Thursday, fatally shooting three women and wounding a fourth before leaving the scene and killing himself, police said. The gunman entered Las Dominicanas M & M Salon in Casselberry shortly after 11am, police spokeswoman Sara Brady said. Two women escaped the salon. Police have not identified the victims or the gunman. Brady said the shooting appears to be part of a domestic dispute. Brady said the fourth victim was being treated at an Orlando hospital. Her condition was not immediately released. Casselberry is about 24km northeast of Orlando.
CANADA
Chihuahua tagged a ‘danger’
A Canadian city has declared Molly, a 1.36kg teacup chihuahua a “dangerous dog” and ordered her muzzled after the animal bit a postal worker, local media said on Thursday. “I don’t even know if they have muzzles that size. I just think it’s kind of silly, to the extreme,” Molly’s owner Mitzie Scott told PostMedia News. “The dog is literally three pounds — it’s the size of an adult shoe.” The controversy erupted after Molly bit a mail carrier’s ankle in August after escaping through an open gate at Scott’s Windsor, Ontario, home. That meant under a city bylaw that Molly must be registered as a “dangerous dog” and the owners would have to obtain a million-dollar liability insurance policy for their dog, muzzle Molly and keep her on a leash at all times. The city also ordered the family to put up signs at the doors of their home which read: “Warning: Dangerous Dog on Premises.” The mail carrier was prescribed an antibiotic cream by her doctor for the injury — four small puncture wounds.
UNITED STATES
Woman angry at Obama slur
An 80-year-old woman has been arrested after tearing down political signs showing an image of President Barack Obama with an Adolf Hitler-style moustache. Nancy Lack tells WVIT-TV she was offended and took down three posters that were hung last week near the post office in Hebron, Connecticut. Workers for frequent presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche, who were putting up the signs, called police. Lack says she knew she would get in trouble, but said she lived through World War II and was angry that someone would portray the president as a Nazi. She was charged with larceny and breach of peace and released on a promise to appear in court next week.
UNITED KINGDOM
Cops in harsh wrongful arrest
British police apologized on Wednesday for using a stun gun to subdue a blind stroke victim they wrongly thought was carrying a samurai sword, a bizarre case of mistaken identity that left the man fearing for his life. Colin Farmer told British broadcasters that he thought he was going to die after he heard a commotion, felt electricity surge through his body and was knocked to the floor by an unknown assailant. The incident occurred in the town of Chorley, in northern England’s Lancashire County, last Friday. “This seemed to be going on forever ... I was convinced I was being murdered in plain sight,” the 61-year-old told Sky News television. “He [the officer] jumped on the small of my back with his knees ... wrenched my arms up my back and cuffed me so tightly I was in great pain.” Farmer told the BBC he was shouting: “I’m blind! I’m blind!” Lancashire Police Chief Stuart Williams said police brought the victim to a local hospital to be checked out after they realized the officer had used the weapon against the wrong man.
Heavy rain and strong winds yesterday disrupted flights, trains and ferries, forcing the closure of roads across large parts of New Zealand’s North Island, while snapping power links to tens of thousands. Domestic media reported a few flights had resumed operating by afternoon from the airport in Wellington, the capital, although cancelations were still widespread after airport authorities said most morning flights were disrupted. Air New Zealand said it hoped to resume services when conditions ease later yesterday, after it paused operations at Wellington, Napier and Palmerston North airports. Online images showed flooded semi-rural neighborhoods, inundated homes, trees fallen on vehicles and collapsed
FRAYED: Strains between the US-European ties have ruptured allies’ trust in Washington, but with time, that could be rebuilt, the Michigan governor said China is providing crucial support for Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and could end the war with a phone call, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said. “China could call [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and end this war tomorrow and cut off his dual-purpose technologies that they’re selling,” Whitaker said during a Friday panel at the Munich Security Conference. “China could stop buying Russian oil and gas.” “You know, this war is being completely enabled by China,” the US envoy added. Beijing and Moscow have forged an even tighter partnership since the start of the war, and Russia relies on China for critical parts
POST-UPRISING: Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawmakers were yesterday expected to formally elect Tarique Rahman as their leader and new head of government Bangladesh’s prime minister-to-be Tarique Rahman and lawmakers were yesterday sworn into parliament, becoming the first elected representatives since a deadly 2024 uprising. Rahman is set to take over from an interim government that has steered the country of 170 million people for 18 months since the autocratic government of Sheikh Hasina was overthrown. The lawmakers, who promised loyalty to Bangladesh, were sworn in by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin. Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) lawmakers are expected to formally elect Rahman as their leader, with President Mohammed Shahabuddin then to administer the oath of office to the prime minister and his ministers
In a softly lit Shanghai bar, graduate student Helen Zhao stretched out both wrists to have her pulse taken — the first step to ordering the house special, a bespoke “health” cocktail based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). “TCM bars” have popped up in several cities across China, epitomizing what the country’s stressed-out, time-poor youth refer to as “punk wellness,” or “wrecking yourself while saving yourself.” At Shanghai’s Niang Qing, a TCM doctor in a white coat diagnoses customers’ physical conditions based on the pulse readings, before a mixologist crafts custom drinks incorporating the herbs and roots prescribed for their ailments.
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