CHINA
Woman admits to poisoning
Nineteen primary-school children in China have been hospitalized after drinking yoghurt said to be laced with rat poison and herbicide, Xinhua news agency said. A 34-year-old woman from Loudi City in Hunan Province confessed to poisoning the yoghurt drink before delivering to the pupils, Xinhua said yesterday. It said the woman was suspected to be suffering from a mental disorder. Three children were in serious condition, but their lives were not in danger, Xinhua said. Investigations were ongoing.
CHINA
Bolivian Tupac launched
A Chinese rocket launched Bolivia’s first telecommunications satellite early yesterday, with the president of the South American country declaring it a success. The Long March-3B carrier rocket blasted off from the Xichang satellite launch center in China’s southwestern Sichuan Province at 00:42am, television images showed. Xinhua reported that China had “successfully” sent the satellite into orbit. “I’m very happy, satisfied and moved by the successful launch” of satellite Tupac Katari, said Bolivian President Evo Morales, who traveled to China for the mission. The launch was beamed live on Bolivian television and hundreds of people watched the event on a giant screen at the Plaza de Armas, the site of Bolivia’s parliament, in La Paz. The satellite, which is expected to be operational in March, was named after an indigenous leader who fought against Spanish colonial rule.
PHILIPPINES
Bullet charms bother Macau
Rising numbers of Philippine visitors are being arrested and deported by Macau for carrying amulets and lucky charms made of bullets, the foreign department said Friday. “The consulate has noticed an increase in the number of cases where Filipino nationals were apprehended... in Macau SAR’s ports of entry because they had bullet amulets in their checked in and carry-on luggage,” it said in a statement. Although the Philippines is an overwhelmingly Catholic nation, belief in amulets and good-luck charms is pervasive. Some Filipino males keep amulets, including rocks, bones, bullets or shell casings suspended from key chains or necklaces, in the belief they will keep them from harm or bring them good luck.
INDIA
Freeman taken for Mandela
The owner of a billboard dedicated to Nelson Mandela was red-faced on Thursday after the discovery that a photo of US actor Morgan Freeman, who played Mandela in the 2009 film Invictus, was used instead of one of the anti-apartheid hero. The billboard was erected on the side of a road in the southern city of Coimbatore as part of memorials across the country and the world to Mandela, who died on Dec. 5. However, Freeman’s face loomed large in the billboard over small images of rights icons Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi. “We should be proud that we were part of an era when they lived,” read the Tamil-language condolence message on the board. Cloth merchant Chandrashekhar, who paid for the board in a private capacity as a mark of respect to the former South African president, said it was a mistake. “We will replace it with the correct picture of Mandela,” the merchant, who uses one name, said by telephone from the state capital, Chennai, adding that he did not know how the gaffe occurred.
FRANCE
Alleged cannibal in court
A former soldier, who served in Afghanistan and who killed a 90-year-old man in the south of the country, apparently to eat his heart and tongue, was charged on Friday over the death. Jeremy Rimbaud, 26, was charged with murder and attempted murder for attacking another man on Nov. 15, the day he bludgeoned the elderly man to death, said Sebastien Ellul, the deputy prosecutor in the town of Pau. Rimbaud owned up to the murder to investigators and said he ate his victim’s heart and tongue. He also said he heard voices in his head. Some remains of cooked meat were found on a plate with some beans, next to the 90-year-old’s body.
GERMANY
Khodorkovsky in Berlin
Russia’s most famous prisoner, Kremlin critic and former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, began life as a free man yesterday after his surprise pardon by Russian President Vladimir Putin. After spending more than 10 years behind bars, Russia’s former richest man was quietly escorted from his prison in northwestern Russia on Friday and boarded a plane to Berlin in an operation worked out behind the scenes with the German government. The lightning speed of his release led some observers to suggest that Khodorkovsky might have flown into forced exile, but Putin’s spokesman dismissed such suggestions. “He is free to return to Russia. Absolutely,” Peskov said yesterday. In his first remarks since his release, Khodorkovsky said in a statement on Friday he did ask Putin for a pardon, but it did not amount to an admission of guilt.
SOUTH AFRICA
Trade union breaks with ANC
The country’s largest trade union on Friday said it would no longer back the ruling African National Congress (ANC), a tectonic shift in the country’s politics ahead of elections next year. The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) announced the break at a special congress of members. “NUMSA as an organization will neither endorse nor support the ANC or any other party in 2014,” said NUMSA general secretary Irvin Jim, who also called on President Jacob Zuma to resign. The announcement could spell trouble for the ruling “tripartite” alliance, which has helped the ANC coast to victory in every election since 1994. The ANC has entered each election with vital support from the trade union umbrella group COSATU — of which NUMSA is the biggest member — and the Communist Party. NUMSA also called for COSATU as a whole to withdraw its support for the ANC.
UGANDA
Bill outlaws homosexuality
Parliament on Friday adopted an anti-homosexuality bill that will see repeat offenders jailed for life, sparking an international outcry as lawmakers hailed it as a victory against “evil.” Deputies voted overwhelmingly in favor of the text, which has been widely condemned by rights activists and world leaders — with US President Barack Obama describing it as “odious” and Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu comparing it to apartheid. The approved text must now be given the green light by President Yoweri Museveni, a devout evangelical Christian. “This is a victory for Uganda. I am glad the parliament has voted against evil,” said David Bahati, the lawmaker behind the bill. “Because we are a God-fearing nation, we value life in a holistic way. It is because of those values that members of parliament passed this bill regardless of what the outside world thinks.”
UNITED STATES
Man guilty of rape, murder
A man has been found guilty of raping and killing a neighbor who moved from the Dominican Republic to seek medical care for her one-year-old son. Eldrick Broom has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. A jury on Friday convicted Broom of murder and aggravated rape in the Nov. 21 death of Rosanna Camilo, the daughter of Dominican radio personality Ruben Camilo. The 29-year-old Broom and the 34-year-old Camilo lived in an apartment complex in Boston’s Mattapan neighborhood. Prosecutors say Broom entered her apartment, sexually assaulted her and strangled her with a power cord. Broom’s attorney says he’s disappointed and will appeal the verdict.
UNITED STATES
More charged over Silk Road
Three more men face charges for their alleged roles in the online black market Web site known as the Silk Road. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan unsealed an indictment on Friday against Andrew Michael Jones of Charles City, Virginia, Gary Davis of Wicklow, Ireland, and Peter Phillip Nash of Brisbane, Australia. They are charged with narcotics, computer hacking and money laundering conspiracy. Prosecutors say the 24-year-old Jones and 25-year-old Davis were site administrators. The owner of the site authorities say generated US$1 billion in illicit business already faces charges.
UNITED STATES
Same-sex union ban quashed
A judge has struck down Utah’s same-sex marriage ban, saying it is unconstitutional. Friday’s ruling says Utah’s law passed by voters in 2004 violates gay and lesbian couples’ rights to equal protection. Attorneys for the state argued that Utah’s law promotes the “optimal mode of child-rearing.” The lawsuit was brought by three gay and lesbian couples. Similar challenges are pending in other states, but Utah’s is closely watched because of its history of opposition to gay marriage as home of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is unclear what the immediate effect would be, because the state can appeal.
MEXICO
Man, 80, rescued from park
Officials late on Friday said they rescued an 80 year-old Swiss man who had been lost for two days in a vast national park. Civil Protection officials said that they located the man, identified as Max Saeff, on Friday morning in the Colima Volcano National Park. However the region is so difficult to access that they had to wait until the afternoon for a helicopter to come pick him up, officials said in a brief statement. Saeff, a resident of the city of Guadalajara, “showed signs of severe malnutrition, dehydration,” and had light head bruises, the statement read. Saeff was reported missing on Wednesday, just hours after he entered the park.
MEXICO
Seven more bodies found
Seven bodies were found in unmarked graves in a fishing and tourist region of the eastern state of Veracruz, the state prosecutor said on Friday. Authorities are investigating after bodies were found on the popular La Cava beach, in the Alvarado municipality, outside the port of Veracruz, the country’s largest, the prosecutors said in a statement. The naked bodies of three women and four men were only partially buried in the sand, and authorities were working to “determine the probable date and cause of death,” the statement said. Veracruz is one of the epicenters of drug-related trafficking, kidnapping and extortion of residents.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
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