CHINA
Dad tried to kill daughter
A court has sentenced a man to 10 years in prison for trying to kill his baby daughter by inserting sewing needles into her body, state media reported yesterday. A court in Heilongjiang Province found Yin Zhihe (殷志賀) guilty of attempting to murder his two-month-old daughter in August, Xinhua news agency said. The court found that Yin wanted to kill the child because he believed that she was not his daughter, Xinhua reported. Yin first inserted one needle into the baby’s ribcage on Aug. 4. The next day, the baby’s cries prompted her mother to take the child to hospital, where the needle was found and surgically removed. However, Yin later inserted three more needles in the child’s chest, navel and stomach. The needles were removed in an operation, but had already caused respiratory failure and injuries to the baby’s organs. A DNA test showed that Yin was the girl’s biological father, the report said.
CHINA
Woman, 60, had twins
A woman had twin girls at the age of 60 following in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment after her only child died, making her possibly the oldest person in the country to give birth, state media reported on Tuesday. Sheng Hailin (盛海琳), now 63, lost her first daughter, then in her late 20s, in an accidental gas poisoning case in 2009, the China Daily said. A military hospital in the eastern city of Hefei agreed to give her and her husband IVF therapy, the report said. She gave birth to Zhizhi, who weighed 1.85kg, and Huihui, 1.45kg, on May 25, 2010, at the No. 105 Hospital of the People’s Liberation Army, the paper said.
EGYPT
Former PM arrested
Security forces on Tuesday arrested the former prime minister of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi who was sentenced to one year in jail for failing to implement a court ruling to renationalize a textile firm. “Security forces managed to arrest Hisham Kandil, former prime minister, in carrying out a court order issued against him. He was caught in a mountain area with smugglers trying to flee to Sudan,” the Ministry of the Interior said in a statement.
NIGERIA
At least 50 Islamists killed
Troops killed at least 50 suspected Boko Haram Islamists retreating into neighboring Cameroon following a Dec. 20 attack on a military base in the northeastern town of Bama, the army said on Tuesday. Fifteen soldiers and five civilians were killed, and more than 20 vehicles transporting escaping Islamists were destroyed in the battle, Chris Olukolade, defense headquarters spokesman, said yesterday in an e-mailed statement from Abuja, the capital. “Although a good number of the insurgents escaped with bullet wounds while some have been arrested, over 50 of them died in the course of exchange of fire with ground troops in the ongoing operations to apprehend fleeing terrorists,” he said.
IRAQ
Bomb attacks kill 20
At least 20 people were killed in bomb attacks in Christian areas of Baghdad yesterday, including a car bomb that exploded near a church after a Christmas service, police and medics said. A bomb in a parked car went off while worshipers were leaving a church in the Doura district of southern Baghdad after finishing prayers, police sources said. Most of the victims were Christian, they said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.
UNITED STATES
Santa shot with pellet gun
A man dressed as Santa Claus was recovering after being shot with a pellet gun on Tuesday at a toy giveaway in Washington. A local news crew was interviewing the unnamed man at the time of the Christmas Eve shooting in the capital’s Southeast district. The man was struck in the upper back and could be seen bending over, reaching for his back and screaming out in pain after loud popping sounds. “It’s a pellet gun,” he said. “Someone’s shooting. Someone just shot me,” the man added. Police said the man was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. WJLA, whose cameraman was on the scene, said the giveaway carried on. The station reported that the man wanted to keep giving out toys, but he was ordered to hospital and a man dressed as the Grinch took over.
UNITED STATES
Newborns put in stockings
California hospitals are spreading holiday cheer for new parents by delivering newborns in giant Christmas stockings. The bright red stockings were provided this week for babies born at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center in Redlands, California. The Long Beach Press Telegram said it was a half-century-old tradition. The Redlands Community Hospital has been handing out stockings to parents of infants born this month. This year, 16 volunteers made 250 fleece stockings during a day-long sewing bee.
UNITED STATES
Decorations spark panic
An Atlanta, Georgia, homeowner says he hopes he did not offend anyone with his Christmas decoration of a mannequin with outstretched arms entangled in a string of Christmas lights and clinging to a ledge that prompted an emergency response to his house. Bubba Murphy Lake told WSB-TV that someone passing the house in Berkeley Lake with their children thought the display looked so realistic that they called the emergency fire dispatcher. He says fire officials told him to take the display down — at least temporarily. The display also had a ladder toppled over in the front yard.
BRAZIL
Lottery winners freed
Police say they have freed a kidnapped lottery winner of more than US$3 million whose captors were demanding a ransom of about US$200,000. Inspector Antonio de Olimin told the G1 news portal that a 43-year-old bricklayer who won the lottery about three months ago and his brother were kidnapped on Monday in the Sao Paulo suburb of Guarulhos. He said police on Tuesday discovered the house where the two brothers were being held hostage while investigating a gang of bank and cargo truck robbers. Olimin says one suspected kidnapper was killed in a shootout with police and another was arrested. The two brothers were freed unhurt.
BRAZIL
Torrential rain kills 14
President Dilma Rousseff on Tuesday flew over the flood-hit state of Espirito Santo, where at least 14 people have died in days of torrential rain. A Civil Defense statement raised the death toll to 14 and said nearly 50,000 people were forced to leave their homes. It said 47 cities in Espirito Santo, which borders Rio de Janeiro State, were affected by the flooding, including many left without communications, drinkable water and power. Rousseff said two helicopters and army trucks would be sent to the area to deliver food and medicine to those affected. “The tragedy in Espirito Santo destroyed homes, roads and dreams. We are going to try to rebuild them,” the president said.
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
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
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
UNSCHEDULED VISIT: ‘It’s a very bulky new neighbor, but it will soon go away,’ said Johan Helberg of the 135m container ship that run aground near his house A man in Norway awoke early on Thursday to discover a huge container ship had run aground a stone’s throw from his fjord-side house — and he had slept through the commotion. For an as-yet unknown reason, the 135m NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just meters from Johan Helberg’s house in a fjord near Trondheim in central Norway. Helberg only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone. “The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television
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