ITALY
Berlusconi acquitted
An appeals court on Friday acquitted former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in a sex-for-hire case, reversing a lower court conviction that had carried a seven-year prison sentence and a lifetime ban on holding political office. The prosecution alleged that Berlusconi had paid for sex with underage Moroccan prostitute Karima el-Mahroug, better known as Ruby the Heartstealer, and then used his influence to cover it up. Berlusconi denied the charges, saying the case was politically motivated. The acquittal was announced just as Berlusconi was leaving a facility for Alzheimer’s patients where he is performing community service for a separate conviction.
CHINA
Highway blast claims 38
At least 38 people were killed when a van carrying inflammable liquid hit a bus on a highway in central China early yesterday, state media reported. The collision in Hunan Province triggered a fire and explosion which destroyed five vehicles, the Xinhua news agency said. Another five people were injured in the accident, which occurred at about 3am, Xinhua said, citing police. The fire was finally put out by about 8am. The double-decker long-distance bus, with capacity for 53 occupants, was traveling between China’s Fujian Province and Guizhou in the southwest when the crash occurred. Senior work safety and transport ministry officials and police were heading to the site to investigate, Xinhua said.
GERMANY
Buses crash, killing nine
Several buses crashed on a highway near the eastern city of Dresden, leaving nine people dead and 43 injured, police said yesterday. The crash, which happened at about 2am, involved a Polish bus, a Ukrainian bus and a Polish minibus, Dresden police said. According to a preliminary investigation, the Polish bus hit the rear of the Ukrainian bus and then broke through the median barrier, crashing into the oncoming minibus. Six of those killed were Polish citizens. public broadcaster MDR reported that most of those who died were in the minibus. The injured people were taken to hospitals in Dresden and Radebeul, police said.
UNITED STATES
Police identify remains
Officials have confirmed that the mummified remains of a woman found in the garage of a suburban Detroit home in March were those of the woman who lived there alone. Authorities this week notified the relatives of Pia Farrenkopf that she had been positively identified using DNA testing, the Detroit Free Press reported. Oakland County deputy medical examiner Bernardino Pacris said the cause and manner of death could not be determined because the body was mummified. Investigators said in March that they believed the remains were Farrenkopf’s, a self-employed financial troubleshooter who would have turned 50 this year. A message posted on Tuesday on a Facebook page set up by a relative said arrangements were being made to lay the remains to rest. Her body was found in the rear seat of her Jeep, inside the garage of her Pontiac home. Officials said she could have been dead for more than five years and that there was no evidence of foul play. They sought help from dentists who might have treated Farrenkopf, but could not secure the necessary records. Oakland County authorities say Farrenkopf paid her mortgage and other bills through a checking account that once had a balance of US$54,000. The money ran out last year, and the Pontiac home went into foreclosure.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
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