HAITI
At least 15 killed in slum
Deadly pre-election violence has flared up in and around the nation’s most notorious slum and resulted in the killings of two pregnant women and at least 13 other people in the densely populated district of shacks, community organizers and politicians said on Monday. Official numbers of the slain around Cite Soleil were hard to pin down, but Esau Bouchard, a government-appointed mayor in Cite Soleil, said at least 10 people were killed within the district’s boundaries over the last few days, and others that he described as gangsters were gunned down in shootouts with police. He told Radio Solidarite that the violence appeared to be politically motivated.
UNITED STATES
Bin Attash might defend self
A Guantanamo Bay prisoner, who is facing trial by military tribunal over the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, on Monday told a judge that he might want to represent himself. Yemeni prisoner Walid bin Attash told the judge that he wanted to know more about the procedures involved in representing himself, indicating that he was frustrated that his court-appointed lawyers, a civilian and a member of the military, have not been able to resolve long-standing complaints about conditions in a maximum-security section of the base. The judge, Army Colonel James Pohl, cut off Bin Attash before he could go into detail about his complaints, turning the discussion in court instead to the practical issues involved with a defendant representing himself while held under such tight security.
UNITED STATES
‘Stoner’ claims e-mail hacks
An anonymous hacker claims to have breached CIA Director John Brennan’s personal e-mail account and has posted documents online, including a list of e-mail addresses purportedly from Brennan’s contact file. The hacker spoke to the New York Post, which described him in an article published on Sunday as “a stoner high-school student,” motivated by his opposition to the nation’s foreign policy and support for Palestinians. The hacker also claimed to have breached a Comcast account belonging to Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, and released what appeared to be personal information.
COLOMBIA
Pastrana urges crash probe
Former president Andres Pastrana is calling for a thorough investigation into what led to the crash of a small airplane minutes before it was scheduled to transport him to a campaign rally. The twin-engine Beechcraft on Sunday hurled into a crowded Bogota neighborhood shortly after takeoff from the capital’s airport. Six people were killed and eight more injured. Pastrana and former minister of national defense Marta Lucia Ramirez were waiting for the airplane at a regional airport outside Bogota when the crash took place. The group was scheduled to take the airplane to attend a rally in support of Conservative Party candidates running in Sunday’s mayoral and gubernatorial elections.
COLOMBIA
Police arrest drug mules
Police on Monday said that they had arrested a family of four, including a teenager, that were carrying a total of 91 cocaine and heroin capsules in their stomachs. The “drug mules,” who were on their way to the Dominican Republic, were carrying more than 3kg of the illicit drugs, police said. The parents, who worked as street vendors, and the son, a mason, face trial. The daughter was put into the care of child protection services.
JAPAN
Lawmakers visit Yasukuni
Scores of lawmakers yesterday visited the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. The group of 73 politicians and 96 representatives of other lawmakers went to the shrine to mark the autumn festival. The visit came after Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Sanae Takaichi and Minister of Justice Mitsuhide Iwaki visited on Sunday. “With the [parliament] session closed, the group was smaller this time. Still, we prayed and paid our sincere respects” at the shrine, former minister of health Hidehisa Otsuji told a news conference.
CHINA
Youngsters kill teachers
Media reports say three boys aged 11 to 13 killed a teacher and stole her cellphone and about 2,000 yuan (US$330) in cash in Hunan Province. The state-run Beijing News yesterday reported that the boys were hanging out around an elementary school in Lianqiao Township on Sunday when they decided to rob the teacher guarding the school. The suspects — who attend other schools — reportedly beat the 52-year-old teacher with a stick of wood, stuffed her mouth with cloth and dragged her into a bathroom, where she died.
CHINA
Magna Carta show moved
A Magna Carta exhibition scheduled for the Guanfu Museum in Shanghai has been switched to the British consulate — the second time the declaration of rights has been moved from a public venue. The exhibition was relocated last week from a university in Beijing to the British ambassador’s residence at the last minute. Organizers in Shanghai said the museum was not ready to host the exhibit since it is in the new Shanghai Tower, which is not yet open to the public and does not yet have its fire service inspection certificate.
SOUTH KOREA
Nakatani in Seoul for talks
Japanese Minister of Defense Gen Nakatani yesterday held talks in Seoul with his counterpart Han Min-koo. It is the first time a Japanese defense minister has traveled to Seoul in nearly five years, although the two men met in Singapore in May. Nakatani was expected to brief Han on the recent passage of new laws broadening the role of the Japanese military.
CHINA
Fake ‘inspectors’ nabbed
Police in Heilongjiang Province have arrested three people and are looking for a fourth who built a fake interrogation center and pretended to be graft inspectors, kidnapping a local official and his wife to extort money. Four people forced their way into the home of an agricultural official in August and took the couple away with hoods over their heads, media reports said. The couple were driven to a building and put in a room set up to look like an interrogation room, media said. The official finally offered to pay 200,000 yuan (US$31,500) and the two sides ended up settling on 400,000 yuan. When the couple were freed to go get the money, the official called the police.
AUSTRALIA
Abbot to pay damages
Former prime minister Tony Abbott said he would pay for a marble table damaged during a reported “wild party” in parliament after he was deposed in a Liberal party coup on Sept. 14. Abbott said he hosted drinks with staff and colleagues in a Cabinet room in Canberra. “During this event, a coffee table was damaged,” he said late on Monday, adding that he had asked to be sent the bill.
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
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
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
Africa has established the continent’s first space agency to boost Earth observation and data sharing at a time when a more hostile global context is limiting the availability of climate and weather information. The African Space Agency opened its doors last month under the umbrella of the African Union and is headquartered in Cairo. The new organization, which is still being set up and hiring people in key positions, is to coordinate existing national space programs. It aims to improve the continent’s space infrastructure by launching satellites, setting up weather stations and making sure data can be shared across
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