COLOMBIA
Police seize cocaine cache
Police have seized 7 tonnes of cocaine at a banana farm in northern Antioquia Department, the defense minister and police said on Friday. The shipment, worth about US$200 million, belonged to the Golfo Clan crime gang, police said, adding that five people were arrested in the operation. “The shipment was being guarded for a later transport to Central America, with the United States as a final destination, camouflaged in legal shipments of banana and fruits,” the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement. The Golfo Clan said this month it would be willing to surrender to the government. The group, also known the Usuga Clan, is accused of operating profitable drug trafficking routes in partnership with Mexican cartels and taking part in illegal gold mining. President Juan Manuel Santos has said the government is looking into the request, but will not negotiate with the group.
IRAQ
Barzani delays word on vote
Kurdistan Region President Massud Barzani yesterday delayed a scheduled news conference on a controversial independence referendum he has called for next week as pressure mounts for a postponement. There has been uncertainty about whether the vote will go ahead as the country’s key allies, the US and Iran, as well as powerful neighbor Turkey, have stepped up their opposition. “The news conference will take place on Sunday and the time and venue will be announced later,” Barzani’s office said, without elaborating.
UNITED STATES
Boston cop admits to lying
A Boston police detective is pleading guilty to lying to federal officials so he could fly armed on personal trips and allow a friend to avoid going through airport security. The US attorney’s office in Boston on Friday said Sergeant Detective Bruce Smith has agreed to resign from the police force and pay a US$7,500 fine. Smith also faces up to a year of probation under the terms of a plea deal. The 53-year-old Randolph, Massachusetts, resident was charged in June with making false statements to Transportation Security Administration officials that he was on official police business and was authorized to carry his firearm. Prosecutors alleged he flew armed on about 28 trips from Boston’s Logan International Airport. Police have declined to comment. Smith’s attorney has not responded to a request for comment.
UNITED STATES
Man indicted for bestiality
A man accused of performing a sexual act with a dog has been charged under a new state law that criminalizes bestiality. The law went into effect on March 21 and makes sexual contact with an animal a misdemeanor offense that carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail upon conviction. Previously, animal cruelty laws applied, but Cleveland Animal Protection League president Sharon Harvey said those cases were difficult to prosecute, because they required proof the animal suffered. Cleveland.com on Thursday reported that 47-year-old Scott Turner was charged with the misdemeanor. Turner told Cleveland Animal Protection League investigators that he was caring for a woman’s dog in May when he abused it, court records showed. He previously served more than 12 years in prison for sex crimes involving children. The Humane Society of the US said bestiality has been criminalized everywhere in the US except Washington and the states of Hawaii, Kentucky, New Mexico, West Virginia and Wyoming.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
As evening falls in Fiji’s capital, a steady stream of people approaches a makeshift clinic that is a first line of defense against one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics. In the South Pacific nation — a popular tourist destination of just under a million people — more than 2,000 new HIV cases were recorded last year, a 26 percent increase from 2024. The government has declared an HIV outbreak and described it as a national crisis. “It’s spreading like wildfire,” said Siteri Dinawai, 46, who came to be tested. The Moonlight Clinic, a converted minibus parked in a suburban cul-de-sac in Suva, is
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
A South Korean judge who last week more than doubled former South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee’s prison sentence was found dead yesterday, police said. Shin Jong-o was found unconscious at about 1am at the Seoul High Court building, an investigator at the Seocho District Police Station in Seoul said. Shin was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, he said. “There is no sign of foul play in the death,” the investigator added. Local media reported that Shin had left a suicide note, but the investigator said there was none. On Tuesday last week, Shin presided over 53-year-old Kim’s appeal trial, finding her guilty
RSS