BANGLADESH
Zia to serve extra two years
A court yesterday sentenced former prime minister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia to seven years in prison for corruption, lawyers said, after she was jailed for five years in a separate case in February. The terms are to run concurrently, meaning she will spend an extra two years in jail. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has been in disarray ahead of general elections set for December after Khaleda was jailed in February for stealing funds for an orphanage. Khaleda, 72, and three aides were yesterday convicted of misappropriation of 31.5 million takas (US$371,550) for a trust when she was last prime minister, from 2001 to 2006, state prosecutors said. Her party says the charges are part of a plot to keep her and her family out of politics.
GABON
Bongo in hospital for fatigue
President Ali Bongo Ondimba has been hospitalized in Saudi Arabia because of “severe fatigue” caused by a hectic work schedule, a spokesman said. Bongo, 59, has ruled OPEC’s second-smallest oil producer since winning disputed elections in 2009 that were held months after his father, Omar Bongo, died in office. Omar Bongo was the world’s longest-serving president at the time of his death. Ali Bongo fell ill last week during a visit to Riyadh, where he was attending the Future Investment Initiative Forum and was sent to the hospital on Wednesday last week, presidential spokesman Ike Ngouoni Aila Oyouomi said on Sunday. “Doctors have ordered the president to rest,” Ngouoni said in a video sent to reporters in the capital, Libreville. “He’s feeling better.” Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman visited Bongo in the hospital on Thursday to inquire about his health. The Gabonese presidency first declined to comment when Bongo failed to attend the forum, which led to rumors about his condition and whereabouts.
CHINA
Mining accident kills 21
Twenty-one miners have been confirmed dead in east China following a mining accident earlier this month that trapped 22 people, state media reported yesterday. The tunnel where the miners were working was blocked at both ends by coal after pressure caused rocks to fracture and break on Oct. 20, Xinhua news agency said. Only one miner has been rescued. Rescuers working to clear the tunnel recovered six bodies on Sunday and another two yesterday. The accident took place at a mine owned by Longyun Coal Mining Co in Yuncheng County, Shandong Province.
ALBANIA
Animals saved from ‘hell’
Police on Sunday broke open cages at a private zoo and removed 11 animals, including three lions and a bear, being kept in “hellish” conditions, animal welfare workers said. After the owner of the zoo at Fier, about 100km south of the capital, Tirana, allegedly refused to cooperate, officers forcibly entered areas where the animals were kept to allow vets access, an Agence France-Presse correspondent at the scene reported. The animals were then tranquillized to allow them to be safely transferred to Tirana zoo. “Living conditions for the animals in this zoo are absolutely horrible, it’s a hellish way of keeping animals,” Ioana Gabriela Dungler of Four Paws said. Owner Petrit Osmani, who has been running the zoo for about 15 years, strongly opposed the raid. “You don’t have the right! These animals are my children, you are taking away my children,” he protested, adding that he would lodge a complaint for violation of private property.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
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