SOUTH KOREA
Stabbed politician in ICU
Opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung yesterday remained hospitalized in an intensive care unit (ICU) in Seoul, a day after a knife attack on him shocked political leaders who were vying for the upper hand in a major election three months away. Surgeons operated on Lee for more than two hours late on Tuesday to repair a major blood vessel in his neck that was sliced when an assailant lunged and stabbed him with a knife in Busan. He was conscious and recovering in the ICU, party officials said. Investigators yesterday searched the suspect’s home and office in Asan, more than 300km from the site of the attack, Yonhap news agency reported. He remains in police custody. The police have not commented on the detail of the investigation including a possible motive.
VIETNAM
COVID-19 graft trial starts
The former minister of health and 37 others yesterday went on trial in Hanoi for their alleged roles in producing and distributing overpriced COVID-19 test kits. The Viet A scandal, named for the semi-private firm that made the kits, allegedly saw senior officials facilitate multiple million-dollar deals to supply hospitals and local communities with testing equipment at vastly inflated prices. Former health minister Nguyen Thanh Long is accused of receiving bribes worth US$2.25 million, while former Hanoi mayor Chu Ngoc Anh is accused of “violating regulations on management of state assets.” At least 100 officials and businesspeople have been arrested across the country in connection with the scandal. The scam was estimated to have netted about US$172 million for Viet A — US$34 million of which was allegedly ploughed straight back into the bribing of officials.
AUSTRALIA
Wife wins sperm suit
A 62-year-old woman can harvest her dead husband’s sperm, after convincing a judge that the pair were considering having a baby before he died. The couple started thinking about having another child after their 31-year-old son was killed in a car accident in 2019, legal documents released yesterday showed. Six years earlier, their 29-year-old daughter had drowned during a fishing trip. Spurred by the traumatic events, the couple started investigating whether the 61-year-old husband’s sperm could be used to impregnate a surrogate. After the husband died at home on Dec. 17, his wife — who cannot be named for legal reasons — asked the hospital morgue to collect and store his sperm, but it dragged its feet, forcing her to seek an order from the Supreme Court of Western Australia, court documents said. A judge allowed the sperm to be harvested, but said separate orders would be needed before it could be used for fertilization.
UNITED STATES
US-Mexico border to reopen
The government is today to reopen four legal US-Mexico border crossings as high levels of illegal immigration have receded and freed up personnel, Customs and Border Protection said on Tuesday. The government would resume operations at an international bridge in Eagle Pass, Texas, two crossings in Arizona and another near San Diego, California, it said in a news release, adding that it would continue to prioritize border security “as necessary.” Border authorities last month struggled to process migrants as apprehensions reached nearly 11,000 in a single day, which several current and former officials said was near or at a record high.
RARE EVENT: While some cultures have a negative view of eclipses, others see them as a chance to show how people can work together, a scientist said Stargazers across a swathe of the world marveled at a dramatic red “Blood Moon” during a rare total lunar eclipse in the early hours of yesterday morning. The celestial spectacle was visible in the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the westernmost parts of Europe and Africa. The phenomenon happens when the sun, Earth and moon line up, causing our planet to cast a giant shadow across its satellite. But as the Earth’s shadow crept across the moon, it did not entirely blot out its white glow — instead the moon glowed a reddish color. This is because the
DEBT BREAK: Friedrich Merz has vowed to do ‘whatever it takes’ to free up more money for defense and infrastructure at a time of growing geopolitical uncertainty Germany’s likely next leader Friedrich Merz was set yesterday to defend his unprecedented plans to massively ramp up defense and infrastructure spending in the Bundestag as lawmakers begin debating the proposals. Merz unveiled the plans last week, vowing his center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/Christian Social Union (CSU) bloc and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) — in talks to form a coalition after last month’s elections — would quickly push them through before the end of the current legislature. Fraying Europe-US ties under US President Donald Trump have fueled calls for Germany, long dependent on the US security umbrella, to quickly
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
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