CHINA
Engineer sentenced to death
A former engineer has been sentenced to death for leaking state secrets to a foreign power, the Ministry of State Security said yesterday. The man, surnamed Liu, “secretly copied, duplicated, and sold a large volume of state secrets to a foreign espionage and intelligence agency,” the ministry wrote on WeChat. Liu had worked as an assistant engineer at a research institute and had resigned after believing he had been treated unfairly, it said. Before leaving, he “secretly copied and retained a large quantity of classified materials he had handled, intending to use them later for retaliation or blackmail against his superiors,” it added, without naming the research institute or providing Liu’s full name. The foreign intelligence agency — which was not named — cut off contact after tricking Liu into handing over the classified information at “a very low price,” the ministry said.
Photo: AFP
SOMALIA
Bomb targets president
A roadside bomb exploded on Tuesday near the presidential palace and the government said the attack by a militant group targeted the president’s convoy. The Ministry of Information in a statement called the attack in the capital, Mogadishu, a “cowardly act of desperation” by the militant group al-Shabaab, which claimed responsibility. The statement did not provide an official death toll, but a witness said he counted three bodies at the scene. The president was unharmed. The explosion happened just after President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was driven out of the palace grounds in a convoy heading to the main airport. He was headed to Middle Shabelle to oversee military operations against al-Shabaab.
Photo: Reuters
ECUADOR
Spill emergency declared
State-owned oil company Petroecuador on Tuesday declared an emergency over a damaged pipeline and cut exports of crude oil following a spill that polluted several rivers. The spill on Thursday last week was believed to have been caused when a landslide ruptured a major pipeline, releasing tens of thousands of barrels of oil..
Photo: Reuters
UNITED STATES
Trump lambasts judge
President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for the impeachment of a judge who on Saturday ordered a suspension to deportation flights taking alleged Tren de Aragua gang members to El Salvador, where they were put in prison. District Judge James Boasberg held a hearing on Monday on whether the White House had deliberately ignored his orders by carrying out the flights. Department of Justice lawyers told the judge that the flight had left when he issued a written order barring their departure. Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday that Boasberg “was not elected President.” Representative Brandon Gill later wrote on X that he had introduced articles of impeachment in the House of Representatives against Boasberg, whom he described as a “radical activist judge.” Supreme Court Justice John Roberts rebuked Trump over his call for impeachment. “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said in a statement. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.” Following Roberts’ statement, Trump wrote: “If a President doesn’t have the right to throw murderers, and other criminals, out of our Country because a Radical Left Lunatic Judge wants to assume the role of President, then our Country is in very big trouble, and destined to fail!”
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
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