VIETNAM
Capital crimes cut
The government has abolished the death penalty for eight crimes, state media reported yesterday. The number of offenses facing capital punishment would be almost halved from an original 18 to 10 from next month, according to the penal code approved by the National Assembly, the official Bao Chinh Phu news portal reported. According to the amended law, the crimes no longer punishable by death are: attempting to overthrow the administration, sabotaging state facilities, production and trade of counterfeit medicine, illegal transportation of narcotics, sabotaging peace and waging war, espionage, property embezzlement and bribe-taking. Convicts would instead be given the maximum sentence of life in prison. Following the announcement, a property tycoon sentenced to death for fraud totaling US$27 billion no longer faces execution, her lawyer said. Property developer Truong My Lan’s lawyer Giang Hong Thanh told reporters that her death penalty “will be converted to life imprisonment... I informed Ms Lan this morning, she is very happy.”
Photo: AFP
CHINA
Floods hit Guizhou
Flooding in Guizhou Province has forced more than 80,000 people to flee their homes, state media reported yesterday. Rescue teams had been sent to two Guizhou counties, where the flood control emergency response had been raised to its highest level, state news agency Xinhua reported. A soccer field in Rongjiang county was “submerged under 3m of water,” the news agency said. Resident Long Tian told Xinhua: “The water rose very quickly.”
SWITZERLAND
Human remains found
Human remains were found near the village of Blatten, which was wiped out by a glacier collapse last month, local police said on Tuesday. Searchers have been looking for a missing 64-year-old man ever since a flood of earth, rock and ice smothered the Alpine village on May 29, crushing most of its houses. On Tuesday, “during a targeted search in a predefined area of the floodplain, human remains were located and recovered,” the Valais cantonal police said in a statement. The remains were in the process of being identified.
UNITED STATES
Migrant facility work starts
Florida on Tuesday began construction of a temporary migrant detention facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” due to its remote location in the Everglades, a vast subtropical wetland teeming with alligators, crocodiles and pythons. Footage aired by a local NBC affiliate showed the start of construction on the site, which is to have large tents to house migrants and trailers for staff. The facility would have minimal security due to the natural barriers provided by the surrounding inhospitable marshy grasslands, a Florida official said last week.
MEXICO
Police unveil armed drones
Police in Chiapas state on Tuesday unveiled a fleet of armed drones that they say would better position them against drug cartels vying for control of the border with Guatemala. The drones could be equipped to carry guns or to fight fires, Chiapas Security Secretary Oscar Aparicio Avendano said. He did not explain what the rules of engagement would be for police using an armed drone.
Trinidad and Tobago declared a new state of emergency on Friday after authorities accused a criminal network operating in prisons across the country of plotting to kill key government officials and attack public institutions. It is the second state of emergency to be declared in the twin-island republic in a matter of months. In December last year, authorities took similar action, citing concerns about gang violence. That state of emergency lasted until mid-April. Police said that smuggled cellphones enabled those involved in the plot to exchange encrypted messages. Months of intelligence gathering led investigators to believe the targets included senior police officers,
FOREST SITE: A rescue helicopter spotted the burning fuselage of the plane in a forested area, with rescue personnel saying they saw no evidence of survivors A passenger plane carrying nearly 50 people crashed yesterday in a remote spot in Russia’s far eastern region of Amur, with no immediate signs of survivors, authorities said. The aircraft, a twin-propeller Antonov-24 operated by Angara Airlines, was headed to the town of Tynda from the city of Blagoveshchensk when it disappeared from radar at about 1pm. A rescue helicopter later spotted the burning fuselage of the plane on a forested mountain slope about 16km from Tynda. Videos published by Russian investigators showed what appeared to be columns of smoke billowing from the wreckage of the plane in a dense, forested area. Rescuers in
A disillusioned Japanese electorate feeling the economic pinch goes to the polls today, as a right-wing party promoting a “Japanese first” agenda gains popularity, with fears over foreigners becoming a major election issue. Birthed on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the Sanseito Party has widened its appeal ahead of today’s upper house vote — railing against immigration and dragging rhetoric that was once confined to Japan’s political fringes into the mainstream. Polls show the party might only secure 10 to 15 of the 125 seats up for grabs, but it is
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr is to meet US President Donald Trump this week, hoping Manila’s status as a key Asian ally would secure a more favorable trade deal before the deadline on Friday next week. Marcos would be the first Southeast Asian leader to meet Trump in his second term. Trump has already struck trade deals with two of Manila’s regional partners, Vietnam and Indonesia, driving tough bargains in trade talks even with close allies that Washington needs to keep onside in its strategic rivalry with China. “I expect our discussions to focus on security and defense, of course, but also
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