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.
FLYBY: The object, appears to be traveling more than 60 kilometers per second, meaning it is not bound by the sun’s orbit, astronomers studying 3I/Atlas said Astronomers on Wednesday confirmed the discovery of an interstellar object racing through the solar system — only the third-ever spotted, although scientists suspect many more might slip past unnoticed. The visitor from the stars, designated 3I/Atlas, is likely the largest yet detected, and has been classified as a comet, or cosmic snowball. “It looks kind of fuzzy,” said Peter Veres, an astronomer with the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, which was responsible for the official confirmation. “It seems that there is some gas around it, and I think one or two telescopes reported a very short tail.” Originally known as A11pl3Z before
US President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday accused Harvard University of violating the civil rights of its Jewish and Israeli students, and threatened to cut off all federal funding if the university does not take urgent action. Harvard has been at the forefront of Trump’s campaign against top US universities after it defied his calls to submit to oversight of its curriculum, staffing, student recruitment and “viewpoint diversity.” Trump and his allies claim that Harvard and other prestigious universities are unaccountable bastions of liberal, anti-conservative bias and anti-Semitism. In a letter sent to the president of Harvard, a federal task
‘CONTINUE TO SERVE’: The 90-year-old Dalai Lama said he hoped to be able to continue serving ‘sentient beings and the Buddha Dharma’ for decades to come The Dalai Lama yesterday said he dreamed of living for decades more, as the Buddhist spiritual leader prayed with thousands of exiled Tibetans on the eve of his 90th birthday. Thumping drums and deep horns reverberated from the Indian hilltop temple, as a chanting chorus of red-robed monks and nuns offered long-life prayers for Tenzin Gyatso, who followers believe is the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Looking in good health, dressed in traditional maroon monk robes and a flowing yellow wrap, he led prayers — days after confirming that the 600-year-old Tibetan Buddhist institution would continue after his death. Many exiled Tibetans
Hundreds of protesters marched through the Mexican capital on Friday denouncing gentrification caused by foreigners, with some vandalizing businesses and shouting “gringos out!” The demonstration in the capital’s central area turned violent when hooded individuals smashed windows, damaged restaurant furniture and looted a clothing store. Mexico City Government Secretary Cesar Cravioto said 15 businesses and public facilities were damaged in what he called “xenophobic expressions” similar to what Mexican migrants have suffered in other countries. “We are a city of open arms... there are always ways to negotiate, to sit at the table,” Cravioto told Milenio television. Neighborhoods like Roma-Condesa
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