NORTH KOREA
Kim’s sister promoted
The ruling party has elevated leader Kim Jong-un’s powerful younger sister to a top position, the Korean Central News Agency said yesterday. Thousands of party elites have packed the capital, Pyongyang, for a once-in-five-years summit of the ruling Workers’ Party, a gathering that directs state efforts on everything from diplomacy to war planning. Kim Yo-jong — long considered one of her brother’s closest lieutenants — was promoted to department director within the party’s apex Central Committee, KCNA said. Although it was not clear which department she would lead, she has previously held a senior role within the party’s propaganda unit.
UNITED KINGDOM
Mandelson freed on bail
Former British ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson has been released on bail after he was arrested in a misconduct probe stemming from his ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein. A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said in a statement issued just after 2am yesterday: “A 72-year-old man arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office has been released on bail pending further investigation. The man was not named, in keeping with British police practice, but the suspect in the case previously was identified as the former diplomat, who is 72. Mandelson was filmed being led from his London home to a car by plainclothes officers on Monday afternoon. Police are investigating him over claims he passed sensitive government information to Epstein a decade and a half ago. He does not face allegations of sexual misconduct.
IRAN
Chopper crash kills four
A military helicopter yesterday crashed into a fruit and vegetable market in central Iran, reportedly killing at least four people. The crash happened in the town of Dorcheh, about 330km south of the capital, Tehran, in Isfahan Province, state television reported. Isfahan is home to a major Iranian air base, as well as a nuclear site struck by the US during the Iran-Israel war in June last year. The army helicopter had been on a training flight, state TV said. The pilot and copilot died in the crash, it added, showing footage of debris and smoke rising from the market. Semiofficial Fars news agency said two people on the ground at the market died in the crash.
UNITED STATES
ICE agents poorly trained
A former US immigration official on Monday said that training for federal agents was “deficient, defective and broken,” adding to pressure on President Donald Trump’s sweeping crackdown. Ryan Schwank resigned this month from his job teaching law at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) training academy in Glynco, Georgia, after he said he was instructed to teach new recruits to violate the US Constitution. Schwank told a forum hosted by congressional Democrats on Monday that he “received secretive orders to teach new cadets to violate the Constitution by entering homes without a judicial warrant,” adding: “Never in my career had I received such a blatantly unlawful order.” ICE cut 240 hours from its 584-hour training program, curtailing subjects such as the US Constitution, lawful arrest, firearms, the use of force and the limits of officers’ authority. “The legally required training program at the ICE academy is deficient, defective and broken,” he said. As a consequence, poorly trained, inexperienced armed officers were being sent to places like Minneapolis “with minimal supervision,” he said.
FEROCIOUS FISH-EATER Scientists have found a new species of dinosaur from the Cretaceous Period, a ‘hell heron’ that stalked the rivers, deep in the Saharan desert At a remote Sahara desert site in Niger, scientists have unearthed fossils of a new species of Spinosaurus, among the biggest of the meat-eating dinosaurs, notable for its large blade-shaped head crest and jaws bearing interlocking teeth for snaring fish. It prowled a forested inland environment and strode into rivers to catch sizable fish like a modern-day wading bird — a “hell heron,” as one of the researchers put it, considering it was about 12 meters long and weighed 5-7 tons. The dinosaur presented a striking profile on the Cretaceous Period landscape of Africa some 95 million years ago as it hunted
‘COST OF DEFECTION’: Duterte’s announcement could be an effort to keep allies in line with the promise of a return to power amid political uncertainty, an analyst said Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte yesterday announced she would run for president of the Southeast Asian nation of 116 million in 2028. Duterte, who is embroiled in a bitter feud with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, was impeached last year only to see the country’s Supreme Court throw the case out over procedural issues. Her announcement comes just days before her father, former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, begins a pretrial hearing at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands over crimes against humanity allegedly committed as part of a brutal crackdown on drugs. “I offer my life, my strength and my future
NOT YET THERE: While the show was impressive, it failed to demonstrate their ability to move in unstructured environments, such as a factory floor, an expert said Dancing humanoid robots on Monday took center stage during the annual China Media Group’s Spring Festival Gala, China’s most-watched official television broadcast. They lunged and backflipped (landing on their knees), they spun around and jumped. Not one fell over. The display was impressive, but if robots can now dance and perform martial arts, what else can they do? Experts have mixed opinions, with some saying the robots had limitations and that the display should be viewed through a lens of state propaganda. Developed by several Chinese robotics firms, the robots performed a range of intricate stunts, including martial arts, comedy sketches and choreographed
DRUG WAR: The former president said there was no campaign to kill addicts, but his speeches called for violence and told police to use lethal force if necessary Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte earned global infamy for the deadly drug crackdown that led to his arrest over crimes against humanity charges, despite his huge popularity at home. A profane-lipped populist and self-professed killer, Duterte’s anti-crime campaign resulted in the deaths of thousands of alleged dealers and addicts. Rights groups said many of those killed were poor men, often without any proof they were linked to drugs. Yet, while drawing condemnation abroad, tens of millions of Filipinos backed his swift brand of justice — even as he joked about rape in his rambling speeches, locked up his critics and failed to
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