SINGAPORE
Woman to be hanged
The city-state is to hang two drug convicts this week, including the first woman to be sent to the gallows in nearly 20 years, rights groups said yesterday, while urging that the executions be halted. A 56-year-old man convicted of trafficking 50g of heroin is to be hanged today at Changi Prison and a 45-year-old female convict, Saridewi Djamani, is to be sent to the gallows on Friday for trafficking about 30g of heroin, local rights group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) said. If carried out, Djamani would be the first woman to be executed since 2004. The two prisoners are Singaporeans and their families have received notices setting the dates of their executions, the group said. “It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty International death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement. “There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.
BURKINA FASO
Over 40,000 near death
About 42,000 people are on the verge of starving to death in the northeast as Islamist militants lay siege to towns and villages, an International Rescue Committee (IRC) official said. About 800,000 people are trapped in the settlements, most notably in Djibo, which has largely been cut off from the outside world for more than a year, said Modou Diaw, regional vice president for the IRC in West Africa. In that town, which Diaw traveled to by helicopter this month, 360,000 people are sheltering, with 75 percent of those being refugees from elsewhere in the country. “People are already dying of hunger,” Diaw said in an interview. “If nothing is done, it can be much worse.” Djibo is one of the most stark examples of how rising insecurity, coupled with climate change, has left millions of people displaced and hungry across swathes of West Africa’s Sahel region. The 42,000 are classified as IPC 5, a technical term that refers to people suffering from famine.
SWEDEN
Thunberg fined, but defiant
Hours after being fined for disobeying police during an environmental protest at an oil facility last month, Greta Thunberg conce again attempted to block access to the facility and was removed by police. Earlier on Monday, Thunberg, 20, admitted to the facts, but denied guilt, saying the fight against the fossil fuel industry was a form of self-defense due to the existential and global threat of the climate crisis. “We cannot save the world by playing by the rules,” she told reportes after hearing the verdict, vowing she would “definitely not” back down. The court rejected her argument and fined her 2,500 kronor (about US$240). Thunberg and several Reclaim the Future youth activists were indicted for refusing a police order to disperse after blocking road access to an oil terminal in the city of Malmo on June 19.
THAILAND
PM vote postponed
The parliament yesterday canceled a vote to select a new prime minister tomorrow as a coalition of pro-democracy parties struggled to drum up enough parliamentary support to form a new government. It will set a new date later, House of Representatives Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said. The vote at a joint sitting of the two chambers was canceled after the Office of the Ombudsman challenged the legality of last week’s rejection of Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat’s renomination as a candidate.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
TESTING BAN: Satellite photos show a facility in the Chinese city of Mianyang that could aid nuclear weapons design and power generation, a US researcher said China appears to be building a large laser-ignited fusion research center in the southwestern city of Mianyang, experts at two analytical organizations said, a development that could aid nuclear weapons design and work exploring power generation. Satellite photos show four outlying “arms” that would house laser bays, and a central experiment bay that would hold a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes the powerful lasers would fuse together, producing energy, said Decker Eveleth, a researcher at US-based independent research organization CNA Corp. It is a similar layout to the US$3.5 billion US National Ignition Facility (NIF) in northern California, which in 2022 generated
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