ITALY
Forty-one die in shipwreck
Forty-one migrants died in a shipwreck last week in the central Mediterranean, the ANSA news agency reported yesterday, citing accounts from survivors who have just reached the Italian island of Lampedusa. ANSA said that four people who survived the shipwreck told rescuers that they were on a boat carrying 45 people, including three children. The boat set off on Thursday morning from Tunisia’s Sfax, a hot spot in the migration crisis, but capsized and sank after a few hours, the survivors were quoted as saying. The survivors — three men and a woman from Ivory Coast and Guinea — said they were rescued by a cargo ship and then transferred onto an Italian coast guard vessel.
HONG KONG
Parents ‘harassed’: activist
Democracy activist Anna Kwok (郭鳳儀) yesterday said that her parents were “questioned, harassed and intimidated” by authorities, weeks after officials accused her and seven others of endangering national security. The territory last month offered bounties of HK$1 million (US$127,908) for information leading to the arrest of eight prominent democracy activists now living abroad, accusing them of subversion, foreign collusion and other crimes. Police said that its national security department on Tuesday “took away a man and a woman for investigation” related to national security crimes, without naming them. Kwok, executive director of the nonprofit Hong Kong Democracy Council, yesterday apologized to her parents in a statement for getting them involved. “Yesterday my parents were questioned, harassed and intimidated. Even though I feel apologetic, I must say this is a price I expected to pay,” said Kwok, who is based in the US. Family members of at least four other wanted activists have been taken in for police questioning over the past weeks.
UNITED STATES
US$1.58bn jackpot won
Someone in Florida on Tuesday won a US$1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot, ending a stretch of lottery futility that had stretched for nearly four months. A Publix grocery store in Neptune Beach sold the winning ticket, the Florida Lottery said. The winning numbers were: 13 19 20 32 33 and the yellow ball: 14. Before the big win Tuesday night, there had been 31 straight drawings since the last time someone won the game’s jackpot on April 18. That enabled the prize to steadily grow to be the third-largest in US history. Mega Millions jackpot winners are rare thanks to odds of one in 302.6 million. The US$1.58 billion payout would go to the winner if they opt for an annuity, doled out over 30 years. People usually prefer a lump sum option, which for Tuesday’s jackpot is an estimated US$783.3 million.
UNITED STATES
Rapper Lanez sentenced
Canadian rapper Tory Lanez was sentenced on Tuesday to 10 years in prison, more than seven months after he was convicted of shooting fellow musical artist Megan Thee Stallion during an argument in 2020. Judge David Herriford handed down the sentence to the 30-year-old rapper, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, during a hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court that had been pushed back by delays. On Dec. 23 last year, a jury found Lanez guilty of carrying a loaded and unregistered firearm in a vehicle, assault with a semiautomatic handgun and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. Lanez was accused of shooting Grammy-winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion, 28, injuring her feet after a pool party in the Hollywood Hills in July 2020.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
The Philippine Department of Justice yesterday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the nation’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena. Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed. “The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Jesse Andres said at yesterday’s press briefing. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
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