SAUDI ARABIA
US man executed
The Kingdom on Wednesday executed a US citizen who had been convicted of killing his father. The Ministry of the Interior identified the executed man as Bishoy Sharif Naji Naseef, and said he beat and then strangled his father to death. It also said Naseef used narcotics, mutilated his father’s body after his slaying and attempted to kill another person before his arrest. The statement did not specify how Naseef was executed. The Kingdom beheads those sentenced to death. A lawyer for Naseef could not be immediately identified and it was not known if he had a home address in the US. Vedant Patel, a spokesperson for the US Department of State, said that US diplomats visited Naseef last month and that he had not been identified as being wrongfully detained prior to his execution.
UNITED STATES
Museum sues employees
A Florida art museum that was raided last year by the FBI over an exhibit of what turned out to be forged Jean-Michel Basquiat paintings has sued its former executive director and others, claiming they were part of a scheme to profit from the eventual sale of the fake artwork. The Orlando Museum of Art (OMA) filed the lawsuit on Monday in state court against former chief executive officer Aaron de Groft and others who the museum says were involved in the scheme, seeking undisclosed damages for fraud, breach of contract and conspiracy. The 99-year-old museum was left with a tattered reputation that resulted in its being put on probation by the American Alliance of Museums, the lawsuit said. “OMA spent hundreds of thousands of dollars — and unwittingly staked its reputation — on exhibiting the now admittedly fake paintings,” the lawsuit said. “Consequently, cleaning up the aftermath created by the defendants has cost OMA even more.” Basquiat, who lived in New York, found success in the 1980s. The OMA was the first institution to display the more than two dozen artworks said to have been found in an old storage locker decades after Basquiat’s death in 1988 from a drug overdose at age 27. Questions about the artworks’ authenticity arose almost immediately after their reported discovery in 2012. The artwork was purportedly made in 1982, but experts have pointed out that the cardboard used in at least one of the pieces included FedEx typeface that was not used until 1994, about six years after Basquiat died, the federal warrant from the museum raid said.
PERU
Snake named after actor
Scientists working in Peru have named a new species of snake after Harrison Ford in honor of the Indiana Jones actor’s support for conservation work. The 40cm reptile was first discovered in May last year in the jungle mountains of Otishi National Park, National University of San Marcos said on Wednesday. However, it was not until now that researchers concluded it was indeed a previously unknown species. This creature is a yellowish-brown color, with black spots, a black belly and copper eyes. It has been given the scientific name Tachymenoides harrisonfordi. The snake was first found by a team led by US-German biologist Edgar Lehr. It is now named after Ford because he is active in environmental issues, Lehr said. “I found out that Harrison Ford agreed to have his name used via a consultation that Conservation International made,” he added. The snake was discovered in an area that is only accessible by helicopter, he said.
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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