UNITED STATES
Carl Weathers dies at 76
Carl Weathers, the actor who played boxer Apollo Creed in the Rocky franchise, going toe-to-toe with Sylvester Stallone in some of cinema’s most memorable — and bloody — boxing moments, has died, his family said on Friday. He was 76. Weathers, who also starred in the 1987 film Predator, opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger, was recently seen on the small screen in Star Wars spin-off series The Mandalorian, a role for which he scored an Emmy nomination. “We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Carl Weathers,” his family said, according to Deadline. “Carl was an exceptional human being who lived an extraordinary life. Through his contributions to film, television, the arts and sports, he has left an indelible mark and is recognized worldwide and across generations.” The statement gave no cause of death, but added that he had died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday. After a brief stint in US football’s NFL, where he played linebacker for the Oakland Raiders, Weathers embarked on a screen career that would span five decades and include more than 75 appearances in movies and TV.
DENMARK
Money launderers sentenced
A court found two people guilty of being part of a scheme to use Danske Bank A/S unit in Estonia to launder as much as 29 billion kroner (US$4.2 billion), the latest development in what was one of Europe’s biggest dirty money scams. The Copenhagen City Court sentenced a woman to nine years of prison and a man to seven years, according to a ruling posted on Friday and linked to a verdict from 2022 in which a Lithuanian national was jailed for eight years. The two were not identified by name. The woman operated as many as 40 companies out of Copenhagen, which all had accounts in Estonia and were owned by foreigners. The man acted as a dummy director in most of the firms. The court said the two were aware that transactions at the companies occurring from 2008 to 2016 possibly were acts of laundering. “It wasn’t proved nor attempted to be proved that the sums the companies received and transferred came from criminal matters,” the court ruling said. “But based on the information about the companies and the transactions on their accounts, the court assumed the transactions had the characteristics of money laundering.” Denmark’s largest lender in late 2022 settled a US$2 billion fine with US and Danish authorities after it was revealed that a large part of 200 billion euros (US$216 billion) of transactions through its Estonian branch were suspicious.
DR CONGO
UN helicopter shot
Members of an armed group fired on a UN helicopter in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo early on Friday, injuring two South African peacekeepers, one seriously, the UN said. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UN peacekeeping department assumes the attack was carried out by members of the M23 rebel group in the Karuba region of North Kivu Province. Eastern DR Congo has struggled with armed violence for decades as more than 120 groups fight for power, land and valuable mineral resources, while others try to defend their communities. The armed groups have long waged campaigns of violence in the mineral-rich region and have been accused of mass killings. Dujarric said the helicopter that was hit was able to land safely in Goma, and the peacekeepers were receiving medical attention.
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,
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
Ireland, the UK and France faced travel chaos on Saturday and one person died as a winter storm battered northwest Europe with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice. Hampshire Police in southern England said a man died after a tree fell onto a car on a major road near Winchester early in the day. Police in West Yorkshire said they were probing whether a second death from a traffic incident was linked to the storm. It is understood the road was not icy at the time of the incident. Storm Bert left at least 60,000 properties in Ireland without power, and closed
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