UNITED STATES
Maduro’s plane seized
The government has seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s plane after concluding it was bought and operated in violation of Washington’s sanctions. The Dassault Falcon 900EX jet was seized earlier this year by police in the Dominican Republic when it landed in Santo Domingo. A Florida district court on May 22 requested an embargo on the aircraft, documents obtained by Bloomberg showed. The plane was purchased through a shell firm and smuggled out of the country, the Department of Justice said. It was found to be operating in violation of export control restrictions for the benefit of Maduro and those around him, the department said in a statement. The plane has been flown to Florida. Maduro’s government said in a statement it considered the “illegal” seizure by the US as part of a series of “incremental actions” against Venezuela.
DR CONGO
129 die in jail break try
At least 129 people were killed during a weekend prison break attempt at the nation’s largest jail, Minister of the Interior Jacquemain Shabani said in a video message yesterday. “The provisional human toll is 129 dead, including 24 who were shot after warnings,” Shabani said, adding that at least 59 others had been wounded at the Makala prison in Kinshasa. Several people had been crushed or suffocated and a number of women had been raped, the ministry said. Witnesses said gunfire had started at the prison at about 2am on Monday morning and lasted for several hours.
UAE
Jailed protesters pardoned
President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has pardoned 57 Bangladeshi citizens who were convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms for staging a rare protest in the Gulf country, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported yesterday. The decision cancels the sentences of those convicted and those pardoned are to be deported, the state media said. The Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal last month sentenced 57 Bangladeshis in an expedited trial after they staged a protest against then-Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her government amid protests in Bangladesh. Three Bangladeshis had been sentenced to life in prison, while 53 were sentenced to 10 years in prison. One Bangladeshi, who state media said had entered the nation illegally and “participated in the riot,” was sentenced to 11 years. The Public Prosecution had accused the Bangladeshi nationals of “crimes of gathering in a public place and protesting against their home government with the intent to incite unrest.”
INDIA
Recruitments death probed
The government yesterday launched a probe after 12 applicants for coveted government jobs died during physical tests for posts as excise officers, with commentators saying it illustrated the scale of the unemployment crisis. The young men were among 500,000 applicants vying for just 583 jobs as constables in the excise department — more than 850 people for each post. The 12 died in the past two weeks during a series of 10km races in humid conditions in Jharkhand State. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren called the deaths “heartbreaking” and ordered health experts to examine the “untimely death of these youth, so that such accidents do not happen in future.” State police chief Anurag Gupta said investigations had begun. The recruitment drive has been paused.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
RSS