JAPAN
Death penalty defended
Minister of Justice Hideki Makihara said abolishing the death penalty would be “inappropriate,” despite the recent acquittal of the world’s longest-serving death-row prisoner. The policy — always carried out by hanging — “would be inappropriate to abolish,” as “heinous crimes continue to occur,” Makihara told reporters on Wednesday after being nominated by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba the previous day. He pledged to be “cautious and extremely sincere” when making the decision to sentence someone to death, Nippon Television reported.
SINGAPORE
Ex-minister sentenced
Former minister of transportation S. Iswaran was yesterday sentenced to 12 months in prison for obstruction of justice and accepting illegal gifts. Iswaran was charged this year with 35 counts mostly related to graft. His sentence was more severe than the six-to-seven months requested by the prosecution, which High Court Justice Vincent Hoong said would have been “manifestly inadequate” given the impact of the case on public trust. “Trust and confidence in public institutions are the bedrock of effective governance, which can all too easily be undermined by the appearance that an individual public servant has fallen below the standards of integrity and accountability,” Hoong said as he delivered the sentence.
UNITED KINGDOM
Johnson interview canceled
The BBC canceled an interview with former prime minister Boris Johnson after Laura Kuenssberg, one of its presenters, sent him the notes prepared for her questions. Kuenssberg, the host of the BBC’s Sunday morning news program, said she sent Johnson the notes “in a message meant for my team” and this meant the interview had to be canceled. “It’s very frustrating, and there’s no point pretending it’s anything other than embarrassing and disappointing, as there are plenty of important questions to be asked, but red faces aside, honesty is the best policy,” Kuenssberg wrote on X.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Deportation plans unveiled
The government on Wednesday unveiled a plan to start expelling 10,000 undocumented Haitians a week as part of a crackdown on migration from its neighbor. “This operation aims to reduce the excessive migrant populations detected in Dominican communities,” presidential spokesman Homero Figueroa said, adding the expulsions would start “immediately” and be done “according to strict protocols that ensure respect for human rights.”
MEXICO
Migrants killed in shooting
Six international migrants are dead after soldiers opened fire on a truck carrying a group near the border with Guatemala, the Department of Defense said on Wednesday. The soldiers claimed they heard shots as the trucks and two other vehicles approached their position late on Tuesday in Chiapas state, near the town of Huixtla, the department said in a statement. Two soldiers opened fire on the truck, which was carrying migrants from Egypt, Nepal, Cuba, India, Pakistan and at least one other country, it said. Soldiers then approached the truck and found four of the migrants dead and 12 wounded, it said, adding that two of the wounded later died of their injuries. The department did not say whether the migrants died as a result of army fire, or whether any weapons were found in the truck.
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
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
CONSPIRACIES: Kano suspended polio immunization in 2003 and 2004 following claims that polio vaccine was laced with substances that could render girls infertile Zuwaira Muhammad sat beside her emaciated 10-month-old twins on a clinic bed in northern Nigeria, caring for them as they battled malnutrition and malaria. She would have her babies vaccinated if they regain their strength, but for many in Kano — a hotbed of anti-vaccine sentiment — the choice is not an obvious one. The infants have been admitted to the 75-bed clinic in the Unguwa Uku neighbourhood, one of only two in the city of 4.5 million run by French aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Kano has the highest malaria burden in Nigeria, but the city has long
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