30 2GM Friday August 7 2020 | the times
Wo r l d
Pygmy hogs in peril as
swine flu breaks out
India The world’s rarest wild pigs
are under a lockdown after an
outbreak of African swine fever.
The 25cm-tall pygmy hog has
been brought back from the brink
of extinction and 300 are kept in
Assam, where breeding centres
have put up fences and staff must
shower on arrival. About 16,000
domestic pigs have died since
May 18 and experts say a vaccine
is up to three years away. (AP)Raphael body mystery
solved with 3D model
Italy A 500-year-old riddle over
the resting place of the Italian
painter Raphael has been solved
using a 3D model of his face. His
body was exhumed from Rome’s
Pantheon in the 19th century and
a plaster cast made but doubt
remained as other people were
buried with him. Using the 3D
remake of the skull, Tor Vergata
University matched his face to
portraits of the artist. (AFP)Government critic in
court over protests
Zimbabwe A journalist arrested
for supporting anti-government
protests last month was denied
bail by the High Court in Harare.
Hopewell Chin’ono is charged
with inciting violence. Critics say
the government is muzzling the
press, an accusation it denies.
South Africa said it had spoken to
the Zimbabwean foreign minister
over reports of human rights
violations. (Reuters)FBI captures escaped
convict after 46 years
United States An American who
has been on the run since 1974
has been arrested, the FBI said.
Luis Archuleta, 77, had been living
under an alias in Española, New
Mexico, for about four decades.
He escaped from jail in Colorado
46 years ago while serving time
for shooting and wounding a
police officer in Denver. He will
be returned to Colorado to face
charges over his jailbreak.Hiroshima survivors
call for nuclear ban
Japan Survivors of the first
atomic bombing gathered in
Hiroshima to mark 75 years since
the attack. A rise in coronavirus
cases meant there was a smaller
turnout than usual. Some
survivors confronted Shinzo Abe,
the prime minister, at the event
over his refusal to sign a treaty
banning nuclear weapons. The
bombing by the US on August 6,
1945, killed 140,000. (AP)Women angry over
proposed dress law
Cambodia A planned law that
would govern how people dress
has been condemned by women.
Billed as necessary to preserve
the country’s tradition, the law
would ban women from wearing
anything “too short” or “too
see-through” on the street or in
social media posts. It would also
stop men from going out shirtless.
Writers and musicians are
among the critics. “Congrats,
we’re going back to 1960s,” Lisa
Mam, an artist, posted on
Facebook. Many Cambodians
expect women to be submissive, a
legacy of the Chbap Srey code of
conduct. Rights groups say the
law could foster a victim-blaming
culture. (Thomson Reuters)New York’s attorney-general is seeking
to put the National Rifle Association
out of business, alleging yesterday that
its top executives had used it as a “per-
sonal piggy bank” for luxury holidays,
private jets and expensive meals.
Letitia James said that she had filed a
lawsuit against the gun lobby group and
four individuals, including its leader,
Wayne LaPierre, to dissolve it for “years
of illegal self-dealings”.
In an 18-month investigation, Ms
James said, she uncovered millions of
dollars diverted for “personal use by
senior leadership, awarding contracts
to the financial gain of close associates
and family, and appearing to dole out
lucrative no-show contracts to former
The authorities in Beijing will meet this
weekend to decide the fate of Hong
Kong’s interim parliament amid fears
that the territory could lose freedoms.
Carrie Lam, the Hong Kong chief ex-
ecutive, has postponed elections to the
legislative council for a year, citing the
pandemic. Pro-democracy MPs are di-
vided over how to respond. Some argue
they should maintain their seats as long
as possible, others that they must start
a boycott.
Joshua Wong, 23, the pro-democracy
campaigner, said Beijing could force
through laws giving China a stronger
Beijing authorities to rule on
Hong Kong parliament’s fate
Hong Kong
Didi Tang Beijing
foothold in the territory. Hong Kong’s
22 pro-democracy MPs expressed con-
cerns that the legislative council could
be subsumed by the Beijing parliament.
Raymond Chan, a pro-democracy
MP, advised waiting until it was clear
what Beijing planned. “We [may] not
even have the option to quit or not to
quit,” he told a local news website.
Meanwhile, 25 democracy activists
including Mr Wong were charged with
“knowingly taking part in an unauthor-
ised assembly” during a candlelight
vigil on June 4 to mark the 1989 Tianan-
men Square protests. “Clearly, the
regime plans to stage another crack-
down,” Mr Wong said. All are expected
to appear in court on September 15.Canadian facing death in
China over drug charges
Canada
Charlie Mitchell Ottawa
A Canadian man has been sentenced to
death in China on drug charges amid a
fierce diplomatic row over the arrest of
a Huawei executive.
Xu Weihong, a Canadian citizen, was
accused of buying equipment and
materials to manufacture drugs in 2016
and of making large quantities of the
tranquilliser ketamine.
Yesterday he became the third Cana-
dian to be sentenced to death in China
since Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief
financial officer and the daughter of its
founder, was arrested at Vancouver air-
port on a US warrant in 2018. Days latertwo Canadian businessmen — Michael
Spavor and Michael Kovrig, a former
diplomat — were arrested on accusa-
tions of espionage. Both have since
spent more than 600 days in prison.
Ms Meng, 48, is wanted in the United
States on charges of violating Iran
sanctions and bank fraud. She still lives
at her home in Vancouver and is due
back in court on August 17.
The Chinese foreign ministry said
the two cases were not linked. “A
spokesman said the judicial authorities
handled the case independently in
strict accordance with Chinese law and
legal procedures.
The Canadian foreign ministry ex-
pressed “profound conern”.Star of the show A child celebrates Liqiu, the 13th solar term of the year, which is the start of autumn and a fruitful season in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China
WANG CHUN/VCG/GETTY IMAGESNRA closure threat after bosses
used it as a ‘personal piggy bank’
employees to buy their silence”. Ms
James, a Democrat who in her election
campaign in 2018 called the NRA a
terrorist organisation, told a press con-
ference in New York: “The NRA is
fraught with fraud and abuse... we seek
to dissolve the NRA, because no orga-
nisation is above the law.”
As well as Mr LaPierre, 70, the NRA’s
chief executive since 1991, the lawsuit
named Wilson Phillips, its former chief
financial officer, Joshua Powell, a
former chief of staff, and John Frazer,
the general counsel. They are accused
of failing to manage the NRA’s funds
and to abide by state and federal laws.
Controversies about the NRA’s
financial dealings have emerged after a
series of mass shootings eroded its
support. It had a $28 million surplus in
2015 and a $36 million deficit in 2018.Ms James said that its political ties —
Republicans, in particular, crave its en-
dorsements and donations — had
created a sense of invincibility and a
culture of illegality. It went “unchecked
for decades while top executives fun-
nelled millions into their own pockets”,
she said.
The lawsuit is a civil action, but Ms
James said she was still investigating
and did not rule out a criminal referral.
Karl Racine, attorney-general for
Washington DC, also filed a suit against
the NRA and its charitable foundation,
alleging that they misused funds inten-
ded for gun safety programmes.
Carolyn Meadows, NRA president,
said it was countersuing the New York
attorney-general’s office, setting up a
battle that could last years. “It’s a trans-
parent attempt to score political pointsand attack the leading voice in opposi-
tion to the leftist agenda,” she said.
The NRA has its headquarters in Vir-
ginia but was established as a non-prof-
it organisation in New York in 1871 and
is still incorporated in the state. Presi-
dent Trump said: “That’s a very terrible
thing that just happened. I think the
NRA should move to Texas and lead a
very good and beautiful life.”
Mr LaPierre is accused of spending
millions on private travel and personal
security, and, without board approval,
giving himself a $17 million contract
with the NRA should he ever leave.
Some of the spending was kept secret,
the lawsuit said, in an arrangement
with the NRA’s former advertising
agency under which the agency paid
Mr LaPierre’s bills and charged the
NRA for “out-of-pocket expenses”.United States
Henry Zeffman Washington