The Times - UK (2020-09-15)

30 2GM Tuesday September 15 2020 | the times

Wo r l d

Man cleared of murder

after 37 years in prison

United States A man from Florida

has been formally cleared after

spending 37 years behind bars for

a rape and murder that DNA

evidence proved he did not

commit. Robert DuBoise, 55, was

18 when he was convicted over

the death in 1983 of Barbara

Grams, 19, in Tampa. He said he

must now learn the ways of

modern life, from shopping at a

Walmart to using an iPhone. (AP)

MP ‘spent cash meant

for wartime sex slaves’

South Korea An MP has been

charged with embezzling more

than $85,000 given to help

elderly women who had been

used as sex slaves by Japan

during the Second World War.

Youn Mee-hyang is accused of

spending the money, intended for

“comfort women”, to buy property

and pay for her daughter’s

education in the US. Ms Youn, 55,

denies all the charges. (AFP)

No charges for woman

who beat up hecklers

Uzbekistan Police have dropped

charges against a woman who

was filmed beating up two men in

response to verbal abuse after

public figures, including the

daughter of President Mirziyoyev,

defended her. Gulsanam

Alijonova, 23, who boxes and

knows karate, told Daryo, a news

website, that one of the men had

poked fun at her outfit and

grabbed her T-shirt. (Reuters)

Republican ‘thought he

hit deer’ but killed man

United States The attorney-

general of South Dakota reported

hitting a deer with his car on

Saturday night but actually killed

a pedestrian whose body was not

found until the next day, state

investigators said. Jason

Ravnsborg, 44, was driving home

from a Republican fundraiser

when he hit Joseph Boever, 55.

He said he called 911 but had not

realised he had hit a person. (AP)

Unrest as Ivory Coast

leader seeks third term

Ivory Coast Police fired tear gas at

people demonstrating against

President Ouattara’s decision to

run for a third term in October’s

elections. Protesters stopped

traffic in towns including Abidjan,

the commercial capital, where a

bus was burnt. More than a dozen

people have died in clashes with

police since Mr Ouattara, who

came to power in 2010, revealed

his decision last month. (Reuters)

Strawberry farmer’s

son to lead Japan

Japan Yoshihide Suga, 71, the

chief cabinet secretary, has won

the overwhelming support of

Liberal Party MPs and delegates

in a leadership vote, making it

certain that the Japanese

parliament will choose him as

prime minister. Shinzo Abe, 65,

resigned abruptly last month,

citing chronic illness. Mr Suga,

the son of a strawberry farmer,

has gone into little detail about

his plans as Japan struggles with

economic stagnation, saying only

that he intends to continue Mr

Abe’s policies. There is

speculation that he will call a

snap election to take advantage

of a boost in his personal support

ratings since Mr Abe resigned.

Boat people who

f led Hong Kong

are criminals,

insists Beijing

Pro-Beijing newspapers have used

the failed attempt as proof that the new

national security law was deterring the

city’s protesters, who have been dubbed

“rioters”.

The law has made it illegal to speak

out against the regime. Activists fear

the 12 will disappear into China’s

opaque legal system and be mistreated.

A Hong Kong liaison office in Guang-

dong province says the activists are in

good health.

The detainees face charges ranging

from arson and possessing explosives

to rioting and attacking police.

Mr Li was arrested for alleged

collusion with foreign forces and

money laundering under the security

law. Last year he invited international

observers to Hong Kong to ensure that

an election for district councils was

carried out fairly.

Meanwhile, Siemens, the German

multinational, sought to backtrack over

remarks made by its chief executive.

The company affirmed its respect for

China’s sovereignty and territorial

integrity after its CEO expressed

concerns over Hong Kong’s future,

angering Beijing.

“We are watching the developments

in Hong Kong, but also in the province

of Xinjiang carefully and with concern,”

Joe Kaeser, Siemens’s CEO, told Die

Zeit. “We categorically reject any form

of oppression, forced labour and in-

volvement in human rights violations.

We would neither tolerate all of this in

our companies nor accept it without

consequences from our partners.”

The Global Times said it soon

received a statement from Siemens, in

which the conglomerate said its

commitment to China remained

unchanged.

The newspaper, by quoting a Chinese

scholar, said foreign conglomerates

should realise that no country or

individual could interfere with China’s

internal affairs, which include Hong

Kong and Xinjiang.

In Xinjiang, Beijing faces criticisms

for its ethnic policy and practice after

up to a million members of the ethnic

Uighur minority were sent to “voca-

tional training and re-education

schools” to undergo indoctrination.

China

Didi Tang Beijing

China has “criminally detained” 12

Hong Kong residents who tried to flee

to Taiwan, Beijing declared yesterday.

The news came as it emerged that the

US ambassador to China will “retire”

next month and is reported to be

returning to help President Trump’s

election campaign.

Terry Branstad, 73, only took the role

in June 2017. Hu Xijin, editor of the

state-owned Global Times, said Mr

Branstad was leaving because he did

not want to be a scapegoat for the dete-

rioration of US-China relations.

His departure coincided with confir-

mation by Beijing of the Hong Kong

arrests. The dozen, who include the

activist Andy Li, are accused of trying to

cross the Taiwan Strait. According to a

strict reading of Chinese law, neither

mainland Chinese nor Hong Kong

citizens may visit disputed territories.

The announcement by the police in

Yantian in the southern Chinese city of

Shenzhen suggests the 11 men and one

woman will be tried on the mainland

and not repatriated to Hong Kong, as

requested by their families. Hong Kong

seems to have no plan to bring the de-

tainees back.

“The case of illegal border crossing

falls under the jurisdiction of the main-

land judiciary, and the mainland police

are handling it in accordance with its

law,” the Hong Kong government said.

All 12 face charges in the territory

stemming from the months-long anti-

government protests.

The group sought to flee Hong Kong

in a speedboat, which was intercepted

by China’s coastguard on August 23.

Since then, they have not been able to

contact their families in Hong Kong,

and mainland lawyers recruited by the

families have been denied access.

Andy Li is among

the pro-democracy

campaigners

arrested

A

pair of Syrian

social media

influencers

have been

criticised for

hosting a so-called

gender reveal

party that involved

lighting up the

world’s tallest

building (Richard

Spencer writes).

Anas and Asala

Marwah filmed

themselves as the

words “It’s a boy”

shone from the Burj

Khalifa, the 828m tall

hotel, residential and

office tower in Dubai.

They were criticised

for wasteful spending

given the coronavirus

pandemic and their

country’s nine-year

civil war, though it

was not clear who

paid for the stunt

or how much.

“I despair,”

tweeted Randa

Slim, director at the

Middle East Institute.

“This is truly

shameless.”

The video came

after a gender reveal

party was blamed for

setting off wildfires in

California last week.

Syrian couple behind

‘shameless’ baby stunt

The 828m tall Burj

Khalifa tower in Dubai

was lit up for Anas and

Asala Marwah’s benefit

given

pand

cou

civ

wa

pa

or

tw

SSSlim

MMMMidd

“This

sham

an

a

hotel residentialand

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after

The alleged head of the gang that

robbed Kim Kardashian of jewellery

worth about €9 million in a Paris hotel

room has told investigators she gave

them all the information they needed

via social media.

Aomar Ait Khedache, 64, who is

nicknamed Omar the Elder, said the

US reality TV star made herself an easy

target by divulging her whereabouts

and jewellery online.

He made the disclosure under ques-

tioning by French investigators, ac-

cording to a magistrate’s report leaked

to Les Échos, the French financial daily.

Ait Khedache, who has at least one pre-

Kardashian’s online boasts made raid easy, says robber

vious conviction for robbery, is among

12 suspects — many in their sixties

and seventies — whom prosecu-

tors want to put on trial in con-

nection with the robbery in the

upmarket hotel room that

Kardashian stayed in during

Paris Fashion Week in 2016.

He has confessed to his in-

volvement but denies

prosecution claims that

he was the ring-leader

and linked to organised

crime. The investi-

gating magistrate’s re-

port says that Ait Khe-

dache had little idea of Kardashian’s

global renown when a contact told

him that a “rapper’s wife” with

expensive jewellery was in

Paris. “The job... was a givea-

way on the internet, with

everything,” the convict-

ed robber told investiga-

tors.

“The jewels [were]

presented on the inter-

net, explaining that she

did not wear fake jew-

els [and] the timing

of her arrival in

France. You just

needed to look at

the internet to

know everything.”

The gang posed as police officers

before threatening the hotel concierge

and telling him to take them to the “rap-

per’s wife’s room”. They appeared at the

bedroom door at about 3am. Kardashi-

an was wrapped in sticky tape and

placed in the bath before the gang made

its getaway.

Police quickly identified the alleged

robbers through a DNA sample found

at the scene and subsequent telephone

taps, according to the report.

Ait Khedache said he had sold the

$4.5 million engagement ring given to

Kardashian by the rapper Kanye West

for $400,000 and melted down the rest

of the jewellery after realising the

extent of Kardashian’s celebrity. None

of the jewels has been recovered.

France

Adam Sage Paris

Kim Kardashian was

wrapped in sticky tape