JAPAN
Stem cell scientist resigns
The researcher whose claim of a major breakthrough in stem cell research was discredited resigned after the government lab where she worked failed to replicate her results. Haruko Obokata said in a statement yesterday that she was leaving the Riken Center for Developmental Biology after the lab concluded the stem cells she said she had created probably never existed. The center said it had stopped trying to match Obokata’s results. “Now, I am just exhausted. For the results to end this way is just perplexing,” she said. Obokata initially was lauded for leading the research that raised hopes for a discovery of a simple way to grow replacement tissue, but questions about the validity of the research prompted Riken scientists, including Obokata, to retract two scientific papers.
JAPAN
Snow storm kills 11: reports
Up to 11 people have died in a winter snow storm that lashed the northern and central parts of the nation, as forecasters yesterday warned bad weather would continue. The Yomiuri Shimbun said 11 people were known to have died, including two people — a 79-year-old man and a firefighter, 29, who fell into ditches while clearing snow. Several other, mainly elderly people have been killed on the island of Hokkaido and in regions near the Sea of Japan in Honshu, reports and officials said. There have also been deaths on the roads, with hazardous driving conditions provoking hundreds of accidents that have left dozens injured nationwide.
CHINA
Captain jailed over crash
A court has jailed for three years the captain of a plane that crashed four years ago, killing 44 people, after finding him guilty of negligence, state media reported yesterday. Qi Quanjun (齊全軍), in charge of the fatal Henan Airlines flight, was charged with failing to observe safety rules for landing and leaving the aircraft after the crash, ignoring passengers trapped in the wreckage, the People’s Daily said on its Web site. The ERJ-190 regional jet was attempting to land at Yichun in the remote northeast with 91 passengers and five crew on board, but it overshot the runway and burst into flames.
SPAIN
Man rams car into party HQ
A businessman yesterday drove a car containing a gas cylinders into the headquarters of the ruling People’s Party (PP), triggering a major police alert, official spokesmen said. Police cordoned off the central Madrid street where the PP building stands, as bomb disposal experts examined the car as a precaution, a police spokeswoman said. No one was injured in the incident, a emergency services spokesman said. The driver of the car was a businessman who had lost his properties, a government spokesman said. The man has been arrested.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of