File photo shows Lee Jae-myung on a stretcher at a heliport in Seoul, South Korea. PHOTO: AP
SEOUL (AFP) – The man who stabbed South Korea’s then-opposition leader Lee Jae-myung in January and left him hospitalised was sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday, a regional court told AFP.
The attacker, identified by local media only by his surname Kim, pretended to be a supporter and stabbed Lee in the neck as the politician was surrounded by journalists at an event held in the southern port city of Busan on January 2.
Lee suffered a wound to his jugular vein and underwent emergency surgery, but recovered after being hospitalised for about a week.
The attacker, reportedly 67, was “sentenced to 15 years in prison today,” spokesperson Lee Jae-hee for the Busan District Court, told AFP.
Kim had been charged with attempted murder and election law violations, as the attack took place about three months ahead of the April 10 parliamentary elections.
Lee is widely expected to run for the leadership of the DP again at a party convention scheduled for August.
Several high-profile South Korean politicians have been attacked in public in the past.
Song Young-gil, who led the Democratic Party before Lee, was struck in the head with a blunt object in 2022.
And in 2006, Park Geun-hye, who became president in 2013, was attacked with a knife at a rally.
File photo shows Lee Jae-myung on a stretcher at a heliport in Seoul, South Korea. PHOTO: AP
WELLINGTON (AP) – Crocodile numbers in Australia’s Northern Territory must be either maintained or reduced and cannot be allowed to outstrip the human population, the territory’s leader said after a 12-year-old girl was killed while swimming.
The crocodile population has exploded across Australia’s tropical north since it became a protected species under Australian law in the 1970s, growing from 3,000 when hunting was outlawed to 100,000 now. The Northern Territory has just over 250,000 people.
The girl’s death came weeks after the territory approved a 10-year plan for management of crocodiles, which permits the targeted culling of the reptiles at popular swimming spots but stopped short of a return to mass culls. Crocodiles are considered a risk in most of the Northern Territory’s waterways, but crocodile tourism and farming are major economic drivers.
“We can’t have the crocodile population outnumber the human population in the Northern Territory,” Chief Minister Eva Lawler told reporters on Thursday, according to Australian Broadcasting Corporation (AuBC). “We do need to keep our crocodile numbers under control.”
In this week’s deadly attack, the girl vanished while swimming in a creek near the Indigenous community of Palumpa, southwest of the territory’s capital, Darwin. After an intense search, her remains were found in the river system where she disappeared with injuries confirming a crocodile attack.
PHOTO: ENVATO
The Northern Territory recorded the deaths of 15 people in crocodile attacks between 2005 and 2014 with two more in 2018.
Because saltwater crocodiles can live up to 70 years and grow throughout their lives – reaching up to seven metres in length – the proportion of large crocodiles is also rising.
Lawler, who said the death was “heartbreaking,” told reporters that AUD500,000 (USD337,000) had been allocated in the Northern Territory budget for crocodile management in the coming year.
The region’s opposition leader, Lia Finocchiaro, told reporters that more investment was needed, according to NT News.
The girl’s death “sends a message that the Territory is unsafe and on top of law and order and crime issues, what we don’t need is more bad headlines”, she said.
Professor Grahame Webb, a prominent Australian crocodile scientist, told the AuBC that more community education was needed and the government should fund Indigenous ranger groups and research into crocodile movements.
“If we don’t know what the crocodiles are likely to do, we’re still going to have the same problem,” he said. “Culling is not going to solve the problem.”
Efforts were continuing to trap the crocodile that attacked the girl, police said on Thursday. Saltwater crocodiles are territorial and the one responsible is likely to remain in nearby waterways.
BEIJING (AFP) – A tornado that ripped through a town in eastern China yesterday killed one person and injured 79, local authorities said.
Images posted on social media networks showed extensive damage after the tornado struck mid-afternoon in Dongming county, 530 kilometres south of Beijing in Shandong province, the local emergency management bureau said in a statement.
“The disaster left one person dead. A total of 79 people also suffered varying degrees of injury,” it said.
Rescue, relief and clean-up operations were underway.
Chinese media showed images of a huge grey tornado moving at high speed and carrying debris into the sky.
Videos posted on Chinese social media network Weibo showed roads strewn with pieces of wood and stones, shop signs stripped, cars with shattered windows and uprooted trees.
China has endured extreme weather conditions in recent months, from torrential rainfall to searing heatwaves.
ANN/THE DAILY STAR – During the hot weather, our bodies crave something different. Rather than sticking to our usual diet, it’s essential to adapt our food habits. It’s common knowledge that our body needs to replenish the water lost, but is this enough?
We spoke to dietician Chowdhury Tasneem Hasin about the dietary changes one should make to stay healthy. Here are some of her suggestions.
ADD PROBIOTICS
Natural probiotics like yoghurt are essential for hot weather. It helps not only in retaining the water content of the body, but also boosts immunity and aids in digestion. Dieticians recommend one to two servings of yoghurt every day during warmer days.
CUT DOWN ON COFFEE/TEA
In the raging heat, it is a good idea to cut down on coffee and tea. They act as diuretics, which essentially translates to a higher rate of expulsion of water from the body. Go for a glass of lemon juice instead.
VITAMIN C
Speaking of lemon juice… a good amount of vitamin C also means a strong immunity. Try to add other sour ingredients to your diet.
A ‘NAY’ FOR SALT
Reduce your salt intake. Say no to your cravings for chips as they tend to increase the sodium intake in your body. A lower sodium level is also essential for maintaining blood pressure.
STICK TO FISH
Animal protein is hard for us to digest. You will feel much relieved and light if you shift your source of dietary protein from red meat to fish. An added benefit is that fish reduce inflammation, while also lowering triglyceride and cholesterol levels. Certain fish are rich in omega-3, which reduces inflammation.
PRESERVATION ESSENTIALS
High temperatures often aid in the proliferation of harmful bacteria. Food gets putrid earlier in hot weather. So, even if you are preserving food in a refrigerator, we suggest that it should be stored temporarily and not for prolonged periods.
STAY HYDRATED
One cannot reiterate enough the need for hydration during hot days. An average human being needs two to two-and-a-half litres of water. Given the heatwave we are experiencing, it is advised to increase water intake by 500 mililitre more than the essential intake. Go for mineral water, if possible, as it contains potassium, which helps in water retention. – Mannan Mashhur Zarif
Palestinian children walk amid the destruction in a heavily damaged residential district of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis. PHOTO: AFP
AFP – An Israeli military raid on Jenin in the occupied West Bank yesterday left five people dead, the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry said.
At least 12 Palestinians have now been killed in Israeli operations this week in the West Bank, where tensions have intensified since the start of the Gaza war in October.
Troops surrounded a building “where terrorists have barricaded themselves” and a gun battle started, an Israeli military statement said of the latest clash in the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
The Wafa official Palestinian news agency said military vehicles surrounded a house in a Jenin refugee camp and loud speaker demands were made for an occupant to surrender.
Shoulder-fired missiles were then used and a drone attacked the house, it added. “During the exchanges of fire, an IDF (Israeli military) aircraft struck several armed terrorists in the area,” the Israeli statement said.
The West Bank has suffered from mounting violence since the start of the Gaza war on October 7.
Seven Palestinians were killed in military operations in the occupied territory this week, before the latest deadly operation.
A woman and child died in an Israeli raid in a refugee camp near Tulkarem on Monday, four men in a drone attack on the same Nur Shams camp on Tuesday and one man in Jenin on Wednesday, according to the Health Ministry. Fourteen people died in one two-day Israeli operation in Nur Shams in April, according to a Palestinian Red Crescent toll. According to Palestinian figures, at least 565 Palestinians have died in the West Bank in military raids and in violence with Israeli settlers since October 7.
Palestinian children walk amid the destruction in a heavily damaged residential district of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis. PHOTO: AFP
AFP – The newest diet trend making waves across social media platforms is water fasting.
Following in the footsteps of intermittent fasting, which involves cycling between eating and fasting during specific hours, water fasting has captured attention on TikTok for its touted health advantages.
This regimen entails consuming solely water and other liquids (like coffee, tea, herbal infusions, and vegetable broth) for a day or longer. Advocates claim it aids weight loss and rejuvenates the digestive system, but it comes with potential health hazards.
There are many ways to practise water fasting, but experts agree that the ideal duration is five days, once a year.
For those new to water fasting, an initial period of 24 to 48 hours is recommended.
But is it really an effective solution for weight loss?
According to a 2023 study from the University of Illinois, Chicago in the United States (US), published in the journal Nutrition Reviews, water fasting may not be effective for long-term weight loss. The review of eight studies on water fasting reported that participants experienced significant short-term weight loss.
PHOTO: ENVATOPHOTO: ENVATO
Those who fasted for five days lost four-six per cent of their initial weight, those fasting for seven to 10 days lost two-10 per cent, and those fasting for 15-20 days lost seven-10 per cent of their original weight.
In one of the studies reviewed, which tracked participants’ weight after the fast ended, people were found to have gained back all they had lost in a five-day water fast within three months.
“My overall conclusion is that I guess you could try it, but it just seems like a lot of work, and all those metabolic benefits disappear,” said study lead researcher and professor of kinesiology and nutrition Dr Krista Varady in a news release.
Water fasting can have side effects, including mood swings, migraines and vomiting.
It can exhaust you physically and mentally, preventing you from engaging in strenuous
physical activity.
Professor Varady also noted that “participants in these prolonged fasts lost about two-thirds of their weight in lean mass and one-third in fat mass.
“This is the opposite of what happens most of the time during weight loss, where more fat is lost than muscle.”
Water fasting is not recommended for certain categories of people, including children and adolescents; people with medical conditions such as diabetes; pregnant and breastfeeding women; and adults over 75.
“When done long term, water fasting can be dangerous, and even fatal without medical supervision, because of nutrient and electrolyte imbalances,” US-based functional medicine dietitian Kaytee Hadley told the American magazine Forbes.
It’s crucial to consult a doctor before attempting prolonged fasting, as going 24 hours or more without food can be dangerous.
Finally, it’s worth remembering that water fasting is not a miracle solution for weight loss or detoxification. Its effects vary from one individual to another, and it should be practised with caution.
A Cal Fire OV-10 air tactical aircraft releases a puff of smoke while guiding a fire retardant drop during the Thompson Fire in Oroville, California in the United States. PHOTO: AP
AP – Thousands of people evacuated during a Northern California wildfire in the United States (US) were allowed to return home yesterday as crews continued battling flames amid scorching heat, officials said.
Containment of the Thompson Fire near the city of Oroville in Butte County also increased to 29 per cent from seven per cent.
The “vast majority” of the 17,000 people under evacuation orders or warnings were able to go home, said public information officer for Butte County, Kristi Olio. Previous reports of 26,000 people being under orders or warnings were inaccurate, she said, adding that the fire has unfolded so quickly that it has been difficult to get firm figures.
The Thompson Fire broke out before noon on Tuesday about 110 kilometres (km) north of Sacramento, sending up a huge plume of smoke that could be seen from space. The fire had burned 15 square km, up from 14 square km earlier on Thursday.
But officials warned of hot temperatures that could hit 42 degrees Celsius with even hotter weather expected today.
“The winds are slowly picking up,” said information officer for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire Chris Peterson. “You add that with the heat and low humidity,” and the potential for volatile fire behaviour grows.
Four structures were destroyed, and more than 12,000 were threatened. Cal Fire did not specify if the structures were homes, but an Associated Press photographer saw fire burn three adjacent suburban-style homes in Oroville.
Four firefighters reported injuries, all from heat. The cause of the blaze was being investigated.
The region is familiar with catastrophic events. The deadliest and most destructive wildfire in state history nearly wiped out the town of Paradise in Butte County in 2018.
And in 2017, both spillways of the Oroville Dam – the nation’s tallest – failed, mandating the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people.
“We do it ‘well,’ I guess, is the word to say,” said Oroville Mayor David Pittman.
He said the 20,000 residents of Oroville have heeded evacuation warnings and stepped up to offer a place to stay and home-cooked meals for evacuees.
Millions of people across the US are baking in a heat wave including in California, which is seeing “significantly more wildfire activity at this point” than in recent years, California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said in a statement.
More than a dozen other blazes, most of them small, are active across the state, according to Cal Fire. The largest of those, the Basin Fire in Fresno County, was nearly 50 per cent contained with 57 square km burned.
A Cal Fire OV-10 air tactical aircraft releases a puff of smoke while guiding a fire retardant drop during the Thompson Fire in Oroville, California in the United States. PHOTO: AP
ABOVE & BELOW: Photos show scenes from the movie. PHOTO: ILLUMINATION & UNIVERSAL PICTURES
AP – Should a review of a Despicable Me movie be a thoughtful analysis or just a list of the funny stuff the Minions do in it?
As much as I might believe in the value of film criticism, I kind of suspect that even the finest points of assessment would be dismantled about as fast as a Minion can says “Bello!”
Since they first emerged in the original Despicable Me in 2010, the Minions have marauded through movie theatres with impunity, soaking up some USD4.6 billion in ticket sales and spawning a franchise that with its latest entry, Despicable Me 4, and counting the multiplying Minions spin-offs, numbers six movies and counting.
Along the way, they’ve accumulated bits of vocabulary from around the globe to add to their gibberish squeals. In Despicable Me 4, I heard “antipasti”, “bazooka” and something that sounded a little like the old Goonies line: “Hey you guys!”
So the Minions continue to evolve even if the movies don’t. Six films in and with more on the way, too much of a good thing is becoming more of a pressing question in Despicable Me 4, a silly and breezy installment from Illumination Entertainment that passes by with about as much to remember it as a Saturday morning cartoon.
That’s not all bad. Much of what makes the Despicable Me movies fun is that they avoid any sense of seriousness like the plague.
They stand proudly in the Looney Tunes realm of animation, with little aim beyond loosely stitching slapstick sequences together.
There’s a good chance you might cry during a Pixar movie, but if you wept during a Despicable Me movie, someone might call for help. For Despicable Me 4, the filmmakers have, as if unsure about where to go next, smashed four or five sequel plotlines together.
The film starts with a school reunion – the Lycée Pas Bon School of Villainy Class of ’85 – where Gru encounters an old rival, Maxime le Mal (Will Ferrell), a French-accented cockroach-obsessed villain.
Gru is attending, though, as an agent for the Anti-Villain League. (One hopes there is somewhere an Antihero League led by Travis Bickle and Walter White). Gru traps Maxime and arrests him, but in short order, Maxime breaks out of prison and vows revenge on Gru, sending their family – wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig), and their three adopted children, Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier), and Agnes (Madison Polan) – into witness protection.
This gives the movie a few jokes about Gru, who may be a family man now but who still has the bearing of a supervillain, trying to blend in. He tries to impress their next-door neighbour, a snobbish country club member named Perry Prescott (Stephen Colbert). But there’s also a new character at home: baby Gru Jr.
That allows for some decent gags – the Minions, dressed like a race car pit team, help change dirty diapers with t-shirt gun – but overly familiar ones. Gru Jr is crawling in the footsteps of another child born into an atypical family with a big-torso’ed, spindly-legged father: Jack-Jack of The Incredibles 2.
That may be why Despicable Me 4 also quickly moves on from this narrative, shifting for a time into a heist movie. Gru is blackmailed by the Prescott daughter Poppy (Joey King) into stealing a honey badger from his old school. Meanwhile, the Minions, back at AVL headquarters, are used as guinea pigs for a new serum. Five of them are turned into the Mega Minions, a Fantastic Four-like assemblage of Minion-ised superheroes that have powers (flight, elasticity, a ray-gun eyeball) that they’re predictably useless at controlling.
One boulder-shaped Minion is keen enough to swallow a bomb before it detonates but not to prevent his belch from causing just as much damage.
So, yes, it will take a lot more than a so-so sixth film to slow down the Minions. Though there’s little that distinguishes this latest, overstuffed Despicable Me, series veteran director Chris Renaud (with co-director Patrick Delage and writers Mike White and Ken Daurio) are in something between cruise control and autopilot on this careening, carefree sequel.
The Despicable Me movies have always benefitted from the somewhat judiciously meting out their Minions. Even if they very handily upstage the franchise’s main characters, they’re second-banana henchmen who patiently wait for their many cameos. In Despicable Me 4, one gets trapped in a vending machine and nonchalantly spends the rest of the movie there. If that’s not a show of force, what is? – Jake Coyle
Homes destroyed by Hurricane Beryl lie in Clifton, Union Island, St Vincent and the Grenadines. PHOTO: AP
AP – Hurricane Beryl weakened slightly to a Category two storm as it headed for what could be a direct hit on Mexico’s Caribbean coast resort of Tulum yesterday, where authorities urged tourists to leave white sand beaches.
Beryl was the earliest Category five hurricane in the Atlantic before weakening to a Category two storm with windspeeds of 175 kilometre per hour (kph) as it neared landfall on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, according to the United States (US) National Hurricane Centre.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador issued a statement late Thursday saying Beryl may make a direct hit on Tulum, which, while smaller than Cancun, still has thousands of tourists and residents.
“It is recommendable that people get to higher ground, shelters or the homes of friends or family elsewhere,” López Obrador wrote. “Don’t hesitate, material possessions can be replaced.”
Once a sleepy, laid-back village, in recent years Tulum has boomed with unrestrained development and now has about 50,000 permanent inhabitants and at least as many tourists on an average day. The resort now has its own international airport, but it is largely low-lying, just a few metres above sea level.
Early yesterday, the storm’s centre was about 65 kilometres east of Tulum and was moving west-northwest at 24 kph, the hurricane centre said.
As the wind began gusting over Tulum’s beaches, four-wheelers with megaphones rolled along the sand telling people to leave.
Tourists snapped photos of the growing surf, but military personnel urged them to leave.
Authorities around the Yucatan peninsula have prepared shelters, evacuated some small outlying coastal communities and even moved sea turtle eggs off beaches threatened by storm surge. In Tulum, authorities shut things down and evacuated beachside hotels.
A general manager of Hotel Umi in Tulum Francisco Bencomo said all of their guests had left.
“With these conditions, we’ll be completely locked down,” he said, adding there were no plans to have guests return before July 10. “We’ve cut the gas and electricity. We also have an emergency floor where two maintenance employees will be locking down,” he said from the hotel.
Homes destroyed by Hurricane Beryl lie in Clifton, Union Island, St Vincent and the Grenadines. PHOTO: AP
Jackey Cheung plays an action hero in his 40s in the new movie 'Customs Frontline'. PHOTO: EMPEROR MOTION PICTURES
ANN/The Straits Times – Hong Kong singer-actor Jacky Cheung may be 62, but he convincingly portrays an action hero in his 40s in the new movie Customs Frontline.
Too far-fetched?
Not according to Hong Kong filmmaker Herman Yau, who discussed the film in a Zoom interview with the media recently.
The movie follows a team of Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department officers who stumble upon a mysterious container ship carrying the bodies of dead crew members and a massive cache of arms.
This discovery puts them on a dangerous collision course with a ruthless arms dealer.
Yau explained that Cheung’s character is meant to be 45 years old. Given that Customs Frontline was filmed from March to June 2022, Cheung was just a few months shy of 61 during production.
“Can Jacky Cheung play the character’s age? I think he can. Technology is very advanced nowadays,” hinted Yau, 62, who stopped short of mentioning the use of digital de-ageing, a visual effects technique commonly used in films.
“Anyone can easily find out Jacky’s real age online. But if you ask me, I do not think he looks 62.
Does he look 49? I can believe that. In movies, what matters is what age you look like.”
Yau added, “Actually, Jacky’s action scenes can be very good. He is not the sort who goes one, two, three, fight. But he has a lot of experience with action films, and he is very humble.”
Cheung’s last lead role was eight years ago, as a disgraced pastor in the drama film Heaven In The Dark (2016). It earned him a Golden Horse Award nomination for Best Leading Actor.
He has worked with Yau on at least four other films, including Best of The Best (1992) and No More Love, No More Death (1993).
The filmmaker credits these past collaborations for convincing Cheung to make his acting comeback.
Yau said, “I must have left a good impression during the times we worked together.”
Jackey Cheung plays an action hero in his 40s in the new movie ‘Customs Frontline’. PHOTO: EMPEROR MOTION PICTURES
