Foreign News
Chinese teen found alive in US after ‘cyber kidnapping’
A Chinese foreign exchange student has been found freezing but alive in the US after his parents were extorted out of tens of thousands of dollars in a “cyber kidnapping” scam.
Kai Zhuang was discovered “very cold and scared” in a tent in rural Utah, Riverdale Police said in a statement.
The 17-year-old is believed to have isolated himself after being manipulated by the kidnappers.
His parents were then tricked into paying around $80,000 (£62,600).
Zhuang is one of a number of foreign students targeted by so-called cyber kidnappers in the US recently, Riverdale Police added in their statement. Police believe Kai was being controlled by the kidnappers as early as 20 December, when he was seen by officers in Provo, Utah, carrying camping equipment.
Those officers arranged for him to be returned to Riverdale – where he lived with a host family – out of concerns for his safety. He did not mention any threats at the time, however.
Police were then contacted on 28 December by the school he was attending, which had been contacted by his parents in China. Kai’s parents had told school officials they had been sent a ransom demand and a picture of their son indicating he was abducted.
According to police, victims of cyber kidnapping are convinced to isolate themselves, and even take pictures to make it appear they are being held captive – despite the kidnappers not being present. Instead, the victim is monitored through Facetime or Skype. Both the victim and their families are then convinced the other will be harmed if they do not comply.
But despite the kidnappers not being with Kai, police in Utah still feared for his safety, explaining the state’s December temperatures meant there was a risk he could “freeze to death overnight”.
Kai was eventually found around 25 miles (40km) north of Riverdale, near Brigham City, in a tent with “no heat source” on Sunday.
He had limited food and water, a heat blanket and a sleeping bag – as well as several phones which police suspect were used to carry out the kidnapping.
Following his rescue, Kai – who was checked for hypothermia – requested a “warm cheeseburger” and to speak with his family.
(BBC)
US authorities have found debris from a medical transport aircraft that went missing with six people on board.
The Federal Aviation Administration told the BBC it had lost contact with the Gulfstream G-100 plane just after 01:00 local time (05:00 GMT) on Saturday, while it was travelling from Bermuda to Boston, Massachusetts.
The search for survivors continues off the coast of Nantucket, a Massachusetts island, the US Coast Guard said.
Authorities have notified the next of kin of those on the flight, four Canadian nationals and two Bermudian nationals.
“Search crews located a debris field confirmed to be from the aircraft off the coast of Nantucket,” the US Coast Guard said in an update on Saturday night. It added that ships, helicopters and planes were involved in searches that would through continue the night.
The plane departed from Bermuda’s L.F. Wade International Airport at 23:40 local time, according to flight data from FlightAware, and was due to land at Boston’s Logan International at 01:30 EDT (05:30 GMT).
According to the tail number released by the Coast Guard, the plane belonged to Latitude Air Ambulances, a company that provides international medical flights for patients returning home.
Among those on board were two pilots and two medical staff, both Canadian, Clarence Togeretz, director of flight operations at Latitude, told CBC News.
The crew flew to Bermuda to collect a patient and their relative, who are not Canadian, Togeretz said.
FlightAware’s tracker shows the aircraft significantly dropped in altitude before its communications went dark, plummeting from around 7,300m (24,000ft) to 3,300m (11,000ft).
Radio transmissions shows trouble with communications between the air traffic controller and the pilot, the Boston Globe reported based on transmissions provided by LiveATC.net.
“You’re coming in blind? Is that what you said?,” the air traffic controller asked. “Are you declaring an emergency, or no?”
The pilot’s response was inaudible.
“You’re coming in a little weak so I didn’t hear what your response was, if you were declaring an emergency or not,” the air traffic controller said, according to the Globe.
The air traffic controller later confirmed the pilot had declared an emergency.
An area fire dispatcher asked emergency crews just after 01:00 EDT to prepare to meet a plane with an “electrical issue”.
The dispatcher later said “the aircraft has lost radio and radar”.
The Coast Guard said it would provide an update on Sunday morning local time.
[BBC]
A car has crashed into a crowd of rugby league supporters in the eastern Australian city of Newcastle, injuring 10 people, including three children.
New South Wales police said on Saturday that two of the injured – a five-year-old girl and a 67-year-old man – were in a critical condition and the other eight were in stable condition in hospital.
Police said they had arrested the 18-year-old man driving the vehicle and were investigating what happened. They said the crash was not believed to be related to “terrorism”.
The crowd had gathered to farewell the local rugby league side, the Newcastle Knights, ahead of their grand final against the Sydney Roosters on Sunday.
Newcastle Lord Mayor Gavin Morris said the driver, a rugby league fan, had lost control of his vehicle and had been taken into custody.
“He was revving the car, he was excited, he was a supporter, he was there for the joy of the moment,” Morris told the national broadcaster ABC.
“Somehow he lost control of the car … and he’s gone into the crowd,” he added.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “My thoughts are with everyone injured or involved in the horrible incident this morning in Newcastle.”
“Rugby league brings people together, and this should have been a weekend of excitement and pride for Newcastle fans,” he wrote in a social media post.
[Aljazeera]
Polls have opened in Latvia for an election taking place against the backdrop of perceived security threats from Russia and a nationwide cost-of-living squeeze.
Saturday’s vote is the first electoral test for Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs after coming to power in May this year when his predecessor resigned due to a backlash from stray drone incursions from Ukraine.
Kulbergs, whose right-wing United List party is currently polling at about 20 percent, is expected to hold onto his position, but the decline of two allies in his current coalition means he is set for a complicated negotiation over the makeup of any future government.
Polls opened at 05:00 GMT and will close at 17:00 GMT. The results are not expected to change Latvia’s pro-European and pro-Ukrainian course.
About 1.5 million people are eligible to vote in the country’s 11th parliamentary election since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Latvian politics are highly fragmented, with parties rarely seeing above 20 percent vote share and coalitions being the norm.
This year, 14 electoral lists are contesting the election, but polls indicate only seven are likely to enter parliament, with the rest expected to fail to meet the minimum 5 percent vote threshold.
Rising living costs, low wages, strains on the healthcare system and long-term population decline have all featured prominently in campaign debates.
Most parties in Latvia are pro-Ukraine; however, the populist Sovereign Power party – which says it wants Ukraine to win but argues money spent supporting Kyiv would be better spent at home – looks likely to become the country’s second-biggest party, with more than 9 percent of the vote. Most other parties have ruled out forming a coalition with Sovereign Power.
Latvia First, a pro-Ukraine and populist nationalist party currently polling at about 9 percent, could be a potential coalition partner for PM Kulbergs.
The Progressives, a pro-European social democratic party, are polling at 6 percent.
Ethnic Russians make up roughly one in four Latvian citizens, but their vote, which has traditionally been cast along identity-based lines, looks set to be made according to economic and social issues.
Latvia is the poorest of the Baltic states, and it has sharply increased its defence spending since Russia invaded Ukraine, now allocating nearly 5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) to defence.
[Aljazeera]
Showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Uva and Southern provinces and in Anuradhapura district
PSTA worse than PTA: FSP
Shiranthi R remanded until 13 Oct.
Former NSB Chairman Kariyawasam granted bail
Katchatheevu row: India SC urges fishermen to avoid Sri Lankan waters
Remembering Juvenal, Coke, Acton and Machiavelli
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
Editorial7 days agoColombo Port drug bust: The plot thickens
-
Features5 days agoThe first woman in the foreign service or Ceylon Overseas Service it was then called
-
Editorial6 days agoFuelling discontent and protest
-
News4 days agoGeneva takes up Sallay’s case and govt. ignores opportunity to answer accusations
-
Foreign News5 days agoTen injured after car crashes into rugby supporters in Australia
-
Latest News6 days agoTharindu Rathnayake, bowlers secure Asian Games Bronze for Sri Lanka
-
News5 days agoNearly 20 Iranian tankers stranded off Lanka amid US sanctions
-
Features4 days agoSri Lanka Cricket Bill: Governance reform is not yet a cricket strategy