Foreign News
China hands death sentence to man who killed Japanese boy
A Chinese man has been sentenced to death for fatally stabbing a 10-year-old Japanese schoolboy, in a case that sparked concern among Japanese expats living in China.
The sentence for the knife attack in the southern city of Shenzhen in September was handed down on Friday, according to Japanese media reports.
It comes a day after another court handed a death sentence to a Chinese man who attacked a Japanese mother and child and killed a Chinese woman who tried to protect them in Suzhou province in June.
The courts’ decisions come as Chinese authorities carried out several high-profile executions in recent days.
The stabbings in Shenzhen and Suzhou were among three attacks on foreigners in China last year. Just days before the Suzhou incident, four US college instructors were hurt in a knife attack at a public park in Jilin in the country’s north.
After the attack in Shenzhen, Japanese companies, including Toshiba and Toyota, told their staff to take precautions against any possible violence, while Panasonic offered its employees free flights home.
In the Suzhou case, a Chinese court said that Zhou Jiasheng, 52, had carried out the attack outside a Japanese school after he lost the will to live, following the loss of his job and subsequent debts.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters at a press conference that the court ruled that the attack was an “intentional murder” and the penalty was given due to the “significant social impact” the crime had caused.
However, the court made no mention of Japan during the ruling, according to Hayashi, who added that officials from the Japanese consulate in Shanghai had attended the sentencing.
Hayashi added that the crime, which killed and injured “innocent people”, including a child, was “absolutely unforgivable”.
He also paid tribute to Hu Youping the Chinese bus attendant who was killed by Zhou while trying to protect a Japanese mother and her child.
Earlier on Thursday, Mao Ning, spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, briefly commented in a daily press conference that the case was “in judicial process”, adding that China would “as always, act to protect the safety of foreign nationals in China.”
China has been grappling with an uptick in public violence, with many attackers believed to have been spurred by a desire to “take revenge on society” – where perpetrators act on personal grievances by attacking strangers.
There were 19 attacks on pedestrians or strangers last year, a sharp increase from single digits in previous years.
On Monday, a man who killed at least 35 people in a car attack that is thought the be the country’s deadliest attack in a decade was executed.
Last month, a man who killed eight people in a stabbing spree at his university was sentenced to death.
Additionally, in December, a man who injured 30 people by driving into a crowd of children and parents outside a primary school was handed a suspended death sentence.
[BBC]
A French woman who stopped having sex with her husband has won a ruling from Europe’s highest human rights court, which has stated she should not have been blamed for their divorce.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) sided with the 69-year-old on Thursday, saying courts should not consider a refusal to engage in sexual relations as grounds for fault in divorce.
The unanimous decision found that France had violated her right to respect for private and family life under European human rights law – ending a legal dispute which has dragged on for almost a decade.
The French woman, identified as Ms H.W, celebrated the decision as a step forward in ending “rape culture” and promoting consent within marriage.
The case has sparked a debate about attitudes toward marital consent and women’s rights in France. Lilia Mhissen, H.W.’s lawyer, said the decision dismantled the outdated concept of “marital duty” and called for French courts to align with modern views on consent and equality.
Women’s rights groups supporting H.W. said French judges continue to impose an “archaic vision of marriage,” which perpetuates harmful stereotypes.
H.W., who lives in Le Chesnay near Paris, married her husband, JC, in 1984. They had four children, including a daughter with a disability who required constant care, a responsibility H.W. took on. Their marital relations deteriorated after the birth of their first child and by 1992, H.W. began experiencing health problems. In 2002, her husband started physically and verbally abusing her. Two years later, she stopped having sex with him and petitioned for divorce in 2012.
The woman did not dispute the divorce, which she had also requested, but objected to the grounds on which it was granted.
In 2019, an appeals court in Versailles rejected her complaints and ruled in favour of her husband. The Court of Cassation, France’s highest court, later dismissed her appeal without explanation. She then brought her case to the ECHR in 2021.
The ECHR ruled that governments should only intervene in matters like sexuality for very serious reasons. It stated that the idea of “marital duties” in French law ignored the importance of consent in sexual relations.
The court emphasised that agreeing to marry does not mean agreeing to have sex in the future. Suggesting otherwise, the ruling said, would effectively deny that marital rape is a serious crime.
The ruling comes amid growing attention to consent in France, following the high-profile trial of Dominique Pélicot, who drugged his wife and invited men to rape her. Pélicot and the 50 men involved were convicted last month, and the case raised concerns about how French law addresses consent.
Feminist groups argue that the ECHR decision reinforces the need to update French laws and cultural attitudes.
A recent report by French MPs has recommended including the concept of non-consent in the legal definition of rape, stating that consent must be freely given and can be withdrawn at any time.
[BBC]
Firefighters are battling a fast-moving blaze in southern California that has swelled over the past day, with authorities warning that Thursday is “the period of greatest concern”.
The Hughes fire, about 45 miles (72 km) north of Los Angeles, grew to more than 10,000 acres (4,000 hectares), forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate a region already reeling from the most destructive fires in its history.
Forecasters warned that powerful winds were expected to pose further challenge for firefighters, who have so far brought 14% of the fire’s perimeter under control.
The blaze is north of the two ongoing mammoth blazes that have killed at least 28 people and destroyed a number of neighbourhoods in Los Angeles County.
The National Weather Service extended a red-flag warning until Friday morning for most of Los Angeles and Ventura counties as winds push through the area.
“Dangerous fire weather conditions will persist through Friday as fuels remain extremely dry and ready to burn, with Thursday the period of greatest concern,” an advisory said. “Any fire that starts can grow fast and out of control. Have a plan, especially if you are in a high fire risk area.”
More than 31,000 people were evacuated on Wednesday as the fire sent huge flames and plumes of smoke over a hilly terrain in the Castaic Lake area that borders several residential areas and schools.
Local news showed residents near the Hughes fire hosing down their homes and gardens with water and others rushing to evacuate.
Winds in the area were blowing at about 20-30mph (32-48km/h), but could pick up, which would fan the blaze and make it harder for air crews to operate.
Climate change has made the grasses and shrubs that are fuelling the Los Angeles fires more vulnerable to burning, scientists have said.
Rapid “whiplash”-style swings between dry and wet conditions in the region in recent years have created a massive amount of tinder-dry vegetation that is ready to catch fire.
[BBC]
A cat has made three flights between New Zealand and Australia in just 24 hours after being forgotten on a plane.
Mittens, an eight-year-old Maine Coon, was booked to travel from Christchurch to Melbourne on 12 January – but her cage was left in the Air New Zealand aircraft’s cargo hold.
After waiting for three hours for Mittens at Melbourne airport, owner Margo Neas was told by ground staff the plane had already returned to New Zealand with her pet.
During that flight the heating was turned on to keep the cat comfortable, Ms Neas said. The pet – who had lost weight but was otherwise unharmed – was later flown again to Melbourne to reunite with her owner.
Speaking to NBC on Wednesday, Ms Neas said she and her son had been informed about the mishap by airport ground staff in Melbourne.
“They said: ‘Look, we have located your cat – but it’s actually on the return flight to Christchurch…’
“And I said: ‘When did you discover that the cat wasn’t taken off the plane?’ And they said: ‘We’ve only just discovered now.’ And I said: ‘How can this happen?'”
Ms Neas said she was told that the pilot had already been alerted to turn the heating on in the cargo hold where the temperature could be as low as 7C.
Air New Zealand is still looking into how Mittens was forgotten, but reports say a stowed wheelchair may have obscured a baggage handler’s view of her cage.
The airline has apologised for the distress caused and promised to reimburse all travel costs.
The company does not accept direct animal bookings from the public for international flights, so passengers must book via approved pet carrier firms.
Ms Neas said she had been relieved to be finally reunited with Mittens.
“She basically just ran into my arms and just snuggled up in here and just did the biggest cuddles of all time,” she was quoted as saying by the AP news agency on Wednesday. “It was just such a relief.”
Ms Neas, who had earlier decided to relocate to Australia, added: “It was not a great start to our new life in Melbourne because we didn’t have the family, we weren’t complete.”
The one-way flight time between Christchurch and Melbourne usually takes less than four hours.
[BBC]
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