Afghanistan toll 23 in spate of attacks
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Gunmen killed 14 people in two attacks in Afghanistan while the Taliban targeted pro-government checkpoints in the northeast, killing nine militiamen, officials said Wednesday, the latest in relentless violence that is plaguing the war-torn nation.
The attacks occurred against the backdrop of renewed U.N. calls for an end to violence and as Washington's special peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, embarked on another round of talks with the Taliban to press them to start negotiating with the newly reconciled Afghan political leadership in Kabul.
In Parwan province, north of the capital, Kabul, an unknown number of gunmen stormed a mosque late on Tuesday, killing 11 worshippers and wounding several others, said Wahida Shahkar, spokeswoman for the provincial governor. Reports earlier in the day said eight were killed.
Also late on Tuesday, gunmen in eastern Khost province attacked a family returning home from a mosque, killing three brothers, according to Adil Haidari, spokesman for the provincial police chief.
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No one claimed responsibility for either attack but the Taliban promptly denied involvement.
Philippine police raid illicit hospital
MANILA, Philippines -- Philippine police raided a clandestine hospital and drugstore that were secretly treating Chinese citizens suspected of being infected with the coronavirus, police officials said Wednesday.
Two people were arrested and one patient was found during Tuesday's raid at the residential villa that had been illegally turned into a seven-bed hospital and drugstore, police Brig. Gen. Rhoderick Armamento said.
More than 200 suspected coronavirus rapid-test kits and syringes were recovered from trash cans at the villa.
The Chinese patient was moved to a Philippine hospital. Those arrested were the Chinese administrator of the hospital, which may have been operating secretly for about three months, and a compatriot who manned the drugstore, he said.
"They have practiced medicine and prescribed drugs without a license," Armamento said by telephone. "The Chinese patients who were brought there may still be walking around in public and can infect other people."
Death sentence is delivered on Zoom
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Singapore has sentenced a drug suspect to death on the popular videoconferencing app Zoom because of the city-state's coronavirus lockdown, in a move slammed by a human-rights group as callous and inhumane.
Defense lawyer Peter Fernando said the Supreme Court announced the penalty to his client, Punithan Genasan from Malaysia, in a virtual hearing Friday. Genasan was in jail, while Fernando and prosecutors participated in the hearing from different locations.
A Supreme Court spokesman said courts have been conducting hearings and delivering judgments remotely to minimize the spread of the virus. The spokesperson, who declined to be identified under court policy, confirmed Genasan's case was the first "where a death sentence was pronounced by remote hearing in Singapore."
"This has been the arrangement made by the court ... with essential hearings conducted via Zoom," Fernando said Wednesday. He said he will meet Genasan on Friday to discuss an appeal.
The Singapore court ruled that Genasan, 37, was involved in drug trafficking in October 2011. Court documents said the judge found he recruited two drug couriers and directed them to transport and deliver 28.5 grams of heroin.
A Section on 05/21/2020