While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Sept 6
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Filipino social media users are furious over a group photo taken by an NBI agent inside a car taking fugitive ex-mayor Alice Guo (in striped outfit) to Jakarta's airport on Sept 5 for deportation.
PHOTO: PHILIPPINES NATIONAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
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Outrage over officials’ photos with fugitive ex-mayor
Filipinos turned to social media to express their outrage after Philippine government officials and law enforcement agents meant to escort fugitive ex-mayor Alice Guo back to the country to face criminal charges casually posed for photos with her while processing her deportation.
Critics said it was a mockery of the Filipino people and a cause for embarrassment, when Guo had evaded the Philippine law enforcement agencies by fleeing to Malaysia, Singapore, and then Indonesia in mid-July despite ongoing investigations against her.
One of the officials involved, Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos, later said he had asked for the picture to be taken as proof they had apprehended Guo, and did not realise she was posing for the camera.
Indonesian authorities apprehended Guo, who is accused of having links to Chinese criminal syndicates, on Sept 3.
Biden administration races to save billions in Ukraine aid
AFP
US President Joe Biden’s administration is engaged in urgent discussions with Congress to allow it to use up to US$6 billion (S$7.8 billion) in military aid for Ukraine before a Sept 30 deadline, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
The effort comes at a high-risk moment for Ukrainian forces, who are advancing into Russia’s Kursk region while trying to hold off Russian forces threatening the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk.
The Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), a key component of a US$61 billion aid package for Ukraine passed in April, allows the president to transfer defence articles and services from US stocks in response to emergencies.
TikTokers warned to stay away from KL sinkhole site
PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
Kuala Lumpur police have warned the public not to make TikTok content at a sinkhole site in a popular tourist shopping district where an Indian tourist fell through and has not been found since.
Police chief Rusdi Mohd Isa said officers would be stationed where the ground opened up last month to ensure that other agencies can work without disruption, reported the Bernama news agency.
“We don’t want the public to go to the sinkhole site and make TikTok content there. Please stay away from the area,” said the head policeman at a press conference on Sept 5.
Outrage at death of Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei
REUTERS
Outrage and sorrow greeted the death on Sept 5 of Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei, who succumbed to severe burns after being doused with petrol and set on fire by her boyfriend.
It was the latest horrific act of gender-based violence in the East African country, where activists have warned of a rising femicide epidemic.
The attack took place just weeks after Cheptegei made her Olympic debut in the women’s marathon at the Paris Games, where she finished in 44th.
Twice World Cup football winner Alex Morgan retiring
Alex Morgan, a two-time World Cup winner and one of the greatest goal scorers in United States women’s national team history, announced her retirement from professional football on Sept 5.
Morgan, who also revealed that she is pregnant with her second child, will play her final professional match on Sept 8 when her San Diego Wave of the National Women’s Soccer League host the North Carolina Courage.
One of the last links to the great US women’s football team dynasty, Morgan was left out of the squad that won gold at this year’s Paris Olympics.
