Remeasuring team scales Mt. Everest
BEIJING -- A Chinese survey team Wednesday became the first and perhaps only group to climb Mount Everest this year, part of a project to remeasure the exact height of the world's tallest mountain.
The ascent, reported by Chinese state media, comes after China and Nepal canceled the spring climbing season on the mountain that straddles their border in a bid to prevent the coronavirus from spreading among expedition teams that typically live for weeks in tightly packed camps with little access to emergency medical help.
That could make members of the Chinese survey team the only people this year to reach the peak of Everest, where crowds of climbers have been growing and mounds of garbage accumulating in recent years as commercial operations make it easier to scale the mountain.
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A 53-member team from China's Ministry of National Resources has been conducting scientific work on Everest since early March. China's network of Beidou satellites is being used in the survey to determine the mountain's current height and natural resources, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
American gets life term for child porn
MANILA, Philippines -- A Philippine court has sentenced an American to life in prison for sexually exploiting Filipino children using webcams to sell videos, photos and livestreams to buyers abroad, an official said Wednesday.
National Bureau of Investigation official Janet Francisco said the conviction of David Timothy Deakin is a strong warning to offenders that "they could not hide even if they commit sexual exploitation crimes in cyberspace because law enforcers are collaborating worldwide to catch them."
Judge Irineo Pangilinan Jr. of the regional trial court in northern Pampanga province declared Deakin guilty of qualified human trafficking, sentenced him to life imprisonment, and ordered him to pay a fine and indemnify his victims. The ruling was handed down online Tuesday because of coronavirus quarantine restrictions.
The FBI in the U.S. provided the information that led to Deakin's arrest in April 2017 in Pampanga's Mabalacat city, Francisco said. Associated Press journalists were allowed to witness the raid on Deakin's apartment near a red-light district and his arrest.
Francisco, who heads an anti-human trafficking force, said the raid led to the seizure of the largest amount of digital evidence related to online sexual exploitation of children in the country so far.
Deakin was originally from Peoria, Ill., and has been in the Philippines since 2000. He told the AP in an interview shortly after his arrest that he didn't make videos of children.
The webcam scheme involves pedophiles in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia who pay facilitators to sexually abuse children, even babies, in the privacy of Philippine homes. They watch and help direct the abuses through online liv-streaming services.
Montenegro's Belgrade flights banned
BELGRADE, Serbia -- Serbian authorities have banned Montenegro's national carrier from operating flights out of Belgrade after the small nation's government excluded Serbia from a list of countries with which Montenegro will reopen its borders after declaring an end to its coronavirus outbreak.
The Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate said Montenegro Airlines planes cannot land at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport as of Wednesday. The aviation agency said unrestricted travel between the two countries has been "seriously violated" by Montenegro's decision to ban Serbs from entering Montenegro.
The flight and border entry bans come after deepening tensions between the former Balkan allies, which existed as one state before Montenegro split off through a 2006 referendum.
Montenegro Airlines planned to resume flights to the Serbian capital on Monday. Air Serbia still has plans to fly to two destinations in Montenegro starting June 7.
Rebels kill 40 people in Congo attacks
BENI, Congo -- Rebels have killed at least 40 people in several attacks in Congo's eastern Irumu territory, a civil-rights group says.
Members of the Allied Democratic Forces and an Islamic State-linked group known as MTM staged the attacks Tuesday in Samboko, Bandavilemba and Walese-Vukutu in Ituri province, the Center for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights said in a statement Wednesday.
The rebels, who recently began carrying out attacks together, used machetes and looted food and other valuables, the group said.
The center said at least 627 civilians have been killed by Allied Democratic Forces forces since Oct. 30. Most attacks have occurred in response to large-scale offensives by Congolese armed forces in the region. The rights group said more than 515 of the deaths have occurred in Beni territory.
The group called on the government to reassess its operations, given the fury with which the Allied Democratic Forces has been responding.
Many armed groups exist in Congo's east, fighting over mineral-rich territory.
A Section on 05/28/2020