Briefs, January 29, 2013

UK grandmother files death penalty appeal

DENPASAR, Indonesia - A British grandmother convicted for smuggling cocaine into Bali yesterday filed an appeal against her death sentence. Lindsay Sandiford, 56, received the death penalty last week for smuggling almost 5kg of cocaine worth US$2.4 million into Indonesia last May. AFP

Gang rape suspect declared a juvenile

NEW DELHI - A juvenile court has ruled that a suspect in the fatal gang rape of a young woman in New Delhi last month was a juvenile at the time of the attack. The magistrate announced the decision after documents presented by officials of the suspect's elementary school indicated that he was under 18 years of age at the time of the December 16 attack. AP

Vietnamese group on trial for subversion

HANOI - In one of Vietnam's largest subversion trials for years, 22 members of a little-known "reactionary" group appeared in court charged with trying to overthrow the communist government. The leader and 21 other members of the Hoi Dong Cong Luat Cong An Bia Son appeared in court in central Phu Yen province. AFP

US-Japan probe shifts to instrument maker

TOKYO - The joint United States and Japanese investigation into the Boeing 787's battery problems has moved from the battery-maker to the manufacturer of a monitoring system. Shigeru Takano, of Japan's transport ministry, said the investigation into battery-maker GS Yuasa was over and there was no evidence that it was the source of the problem. AP

N Korea ready for tests 'in few weeks or less'

SEOUL - New satellite images reveal ongoing activity at North Korea's atomic test site, according to a US research institute. The images, as recent as January 23, suggest the facility would be ready to conduct a test "in a few weeks or less", the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University posted on its 38 North website. AFP

'Government in exile' leader Khanh dies, 86

WASHINGTON - Nguyen Khanh, a South Vietnamese general who briefly seized control of the government before being deposed and sent into exile, has died in San Jose, California. He was 86. The cause of his death on January 11 was related to diabetes, according to a statement from Chanh Nguyen Huu, who succeeded Khanh as head of a "government in exile" in California. NYT