Indonesia says to release Australian Corby in 2017

  • Afghan government to shun U.S. talks with Taliban

    Afghan government to shun U.S. talks with Taliban

    Afghan government to shun U.S. talks with Taliban

    By Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday his government would not join U.S. peace talks with the Taliban and halted negotiations with Washington on a troop pact, underscoring the fragile nature of hopes for a negotiated peace in Afghanistan. The United States and the Taliban have said officials from both sides will meet in Doha, the capital of Qatar, on Thursday, in a step forward for a stuttering peace process after 12 years `,of bloody and costly war …

  • Brazil protests proceed as smaller cities join the fray

    Brazil protests proceed as smaller cities join the fray

    Brazil protests proceed as smaller cities join the fray

    By Asher Levine and Tatiana Ramil SAO PAULO/FORTALEZA (Reuters) - Protesters blocked roads in Sao Paulo and marched toward a stadium hosting a major international soccer game in Brazil's northeast on Wednesday in a growing wave of nationwide demonstrations against poor public services, inflation and other woes in Latin America's biggest country. After more than a week, the biggest series of protests to sweep Brazil in more than two decades continued in major capitals and moved into smaller …

  • Iran says appeals for "jihad" in Syria fuel radicalism

    Iran says appeals for "jihad" in Syria fuel radicalism

    Iran says appeals for "jihad" in Syria fuel radicalism

    KUWAIT (Reuters) - Calls by Sunni Muslim clerics for a holy war against the Syrian government and its Shi'ite allies are fuelling radicalism in the region, a senior Iranian official said on Wednesday. Earlier this month, prominent cleric Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi called for jihad in Syria after fighters from Shi'ite Lebanese group Hezbollah intervened to help President Bashar al-Assad, in a move which stoked sectarian tensions. ... …

  • ANALYSIS - Putin basks in isolation over Syria as Obama's charm falls flat

    ANALYSIS - Putin basks in isolation over Syria as Obama's charm falls flat

    ANALYSIS - Putin basks in isolation over Syria as Obama's charm falls flat

    By Guy Faulconbridge and Timothy Heritage ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland/MOSCOW (Reuters) - At the end of a tense two-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Barack Obama - slumped over and serious - tried to lighten the mood with a joke about their favourite sports. "And finally, we compared notes on President Putin's expertise in judo and my declining skills in basketball," the U.S. president told reporters at the G8 summit, after the two men gave formal statements emphasising …

  • Gyula Horn, the man who tore the Iron Curtain, dies at 80

    Gyula Horn, the man who tore the Iron Curtain, dies at 80

    Gyula Horn, the man who tore the Iron Curtain, dies at 80

    By Sandor Peto BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Gyula Horn, who as Hungary's last communist foreign minister ripped a hole in the Iron Curtain in 1989, has died at the age of 80 after long illness, the government said on Wednesday. His decisions helped trigger off tumultuous months in which European communist regimes collapsed like dominoes, the Berlin Wall was trampled down and Soviet tanks prepared to rumble home from land they had occupied for nearly half a century. For Horn, it was a breathtaking year …

Indonesia is due to release jailed Australian drug trafficker Schapelle Corby in September 2017, a prison chief said Friday, after she had five years slashed off her 20-year term.

Corby could be released earlier if she is granted parole and will likely continue to receive the usual twice-yearly sentence reductions, Gusti Ngurah Wiratna, head of Kerobokan prison on Bali island, told reporters.

"After subtracting her (annual) sentence cuts and the five-year clemency, she will be released from jail on September 20, 2017," Wiratna said.

"In the future, she will continue to receive further remissions every August 17 on Independence Day, and on Christmas," he said, adding that a team would now evaluate Corby's eligibility for parole.

He said Corby had served enough time to be eligible to file for parole, for which a prisoner much also "express remorse, show good behaviour and not commit any crimes while serving their sentence".

Corby's lawyer Iskandar Nawing said that for Indonesian nationals, parole can be granted as quickly as three months after filing.

"It will likely take much longer for a foreigner because we have to coordinate with the immigration office," Nawing said, declining to give a timeframe.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono approved clemency for Corby, 34, on Monday, cutting five years off her sentence, but her final release date had not at that time been made official.

Corby was convicted in 2005 of smuggling 4.1 kilos (nine pounds) of marijuana.

She filed a clemency appeal about two years ago to the Indonesian President, when her lawyers said she should be released on humanitarian grounds because of mental illness.

Nawing has said that Corby had been driven insane at Kerobokan, one of Indonesia's most notorious prisons, whose 1,000 inmates include 60 foreigners, including several Australians.

Loading...
  • Huawei launches world's slimmest smartphone
    Huawei launches world's slimmest smartphone

    LONDON (Reuters) - China's Huawei unveiled its flagship smartphone, the Ascend P6, at its first standalone launch event on Tuesday, underlining its ambitions to compete with Apple and Samsung in the top tier of mobile technology. The company says the device, at 6.18 mm thick, is the world's slimmest. It has a 5 megapixel front-facing camera, designed for taking "selfies", or pictures of the owner to be shared on social media networks. The company picked the launch date - 6/18 (June 18) - to tie …

  • Earthquake strikes Quezon; shocks felt in metro
    Earthquake strikes Quezon; shocks felt in metro

    A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck Quezon province at around 7 p.m. Wednesday, with shocks felt in many cities in Metro Manila. …

  • PH hailed for bringing sea disputes to UN
    PH hailed for bringing sea disputes to UN

    Manila, Philippines --- The Philippines received plaudits during the third annual conference on the South China Sea hosted recently by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC, for bringing its territorial dispute with China over the West Philippine Sea to a United Nations-backed tribunal. …

  • Sotto bats for battered husbands, but...
    Sotto bats for battered husbands, but...

    Manila, Philippines --- Who's afraid of their wives? …

  • Pinoys are world's top gin consumers

    Pinoys are the world’s top gin drinkers and the third rum consumers, a report from The Economist said, citing data from International Wine and Spirit Research. …

Editor’s note:Yahoo! Philippines encourages responsible comments that add dimension to the discussion. No bashing or hate speech, please. You can express your opinion without slamming others or making derogatory remarks.

Odd Stories

  • Paris tackles rudeness to tourists with new manual

    Paris tackles rudeness to tourists with new manual

    Reuters - 48 minutes ago
    Paris tackles rudeness to tourists with new manual

    PARIS (Reuters) - One of the world's most visited cities but also famous for its rudeness, Paris has embarked on a campaign to improve its reputation and better cater to the needs of tourists. Waiters, taxi drivers and sales staff in the French capital all too often come off as impolite, unhelpful and unable to speak foreign languages say local tourism chiefs, who are handing out a manual with guidelines on better etiquette. ... …

  • Boston poised to begin condom giveaway in high schools

    Boston poised to begin condom giveaway in high schools

    Reuters - 51 minutes ago
    Boston poised to begin condom giveaway in high schools

    By Stephanie Simon (Reuters) - Students at all Boston public high schools may soon be able to obtain free condoms at the front office - as long as they sit through a few minutes of counseling about safe sex - under a policy due to be voted on Wednesday by the school board. Condoms are already available in 19 high schools with on-site health centers. The policy, up for a vote by the Boston School Committee, would expand distribution to all 32 high schools in the system. Parents would have the …

  • 'Drunk' claims upset Ukraine parliament budget hearing

    'Drunk' claims upset Ukraine parliament budget hearing

    Reuters - Tue, Jun 18, 2013
    'Drunk' claims upset Ukraine parliament budget hearing

    KIEV (Reuters) - A parliamentary hearing on Ukraine's budget was suspended for several hours on Tuesday after opposition deputies alleged that a deputy finance minister presenting the budget report was drunk. Anatoly Myarkovsky, first deputy finance minister, spoke for 10 minutes on the government's budget performance in 2012. But when questions were invited, deputies from Ukraine's rowdy opposition called out "He's drunk". One shouted: "Anyone within five meters can tell he reeks like someone …

  • Mexican politicians: going to the dogs, er, cats?

    Mexican politicians: going to the dogs, er, cats?

    Reuters - Tue, Jun 18, 2013
    Mexican politicians: going to the dogs, er, cats?

    By Luc Cohen MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Fed up with politicians they call "rats," a group of friends in the eastern Mexican city of Xalapa have put forward their ideal candidate for mayor: a cat named Morris. Xalapa resident Sergio Chamorro, who adopted the cat in August, said the plan began as a joke between friends borne out of their frustration with the Veracruz state government over freedom of speech. "Fed up of voting for rats? Vote for a cat," reads one campaign poster featuring the black …

  • Royal baby to give almost $400 million bump to British economy

    Royal baby to give almost $400 million bump to British economy

    Reuters - Mon, Jun 17, 2013
    Royal baby to give almost $400 million bump to British economy

    By Belinda Goldsmith LONDON (Reuters) - From Union Jack booties to "Born to Rule" sleepwear, the British royal family has joined retailers in offering baby products to mark the arrival of the royal heir. Analysts estimate the baby fever could boost the economy by 240 million pounds ($380 million). A baby sleepsuit modeled on a guardsman's outfit is one of the gifts on sale at palace shops by the Royal Collection Trust, which uses all profits for the upkeep of the royal palaces. ... …

  • The theater odyssey of Nonon Padilla VERA Files - The Inbox

    By Pablo A. Tariman, VERA Files Everyone in the theater circuit agree that the Philstage Gawad Buhay life achievement award in theater for Felix “Nonon” Padilla was well-deserved. Padilla started in Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) in the company of … Continue reading → …

  • The near saint from an Igorot mission school VERA Files - The Inbox

    By Elizabeth Lolarga, VERA Files Photos from the book The Odyssey of an Igorot Mission Girl For a woman who formally entered school at age 10, Esperanza Daliwa Somebang of Nadatngan, Mountain Province, travelled far and wide, a great believer … Continue reading → …

  • The evolution of the Filipino teleserye VERA Files - The Inbox

    By Pablo A. Tariman, VERA Files Friday night last week, it seemed everyone who owns a TV set was glued on the final airing of the Channel 2 teleserye, “Ina, Kapatid, Anak” directed by Don M. Cuaresma and Jojo A. … Continue reading → …

  • Quezon City courts go digital; more transparent system seen VERA Files - The Inbox

    By Mikha Flores, VERA Files The Supreme Court launched on Friday an electronic filing system that will digitize judicial processes in trial courts in Quezon City. Dubbed as “eCourt”, the system uses case management software that will allow judges and … Continue reading → …

  • LGBT Pride Month—more than just about street parties VERA Files - The Inbox

    By Patrick King Pascual, VERA Files Festive street parties, parades and marches usually mark the annual celebration of Pride month in June by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in the country and elsewhere. “But Pride Month is … Continue reading → …

POLL
Loading...
Poll Choice Options