SEOUL - A South Korean court on Friday sentenced the impeached President Park Geun-hye to 24 years in jail and fined her 18 billion won ($17 million) over a series of corruption counts.Park, who was removed out of office in March last year over an influence-peddling scandal involving her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil, was convicted of 16 corruption counts that include bribery, abuse of power and coercion.Prosecutors had charged Park with 18 counts, seeking a 30-year jail sentence with a fine of 118.5 billion won ($111.4 million).The Seoul Central District Court delivered a verdict of guilty, which was broadcast live nationwide. Park objected to the decision citing the violation of the innocence presumption, but the court said it allowed the live broadcasting for the trial's significance, historical meaning and people's right to know.Park did not appear in the courtroom in protest against the live broadcasting. The ousted president has not shown up in any court hearing since October last year to protest against her extended detention for six more months.Three weeks after her impeachment last March, Park was taken into custody at a detention center outside of Seoul.The country's first female leader, who was also the first president to be impeached while in office, is required to request a retrial within a week if she disagrees with the ruling.Choi, who was at the center of the corruption scandal, was sentenced in February to 20 years in prison.Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the heir apparent and the only son to Chairman Lee Kun-hee, was set free by the appeals court in February with a sentence of two and a half years in prison suspended for four years.The court found guilty of Park's collusion with Choi to abuse her presidential power and coerce local conglomerates, including Samsung and retail giant Lotte, to donate tens of millions of dollars to nonprofit foundations which the court said Choi actually controlled.Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin was put under court custody in February with a sentence of two and a half years in jail for bribery. relationship braceletsathletic silicone wristbandsembossed printed wristbandmake custom wristbandsanimal bracelets rubber bands
Chinese scientists recently discovered 10 new archaeological sites in Tunisia dating to ancient Rome using Chinese space-based remote sensing technology.The archaeological sites are located in three Tunisian provinces - Gafsa, Tataouine and Medenine - Tunisian Culture Minister Mohamed Zine El-Abidine said at a recent news conference.The discoveries include two Roman forts, three giant water basins, an irrigation system, a cemetery and three fortified Roman military roads lined with walls and watchtowers.It is the first time Chinese remote-sensing technology has been used to locate archaeological sites in other countries, said Wang Xinyuan, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth.Wang, a leader of the effort, said a team of Chinese, Tunisian, Italian and Pakistani scientists found the sites under a project called the Digital Belt and Road."The project is monumental in improving coordination and cooperation between Chinese and foreign scientific communities," he said.The new sites shed light on how the ancient Roman military defended its southern borders and supported its logistics, Wang said. Tunisia was also part of the Maritime Silk Road and home to many major Roman ports, hence the sites will allow better understanding of ancient trade routes and ecological change, he said.Bai Guangming, a cultural counselor from the embassy of the People's Republic of China in Tunisia, said China's advanced remote sensing technologies will provide great scientific support for strengthening cultural exchanges between countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.Remote sensing refers to photography, infrared imaging, lasers and other methods to gather information from an object or natural phenomena without making physical contact.It has been widely used in the military and most Earth science disciplines, including geology, hydrology and ecology.In 1906, Lieutenant Philip Henry Sharpe of the British Royal Engineers pioneered the use of aerial photography to study ancient monuments by taking the first aerial shots of Stonehenge from a balloon."Remote sensing technology provides a nonintrusive yet extremely accurate method of examining fragile archaeological sites, and it saves time, money and manpower because less field work is needed," Wang said.Remote sensing technologies boomed in the 1960s with the introduction of satellite-and aircraft-based technologies that allow scientists to collect even more abstract data such as temperature, wind speed and humidity over a greater area."With these data, scientists and preservationists can formulate more accurate and effective plans to repair or protect archaeological sites," Wang said. "Remote sensing is a unique and effective way of finding obscured artifacts in the wild."
