AFGHANISTAN
Two die in bomb blast
A bomb hidden in a scrap metal shop blew up in a market in Helmand Province yesterday killing two civilians, officials said. The early morning blast in the town of Gereshk killed the shopkeeper and a child sitting in a car parked outside the store, deputy provincial police chief Kamaluddin Sherzad said. Four people were wounded in the explosion. The attack is the second in as many days in Gereshk. On Sunday, gunmen killed community council member Jan Mohammad Khan in the town’s market, the Helmand governor’s office said in a statement.
PHILIPPINES
Families demand apology
Victims’ families and survivors of last year’s hostage drama that left eight Hong Kong tourists and their attacker dead in a botched police rescue say they are still awaiting an apology and compensation. A weeping mother of a slain tourist guide told reporters in Manila yesterday that “the Philippine government has not done anything.” Lee Ying-chuen, who was wounded when the dismissed policeman opened fire as police stormed the bus he had hijacked, said the families are angry because the government has failed to apologize directly. Spokesman Edwin Lacierda says the government has apologized on numerous occasions.
CHINA
Eleven dead in Xinjiang
Vinegar tainted with antifreeze is suspected of killing 11 people and sickening 120 after a communal Ramadan meal in Xinjiang. Investigators suspect the victims consumed vinegar put in two plastic barrels that had previously been used to store antifreeze, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. It said the mass food poisoning occurred on Saturday night in a village close to Hotan City. Xinhua said children as young as six were among the dead. Authorities were still testing to confirm the source of the poisoning, it said.
CHINA
Biden eatery draws crowds
Diners are flocking to a restaurant in Beijing whose house specialty is pig intestines in soup after US Vice President Joe Biden lunched there last week, the Global Times reported yesterday. Biden took time out from official talks in Beijng to eat at the small, family-run eatery, earning plaudits from netizens and headlines in state-run newspapers praising his “noodle diplomacy.” Since then, lines have formed outside the restaurant and people have traveled from around China to sample the “vice president’s meal” — pork buns, noodles and cucumbers — the English-language newspaper reported. The restaurant, called the Yaoji Chaogan, said it had no plans to make the meal a regular menu item, although customers have been demanding it.
PHILIPPINES
Public asked to use coins
The central bank is appealing to the public to stop hoarding coins, saying the habit is forcing it to mint more money at a high cost. Deputy bank Governor Diwa Guinigundo lamented on Sunday a shortage of coins in the country and noted that some people illegally drill holes in coins and use them instead of more costly tokens for video games. He said other people keep change and later give it to charities. The hoarding is hurting monetary authorities, who have to spend at least 2 pesos (US$0.4) for every coin that is not used. He said the central bank would save hundreds of millions of pesos if there were more coins in circulation.
CANADA
Tornado ruins Ontario town
A powerful tornado on Sunday swept through Goderich, Ontario, killing one person and causing severe devastation in the picturesque community on the shores of Lake Huron. It was the most powerful tornado to hit Ontario in years, officials said. Downtown businesses, century--old buildings and several churches lost their roofs and upper floors as the twister ripped through the town. Images showed downed power lines, trees and debris strewn across streets, while witnesses described cars being picked up and thrown like toys. Police identified the victim as Norman Laberge, 61, of Lucknow, Ontario, who was working in a salt mine in the town when the storm hit. Randy Mawson of Environment Canada said the town was battered by winds of up to 300kph.
RUSSIA
Supermarket bombed twice
Two strong blasts tore through a supermarket in the volatile Caucasus region of Dagestan, injuring 15 people including three children, regional police said yesterday. The first blast went off late on Sunday and wounded a sales clerk, the regional interior ministry said in a statement. The second struck when a Russian security team arrived on the scene. The ministry said 15 people, including three children, were hospitalized. Four of them were in a serious condition, a police spokesman in Dagestan said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
UNITED STATES
Irene roars into region
Tropical Storm Irene gained strength as it passed over Puerto Rico early yesterday and was officially declared a hurricane, US government forecasters said. The hurricane was packing sustained winds of 125kph, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. Irene was expected to become even stronger as it moves north northwest at about 19kph, the center said. The storm was expected to dump as much as 25cm of rain on Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and 10cm to 18cm of rain on the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
VENEZUELA
Chavez fans shave heads
Supporters of President Hugo Chavez shaved their heads in solidarity with their leader’s struggle against cancer on Sunday, as hundreds prayed and sang at a televised event. Barbers shaved off the hair of several men and at least one woman, while the crowd swayed to a religious song. Chavez, who shaved his head after starting to lose his hair due to chemotherapy, smiled and waved to the crowd. He returned from his second round of chemotherapy in Cuba on Aug. 14 and has said he may undergo a third round, without specifying a time frame.
UNITED KINGDOM
PM hangs Emin artwork
A new message is greeting visitors to the home of Prime Minister David Cameron: “More Passion.” The words, rendered in dazzling neon, are a work by artist Tracey Emin that is now hanging in 10 Downing St. Cameron’s office said on Sunday the work was installed last week in a busy hallway, above the door to the Terracotta Room. It stands in contrast to the oil paintings and portraits of former prime ministers elsewhere in the 300-year-old house. Emin was invited to install the neon sign by Cameron, a fan of her work. She has donated the piece to the Government Art Collection, a trove of more than 13,000 works by domestic artists from the 16th century onwards.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
China would train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction,” its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪) told an annual global security forum. Wang made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organizations such as Interpol. The forum is part of ongoing