PAKISTAN
Stray mortar strikes family
A stray mortar smashed through a house in a northwestern village early yesterday, killing three children and their mother and injuring their father, police said. The pre-dawn incident took place in Shaikhan village, a suburb of Peshawar close to the Khyber tribal district, where the military is fighting against local warlord Mangal Bagh and his Lashkar-e--Islam faction. Senior police officer Shafiullah Khan said it was not yet clear who fired the mortar.
AFGHANISTAN
Minister survives bombing
A minister survived a roadside bombing yesterday, the third attack on high profile officials in three days, a provincial governor said. Higher Education Minister Obaidullah Obaid was traveling between the northern provinces of Baghlan and Kunduz when his motorcade hit a roadside bomb, similar to those used by Taliban insurgents. The minister escaped unhurt, but two policemen escorting his convoy were wounded, Baghlan Governor Munshi Abdul Majeed said, blaming the blast on the Taliban. In a separate attack the same day, a twin bombing wounded 14 people in Logar Province. The second explosion hit security forces as they gathered to investigate the first and the casualties were mostly police, army and intelligence investigators, police said.
SCOTLAND
ETA suspect arrested
The Spanish Ministry of the Interior says a suspected member of Basque separatist group ETA has been arrested in Scotland. The 36-year-old man was taken into custody in Edinburgh by police, with the assistance of Spanish officers. The ministry said on Saturday that Benat Atorrasagasti Ordonez was arrested late on Friday. Atorrasagasti allegedly joined ETA in 1996 as a courier whose mission it was to facilitate border crossings for ETA members and material between Spain and France. ETA is blamed for killing more than 825 people in a campaign for an independent Basque state. It is classified as a terrorist organization by Spain, the US and the EU.
BAHRAIN
Protestors, police clash
Anti-government protesters have clashed with police in widespread demonstrations against moves by authorities to ban opposition rallies. The clashes on Saturday included demonstrators hurling fire bombs and challenging riot police carrying out raids. The government said it would not approve further opposition marches, claiming they disrupt everyday life. Dozens of state-authorized opposition marches have been held, but most demonstrations are spontaneous street protests that lead to clashes. The government’s decision is likely to escalate confrontations between the Sunni monarchy and protesters led by Bahrain’s Shiite majority, which claims it faces systematic discrimination.
CYPRUS
Suspected terrorist detained
Police have detained a young Lebanese man who holds a Swedish passport on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack against Israeli interests in the country, media reports said on Saturday. A police spokesman said he could not confirm or deny the reports because it was a “sensitive political issue.” Online news Web site Sigmalive said the man was arrested in his hotel room last week. It said the suspect appeared before a closed court for a second time on Friday where he was detained in police custody for another seven days. State television said Israeli intelligence agents had supplied information to the authorities regarding the suspect.
MEXICO
Gunmen rape seven girls
A group of gunmen has attacked a juvenile religious retreat outside of the capital, raping seven underage girls and beating and robbing other residents, officials said on Saturday. A statement by the prosecutor’s office said the attack, which occurred on Thursday night, targeted a juvenile prayer camp located at Colibri Park outside of Mexico City. About 90 young boys and girls were camping at the retreat, dedicating their time to prayer and religious studies, the officials said. The attackers, which included about a dozen armed individuals, “sexually assaulted seven underage girls and beat several other people,” said the statement.
BRAZIL
March draws 1 million
Police say at least 1 million evangelical Christians took part in Saturday’s annual “March for Jesus” in Sao Paulo. The event was organized by the Reborn in Christ Church and drew faithful from hundreds of Protestant churches across the nation, which is the world’s largest Roman Catholic country. Police Captain Luis Fernando Otaviano said that “the number of people participating is extremely high — at least 1 million.” Organizers have described the march as the “largest Christian event in the world,” saying they expected at least 5 million people to rally behind 15 sound trucks and attend religious music shows likely to last well into the night.
UNITED STATES
Toddler shoots dad dead
Police said a three-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his father after finding the man’s loaded handgun in a southern Indiana home. Indiana State Police Sergeant Jerry Goodin said the 33-year-old Martinsville man had brought his gun with him on Friday to a home he was remodeling in Salem, about 40km northwest of Louisville, Kentucky. Goodin said the man, his wife, their three children and a juvenile relative were at the home when the three-year-old boy apparently found the gun and it accidentally discharged, fatally wounding the man.
HONDURAS
Woman sold baby for US$5
Police have arrested a woman said to have sold her two-month-old daughter for 100 lempiras (US$5) and US$1 worth of grapes, local media reported on Saturday. Karina Castro, an 18-year-old from west of the capital, Tegucigalpa, was reported by a friend to guards at the Hospital School. Emerita Ondina Vega said Castro, who allegedly suffers from mental illness, gave her daughter, born on May 2, to an unknown woman, who has not yet been located, for 100 lempiras and grapes at Belen Market northwest of the city.
CANADA
Bird ruins PM’s jet
A jet used to ferry the prime minister and top government officials, as well as the British royal family on visits, has been grounded after a mid-air collision, possibly with a turkey vulture. The Challenger jet was on approach to land at the MacDill Air Force Base in Florida on May 24 when it collided with a “very large bird,” a defense department official said on Saturday. It landed safely, but was so badly damaged that it was grounded for several weeks until a temporary fix allowed it to return to Ottawa on July 10. The bird strike caused damage to the radome and bulkhead, the official said, adding: “Due to the extent of the damage to the aircraft, a course of action for its repair has not yet been determined.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese