BRAZIL
Writer Rubem Alves dies
Writer, philosopher and theologian Rubem Alves died on Saturday aged 80 after a short illness, local media reported. Alves died in hospital in Campinas from multiple organ failure 10 days after he was admitted for respiratory failure brought on by pneumonia, according to Globo television and CBN radio. The writer of about 160 widely translated works on education and psychology, Alves received a doctorate from the Princeton Theological Seminary in 1968. Alves, an exponent of liberation theology — an interpretation of Christianity through the eyes of the suffering of the poor and marginalized — had numerous works published in English, among them What is Religion? and A Theology of Hope. He also wrote a number of children’s books.
BRAZIL
World Cup protesters jailed
A judge in Rio de Janeiro on Friday ordered 23 people jailed for “violence” during ant-World Cup protests, including those arrested before the Argentina-Germany final. Judge Flavio Itabaiana de Oliveira Nicolau said the decision was made because of “the danger the accused pose to the public.” Of the 23, two of those jailed are accused of the death of a TV camerman who was killed when he was struck by a flare. Minutes before the final, police launched tear gas and stun grenades to disperse about 300 anti-Wold Cup protesters who tried to march toward Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium. However, World Cup protests on the whole were much smaller than the mass protests that rocked Brazil during last year’s Confederations Cup.
PUERTO RICO
Police rescue 12 migrants
Police say they have rescued 12 Haitian migrants who were found on an island just west of the US territory. Authorities on Friday said that six of them were taken to the hospital and treated for dehydration and cuts. The group was found on Desecheo Island. The number of Haitian migrants trying to reach the territory from the Dominican Republic has increased in recent years, with many being abandoned on nearby uninhabited islands. US Customs and Border Protection said agents have detained 582 Haitian migrants and prosecuted 11 smugglers in the past 10 months alone.
UNITED STATES
Fugitive returned from Nepal
A New Mexico man who fled sex abuse and kidnapping charges 14 years ago returned to the state on Saturday following his capture in Nepal, the FBI said. Neil Stammer, 47, arrived in the afternoon at the Albuquerque International Sunport, FBI spokesman Frank Fisher said. Stammer will be booked on outstanding warrants at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center, according to Albuquerque police. The owner of a local magic shop and a juggler, Stammer was arrested in 1999 on allegations of criminal sexual penetration of a minor, kidnapping, intimidation of a witness, battery and criminal sexual contact of a minor. Stammer was allowed to bond out before his arraignment, authorities said. The former Albuquerque resident already had an arrest warrant for failing to appear at his arraignment. A federal arrest warrant was issued in June 2000 for Stammer for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, authorities said. The FBI and investigators from multiple jurisdictions used investigative photographs to determine that Stammer had used a fraudulent passport to enter Nepal, Fisher said. He briefly escaped prison in Kathmandu, but was recaptured by Nepalese authorities. Stammer had been living there since 2006 under a different name. He is expected to face state charges.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not