SOUTH AFRICA
Minister killed in collision
Minister of Public Service and Administration Collins Chabane died in a car collision early yesterday morning. Chabane previously served as minister in the presidency responsible for performance monitoring and evaluation, according to a statement posted on the presidency Web site. He led the planning of the funeral of former president Nelson Mandela and was a member of the African National Congress National Executive Committee. “This is a huge loss to government and the country as a whole,” the statement cited President Jacob Zuma as saying. “We are deeply shocked and saddened by this untimely death of an outstanding cadre of our liberation struggle and a competent, accomplished and dependable member of my Cabinet.”
SAUDI ARABIA
US missions halt services
The US embassy in Riyadh and two other diplomatic missions in the kingdom are canceling all consular services for two days over security fears. The embassy says it and missions in Jiddah and Dhahran would provide no consular services yesterday and today due to “heightened security concerns.” It did not elaborate. The move follows a warning by the embassy on Friday citing information about a threat by militants to kidnap Western oil workers.
BRAZIL
At least 40 die in bus plunge
A passenger bus plunged off a cliff in the southern state of Santa Catarina on Saturday, killing more than 40 people, emergency response officials said. The bus was carrying families going to an evangelical Christian event in Parana State when the driver apparently lost control on late Saturday afternoon on a curve in a highway through the Dona Francisca mountain range. As crews worked into the night to recover bodies, police officials said the death toll could climb to as high as 55, including children. The cause of the crash Saturday in Santa Catarina was not immediately clear. Pedro Ivo Ilkiv, the mayor of Uniao da Vitoria, the city of about 52,000 that was home to many of the crash victims, declared a period of mourning.
GUAM
Storm threat downgraded
Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands were preparing for the arrival of a tropical storm this weekend, but forecasters have canceled a typhoon watch for the area. The US National Weather Service says Tropical Storm Bavi was 523km east of Guam and 450km east-southeast of Saipan yesterday. Forecasters say tropical storm-force winds of 63kph or greater were expected from late yesterday through early today. Guam Memorial Hospital is to begin accepting women who are at least 36 weeks pregnant and those with sensitive pregnancies.
PORTUGAL
Stripper cop sentenced
A police officer was on Friday handed a 22-month suspended jail sentence for wearing his service weapon while performing stripteases. The 32-year-old officer admitted to the court in Novo de Sao Joao that he wore his uniform to make his performances “more realistic,” but claimed the firearm was a replica of his service pistol, the Lusa news agency reported. The policeman, who gave four striptease shows in several bars and restaurants on March 8, last year — for International Women’s Day — said he had turned to stripping because of his financial problems. He was suspended immediately after the press published Facebook pictures from his performances showing him wearing nothing but skin-tight briefs and his beret.
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
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
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