PHILIPPINES
Coastal mayor abducted
Armed men have abducted the mayor of a southern town from her house and fled with her on motorboats, officials said yesterday. Five armed men kidnapped Mayor Gemma Adana of Naga, a coastal town in the southern province of Zamboanga Sibugay, from her house while she was with friends late on Monday, Secretary of the Interior Mar Roxas said. Roxas condemned the abduction and said a search was under way. A provincial crisis committee has been convened. Naga police officer Wilprim Timsan said the unidentified abductors have so far not communicated with Adana’s family nor made any ransom demand. Police officials said five men barged into the mayor’s house, while a sixth waited in the boat. The military said the kidnappers headed toward the mountainous Kaliantana Island, which is part of the Naga municipality, where three children abducted late last month from nearby Zamboanga del Sur Province also were taken.
SIERRA LEONE
Baby dies in new Ebola case
An infant has died of Ebola where the outbreak began, dealing a blow to the recovery weeks after the district had eradicated the virus, officials said on Monday. The eastern district of Kailahun has been at the forefront of the country’s recovery from the epidemic, having seen no new cases for more than three months and been declared “Ebola-free.” However, Ministry of Health officials confirmed a new case of the deadly tropical fever in a nine-month-old boy who tested positive after his death. The infant had been treated at the Nixon hospital in Kailahun for diarrhea and returned home, but he died after his health declined and he was readmitted for a blood transfusion, the officials said. His parents and other family members in the Njaluahun tribal chiefdom have been placed in quarantine, the ministry said.
UNITED STATES
Centenarian axe murderer?
Prosecutors say a 100-year-old man apparently killed his wife with an axe as she slept in their home, then killed himself in the bathroom with a knife. It is still not clear what sparked the purported murder-suicide late on Sunday in Elmwood Park, New Jersey. Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli says there was a “history of domestic issues” between Michael Juskin and his 88-year-old wife, Rosalia. Officers found the couple in their home after a relative who was not in the home called authorities. The deaths were made public on Monday. Neighbors told the Record newspaper that they often saw the couple out and about — Michael Juskin walking a dog and his wife tending to her garden — but said they kept to themselves. Barbara Szczecina, 65, who lives down the block, said she saw Rosalia sitting on her front porch at about 10am on Saturday. “They were always together, putzing around outside,” Szczecina said. Family members at the home on Monday declined to comment.
MEXICO
Security convoy attacked
Suspected gang members opened fire on a Jalisco State security convoy in western Mexico on Monday, killing an undetermined number of people. An official in the state prosecutor’s office who asked to remain anonymous told reporters that there were several fatalities. The official did not provide more details, but local media said at least 15 people were killed. The Milenio media group said all the fatalities were members of the Jalisco Unified Force, a unit of the state prosecutor’s office.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number