COLOMBIA
Military leaders replaced
President Juan Manuel Santos has replaced the nation’s top military leaders, days after the release of a Human Rights Watch report alleging complicity by the top brass in extrajudicial killings of civilians. The overhaul comes just days after the release of a report alleging that several top military leaders were aware of “widespread and systematic extrajudicial killings” of civilians between 2002 and 2008. Santos formally rejected the findings of the June 24 report, which presented evidence strongly suggesting that various generals and colonels knew or should have known about the killings, and in some cases could have ordered them.
UNITED STATES
Man killed by firework
A young man who was drinking and celebrating the July 4 holiday tried to launch a firework off the top of his head, fatally injuring himself, authorities said on Sunday. Devon Staples and his friends had been drinking and setting off fireworks on Saturday night in the backyard of a friend’s home in the small eastern Maine city of Calais, said Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the state department of public safety. Staples, 22, placed a fireworks mortar tube on his head and set it off, he said. The firework exploded, killing Staples instantly, McCausland said.
UNITED STATES
Cosby testimony released
Bill Cosby testified in 2005 that he got Quaalude with the intent of giving it to young women he wanted to have sex with, and he admitted giving the sedative to at least one woman and “other people,” according to documents obtained on Monday by The Associated Press. AP had gone to court to compel the release of the documents — Cosby’s lawyers had objected on the grounds that it would embarrass their client. The 77-year-old comedian was testifying under oath in a lawsuit filed by a former Temple University employee. He testified he gave her three half-pills of Benadryl. Cosby settled that sexual-abuse lawsuit for undisclosed terms in 2006. Cosby has been accused by more than two dozen women of sexual misconduct, including allegations by many that he drugged and raped them in incidents dating back more than four decades.
BRAZIL
Caesarean rules take effect
New regulations aimed at rolling back the nation’s obsession with caesarean sections took effect on Monday, with the government hoping it can steer the nation from its status as a world leader in caesarean-section births. The new rules and a campaign called “Childbirth is normal” address what Health Minister Arthur Chioro has called an “epidemic” of caesareans, accounting for more than half of births. About 84 percent of mothers on private healthcare plans undergo the operation. The figure is about 40 percent in Brazil’s public hospitals, compared with about 32 percent in the US — still massively higher than WHO recommendations of 10 to 15 percent.
CANADA
Troops to help fight fires
Authorities are sending troops to help shore up firefighters’ efforts to battle numerous wildfires after the blazes prompted the evacuation of thousands of people. The defense ministry said it was preparing to send up to 1,400 personnel, including a firefighting force, to help fight the blazes in the central province of Saskatchewan, where 13,000 people have been forced from their homes. So far this year, 565 fires have been reported — three times more than last year.
KENYA
Attackers shoot dead 13
Unidentified shooters killed at least 13 people in Mandera town in the nation’s northeast early yesterday, the head of the Kenya Red Cross was quoted as saying on national television. At least 11 people were also wounded in the attack that took place at about 2am, the Kenya Red Cross also said on its Twitter feed. Kenya Red Cross secretary-general Abbas Gullet said that four of the injured would be taken to the capital, Nairobi, for medical treatment.
HUNGARY
Migrant fence approved
Parliament on Monday overwhelmingly approved the construction of a controversial fence on the border with Serbia to keep out migrants, under new legislation that also tightens asylum application rules. The plans for the 4m-high barrier announced by populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban last month triggered concern both in Serbia and the EU, which is struggling to control a massive influx of migrants from the Middle East and Africa. Lawmakers voted 151 to 41 in favor of new legislation allowing the building of the fence along the 175km border with Serbia, which, unlike Hungary, is not an EU member. The new laws also toughen asylum application rules, allowing for the detention of migrants in temporary camps, as well as speeding up the review process and limiting the possibility for appeal.
MEXICO
Global taxi groups unite
Taxi driver associations from Latin America and Europe on Monday teamed up in their campaigns against Uber and Cabify, following sometimes violent protests over the ride-booking apps. Daniel Medina, of the Organized Taxi Drivers of Mexico City, announced an “international front against the illegal operations of these global companies, such as Uber, that put the taxi sector at risk.” Medina said taxi groups from Brazil, France and Spain were joining forces. In a teleconference from Madrid, Elite Taxi organization leader Miguel Chacon said that drivers from the Spanish capital would protest in front of the Mexican embassy on July 29 in support of their Mexican peers. “Uber came to our country and completely destroyed our social economy,” Chacon said. Taxi drivers have held protests in Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, as well as Europe. In Paris last month a demonstration turned violent. In Latin America, Uber drivers or their cars have been physically attacked or threatened by taxi drivers. Taxi unions say that Uber represents unfair competition because its drivers do not face the same license fees and other taxes, allowing them to charge much less for rides. Uber suspended its UberPOP service in France on Friday, six months after it was banned.
JAPAN
World’s oldest man dies
Sakari Momoi, who was recognized as the world’s oldest man, and credited healthy eating and getting plenty of sleep for his longevity, has died at the age of 112, Japanese media said yesterday. Momoi was born in an area of Fukushima in February, 1903 — the year the teddy bear was introduced and Orville Wright carried out the first powered, heavier-than-air flight. Named the world’s oldest man in August last year, Momoi, a former teacher who spent his days practicing calligraphy and taking part in recreational activities at the hospital where he lived, donned a suit and tie for a ceremony to receive a plaque from Guinness World Records. “I want to live two more years,” he said at the time.
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