ISRAEL
Thousands protest gas deal
Thousands of people on Saturday protested in Tel Aviv against a gas deal they said would create a monopoly for a consortium that includes US company Noble Energy. The demonstrators denounced the deal, which they said amounted to a “gift” for the consortium. Similar gatherings were also held in other parts of the nation, including Beersheba in the south. Opponents argue that the deal, which has been approved by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and parliament, would hand Noble and Delek an effective monopoly over the state’s natural gas reserves. The agreement still needs clearance from the parliament’s economics committee, although its role is only advisory. After that, opponents are planning to challenge the legality of the deal in the supreme court, according to reports. Israel has been trying to extract offshore gas since the discovery of the Tamar and Leviathan fields in 2009 and 2010.
MEXICO
Corpses of eight men found
Authorities said the bodies of eight slain men have been found dumped in a southeastern town. The Oaxaca State Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement that all eight victims were residents of the city of Cordoba in Veracruz State. Their bodies were discovered on Friday in the Oaxaca town of Cosolapa, which is about 50km from Cordoba. Officials said a warning message left with the bodies was signed by the pseudonym of a person who police allege is the head of a criminal group based in the Veracruz city of Orizaba. Authorities did not release the text of the threat. Oaxaca officials said evidence indicated that the eight men were killed in Veracruz and then transported to the dumping site.
UNITED STATES
Loss of painting mourned
Last weekend marked 30 years since thieves made off with a valuable painting from the University of Arizona Museum of Art. The museum still hopes the painting will be returned. It wants to remind the public by displaying the empty wooden frame that once held Willem de Kooning’s Woman-Ochre in the middle of gallery at the museum on campus. A sketch composite of a man and woman suspected of stealing the painting on Nov. 29, 1985, sits next to the frame. Police said the man and woman were the only visitors at that museum when the woman distracted a security officer by making small-talk. The man cut the painting out of the frame and quickly walked out with his partner. The painting was valued at about US$600,000.
NIGERIA
Agencies search for crew
Security agencies are conducting a “spirited search” for a Polish captain and four crew members abducted from a cargo ship, an official said on Saturday. Maritime Administration and Safety Agency spokeswoman Lami Tumaka said the attacked ship MV Szafir was recovered and 11 other crew members rescued a few kilometers offshore. Tumaka said the navy and other agencies want to free the hostages and arrest the perpetrators. Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Witold Waszczykowski said the ship with the 11 crew members was being safely brought to a Nigerian navy port, but did not specify which one, adding that there was no word from the abducted crew or from the kidnappers. Waszczykowski said the ship was damaged when pirates fired on it before midnight on Thursday. Poland-based ship owner EuroAfrica said the Szafir was traveling from Belgium to Nigeria carrying metal cranes and other cargo.
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