QATAR
Progress in Yemen talks
UN envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed yesterday said that peace talks aimed at ending fighting in Yemen are making “incredible progress” and that a halt in fighting is largely holding. He told at a forum in Doha that a cessation of hostilities is holding about 80 to 90 percent, and that the drop in fighting has allowed much-needed aid to make its way to areas affected by the fighting. He said he is hopeful that a resolution could be “very close.”
BOLIVIA
Gender identity law enacted
The government on Saturday braved criticism from churches to enact a gender identity law allowing transsexual and transgender people to change their name, sex and photograph on official and private documents. “Today we’ve put an end to a history of social proscription,” Vice President Alvaro Garcia said as he enacted the legislation in place of President Evo Morales, who was visiting Cuba. Transgender people “are a reality,” he said. “It is social hypocrisy to deny their existence.” The legislature passed the law on Friday despite protests from Catholic and Evangelical churches demanding more debate.
CHILE
Suicide bid costs lions’ lives
The Metropolitan Zoo in Santiago on Saturday said it was forced to kill two lions to protect a suicidal man who had entered their cage in front of visitors. Security protocols kicked in immediately when staff saw the man climb down with a rope into the African lions’ enclosure, zoo head Alejandra Montalva told television network TVN. Franco Luis Ferrada, 20, had stripped naked and climbed down a rope into the enclosure. Witnesses said the lions initially ignored the intrusion, but attacked after Ferrada taunted them. Zookeepers responded at first by turning a hose on the animals, then by firing a tranquillizer dart — but hit the Ferrada in the neck instead. As the lions set upon him, a zookeeper opened fire with live rounds. “We’re shaken by this because the animals in the zoo are part of our family,” Montalva said. “These were lions that had been with us for more than 20 years.” Ferrada was taken to a hospital with critical injuries. An apparent suicide note was found in his clothing, officials said.
MEXICO
Asteroid wakens city
Residents of Puebla de Zaragoza woke in fright before dawn on Saturday to bright light in the sky and then a thunderous noise, fearing a nearby volcano had suddenly erupted. However, officials said Popocatepetl volcano had not stirred. Instead, the phenomena witnessed by the inhabitants of the city of 3 million people 50km from Mexico City, was “most likely a meteor,” the local Astronomic Society tweeted. “It was horrible, we thought it was the volcano, but it wasn’t,” resident Emma Chavez said. “There was a light that shone for a couple of seconds like it was daytime and then there was tremendous thunder.”
UNITED STATES
No gaga over Lady’s piano
Lady Gaga’s childhood piano, which she used to write her first song at age five, on Saturday did not hit note at an auction in New York City. The upright piano failed to meet its reserve price when Julien’s Auctions offered it as part of the “Music Icons” memorabilia sale at the Hard Rock Cafe New York. The piano had a pre-sale estimate of US$100,000 to US$200,000. More than 85 Elvis Presley items did sell, including a 1969 Gibson Dov guitar that Presley’s father made for him, which sold for US$334,000.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
China would train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction,” its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪) told an annual global security forum. Wang made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organizations such as Interpol. The forum is part of ongoing