SOUTH KOREA
Moon to visit US next month
President Moon Jae-in is to travel to the US for a summit with US President Donald Trump late next month, presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan said yesterday, amid high tensions over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. Details of the precise date and agenda are to be decided later, Yoon said. Moon backs engagement with the North to try to reduce tensions, while Trump’s administration has said military action is an option under consideration. “We will prepare the summit as an opportunity to cement personal ties and friendship between the two leaders,” Yoon said.
INDIA
Ex-minister’s homes raided
The Central Bureau of Investigation yesterday raided the homes of former minister of finance P. Chidambaram and his son in what it said was a probe into suspected criminal misconduct related to approvals of investment deals. At least 14 locations in Chidambaram’s home city of Chennai were searched by the bureau, TV news channels reported. A bureau spokesman in New Delhi confirmed a raid was taking place at the home of Chidambaram’s son, Karti, but gave no further details. Chidambaram, who served in the Congress government that was voted out of office in 2014, declined to comment when asked about the raids by reporters.
NEW ZEALAND
Millions of trash found
When researchers traveled to a tiny, uninhabited island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, they were astonished to find an estimated 38 million pieces of trash washed up on the beaches. Almost all of the garbage they found on Henderson Island was made from plastic. There were toy soldiers, dominos, toothbrushes and hundreds of hardhats of every shape, size and color. The researchers said the density of trash was the highest recorded anywhere in the world, despite the island’s extreme remoteness. Henderson is located about halfway between New Zealand and Chile and is recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site. University of Tasmania research scientist Jennifer Lavers was the lead author of the report, which was published yesterday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
TURKEY
More arrests ordered
The government has ordered the arrest of 85 energy and education ministry staff in an investigation targeting the network of a US-based cleric whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating an attempted coup in July last year, broadcaster CNN Turk reported yesterday. About 50,000 people have been formally arrested in court cases targeting supporters of cleric Fethullah Gulen. President Tayyip Erdogan, who was to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington yesterday, is seeking Gulen’s extradition. No details were immediately available on the latest arrest warrants.
INDONESIA
Orangutan named ‘Alba’
A conservation group said that a rescued rare albino orangutan has been named “Alba” after thousands of suggestions were sent from around the world. The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation said the name means “white” in Latin and “dawn” in Spanish. It hopes the animal will be an ambassador for the critically endangered species. The five-year-old female was rescued after being captured by villagers in the Indonesian part of Borneo Island on April 29. The foundation is collecting information on albinism in great apes to help decide the primate’s future.
ISRAEL
Minister cancels Jordan visit
A Cabinet minister has called off a long-planned visit to Jordan for a joint scientific venture following a spat between the countries over a deadly shooting in Jerusalem. Minister of Science and Technology Ofir Akunis said he was to skip yesterday’s event in Amman marking the launching of the “Sesame” particle accelerator because of Jordan’s reaction to the killing of a Jordanian who stabbed a police officer. Video footage shows the 57-year-old man swiping a knife before knocking the officer to the ground. Police say the officer shot the attacker dead. Jordan said it holds Jerusalem responsible for killing its citizen and denounced it a “crime.” The government called the Jordanian reaction “outrageous.”
ENGLAND
Serial killer Ian Brady dies
Ian Brady, a British serial killer notoriously known for the “Moors Murders,” died on Monday at the age of 79 in a high-security psychiatric hospital, authorities said. Brady and his partner, Myra Hindley — who died in prison in 2002 — tortured and murdered five children between July 1963 and October 1965 near Manchester. Both were jailed in 1966 for three murders before later confessing to another two. They became known as the Moors Murderers after four of their victims were found buried in graves dug on Saddleworth Moor, a national park 26km east of Manchester. “We can confirm a 79-year-old patient in long-term care at Ashworth High Secure Hospital has died after becoming physically unwell,” a spokesman from the Merseyside health service near Liverpool told reporters. Lawyers representing Brady had announced in February that he had been bed-ridden for years and it was “fair to say” that he was terminally ill. He was reportedly receiving palliative care for emphysema. Brady had repeatedly asked to be allowed to die and had been force-fed since 1999 when he started a hunger strike.
UNITED STATES
Russian sues over AP story
A Russian billionaire is suing The Associated Press for defamation over a story about his connections to a former campaign chairman of US President Donald Trump. Aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska on Monday filed a federal defamation and libel lawsuit over the March 22 story about his business ties with Paul Manafort. Deripaska said the article is inaccurate and hurt his career by falsely accusing him of criminal activity. The AP’s general counsel, Karen Kaiser, said the news organization stands by its story and will defend itself. The AP reported that before signing up with Trump, Manafort secretly worked for Deripaska with a plan to “greatly benefit the [Russian President Vladimir] Putin government.”
MEXICO
Priest stabbed at mass
A knife-wielding assailant stabbed a priest in the neck as he said mass in Mexico City’s cathedral on Monday, then tried to flee the church before being caught, officials said. “We are united in prayer for Father Machorro who just was gored in the neck in the cathedral,” fellow priest Jose Aguilar said on Twitter. The priest was rushed to a hospital for treatment of neck wounds, police said. They declined to give the identity of the assailant, who was turned over to prosecuting authorities. Mexico City prosecutors then said the man identified himself as a US national, called himself an artist and refused to give any motive for the attack. They said he had told authorities he would not offer information that could incriminate him, a prosecutors’ statement said.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
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