BRAZIL
Faithful honor sea goddess
Hundreds of practitioners of the Afro-Brazilian Candomble and Umbanda faiths have gathered at Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach to honor the sea goddess Yemanja in a traditional New Year’s tribute. A large statue of the goddess in flowing white and blue robes was carried by truck to the beach on Friday. Worshipers were mostly dressed in white as they launched their offerings to Yemanja: small boats with flowers and bowls with candles and fruits. Night-long music and dancing are to follow the offerings. Candomble was introduced in Brazil by west African slaves at the beginning of the 19th century. Umbanda is an Afro-Brazilian religion that blends African traditions with Roman Catholicism and indigenous American beliefs.
GUATEMALA
Jovel defends embassy plan
Minister of Foreign Affairs Sandra Jovel on Friday said that President Jimmy Morales’ plan to move the country’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem would not be reversed, calling for critics to “respect” the country’s decisions. “It’s a decision that has been made... It is not going to be reversed,” Jovel told journalists during an event to commemorate the end of the civil war in 1996. “The Guatemalan government is very respectful of the positions that other countries have taken, and as we are respectful of those decisions, we believe others should respect decisions made by Guatemala,” she added in response to critics, including Palestine. On Sunday last week, Morales unexpectedly announced the transfer of the embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel on social media, in the wake of the UN General Assembly’s condemnation of a similar move by the US. The announcement made Guatemala the first country to follow the US’ controversial lead on the holy city. Morales, defending his decision, said Israel is an “ally” and that Guatemala has “historically been pro-Israel.”
PAKISTAN
Police free 25 from relative
Police have rescued 25 members of a family who were held hostage by a drunken relative in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. Officer Israr Abbasi said police yesterday fired tear gas canisters into the home after the man shot and wounded a relative and a police officer. The suspect, Abdur Rahim, was injured as he scuffled with police, Abbasi said. Relatives said Rahim held them hostage at gunpoint starting at midnight on Friday. Investigators said the man got drunk after suffering heavy gambling losses, including machinery from the family’s construction business. Rahim would undergo medical tests to ascertain his mental condition and is to be prosecuted accordingly, Abbasi said.
UNITED STATES
Doctor probed over catheters
A New Jersey surgeon’s medical license has been temporarily suspended for allegedly reusing disposable anal catheters on multiple patients. New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino said East Brunswick-based colon and rectal surgeon Sanjiv Patankar allegedly washed and reused the one-use catheters that are inserted into patients during medical procedures. State officials said they have evidence that Patankar ordered only five catheters during a period when he performed 82 procedures requiring them. The New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners unanimously last week voted to suspend his license, saying that he “placed patients in clear and imminent danger.” Patankar’s license is to remain suspended pending a full hearing in the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law and until the board takes final action based on further findings.
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
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
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not