RUSSIA
Gunman kills churchgoers
A gunman opened fire with a hunting rifle on churchgoers leaving a service in the Dagestan region on Sunday evening, killing five people and wounding four, then was shot and killed by police, authorities say. The shootings took place in Kizlyar, a town of 50,000 people on the border with Chechnya. The gunman was a local resident, and his wife has been detained for questioning, police said, adding the motive for the attack was not immediately known.
MEXICO
Quake rattles southwest
A medium-intensity earthquake struck the southwest of the country early yesterday, scaring residents already shaken by a powerful magnitude 7.2 quake on Friday, though there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The US Geological Survey said the quake’s magnitude was 5.9 and it struck at a depth of 40.2km about 32km northeast of the town of Santa Catarina Mechoacan in Oaxaca state. It was also felt in Mexico City. Oaxaca state was also the epicenter for the previous quake, and on Sunday the state government had asked for federal emergency funds to supply food, shelter and health services in more than 30 municipalities battered by that temblor as well as those in September last year. At least 1,000 homes were damaged in that quake Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat told a television program on Saturday, higher than earlier estimates of damage.
BRAZIL
Inmates riot at Rio prison
Inmates of a heavily overcrowded prison in metropolitan Rio de Janeiro took prison guards hostage during a riot that had not been controlled by Sunday night, authorities said. Members of an elite SWAT unit along with police formed a perimeter around the Milton Dias Moreira prison, where inmates began the riot on Sunday afternoon, according to an e-mailed statement from the Rio state penitentiary administration. It provided no information on any deaths or injuries at the prison, where more than 2,000 inmates are crowded into a facility built for less than 900. Earlier on Sunday, Rio state authorities said they would make changes to increase prison security, although details were not disclosed.
UNITED STATES
Plane lands on highway
The Federal Aviation Administration said a small plane landed on the median of a northern California highway on Sunday, but that no injuries were reported. Agency spokesman Ian Gregor says the pilot reported engine trouble before bringing the plane down on a grassy strip dividing State Route 101 in Santa Clara County. Gregor says the pilot, who was the only person on board, was not hurt during the landing near San Martin Airport, south of San Jose.
GERMANY
Police probe rally speaker
Police are investigating a British woman for suspected incitement after she questioned the Holocaust during a neo-Nazi protest in Dresden. Australian-born Michele Renouf is one of two people being investigated for remarks made at a rally on Saturday commemorating those killed in the 1945 Allied bombing of the city, police spokeswoman Jana Ulbricht said. Videos of the rally posted online show Renouf saying the only Holocaust perpetrated in Europe was against German civilians. Publicly denying the Nazis’ well-documented murder of 6 million Jews is a criminal offense in the country. Ulbricht said that officers ordered the rally dissolved after determining that two speakers had broken the law.
NEW ZEALAND
Cyclone to disrupt flights
Air New Zealand yesterday said that flights in and out of the country face major disruptions this week due to Cyclone Gita, set to hit the country today, and encouraged passengers to defer traveling.” We are anticipating significant disruption to our domestic network as well as some international services over the coming week,” the airline said in a travel alert on its Web site.
CAMBODIA
Nine cleared of porn charges
The Siem Reap Provincial Court has dropped charges against all but one of a group of 10 foreigners who were last month charged with producing pornography at a party in Siem Reap, the court said yesterday. The 10 were detained on Jan. 25, along with 77 other foreigners, in a raid on an event called the “Pub Crawl or Let’s Get Wet.” The court, which has deported the nine, had dropped all charges, Yin Srang, the court’s spokesman, said.
THAILAND
Critic’s painting sold online
A portrait of a prominent critic of the monarchy was sold in an online auction for 211,120 baht (US$6,745), which would go into a fund for advocates facing legal cases in the kingdom, including royal insult cases, a manager for the fund said yesterday. A cartoon portrait of academic Somsak Jeamteerasakul, who was forced to flee the country in 2014 to avoid royal insult charges, was sold after an eight-hour online auction on Facebook on Sunday. The portrait was signed by Somsak, who lives in Paris.
CAMBODIA
‘Royal turtle’ eggs found
Wildlife experts have discovered a nest with 16 eggs built by the nearly extinct “royal turtle,” in the first such discovery this year, the non-profit Wildlife Conservation (WCS) Society said yesterday. The southern river terrapin, known locally as the “royal turtle” because its eggs were historically reserved for royalty, is one of the world’s 25 most endangered freshwater turtles, the WCS said. Wildlife rangers in the southwestern province of Koh Kong, where the eggs were discovered along a river by villagers and conservationists, including the WCS, are guarding them until they hatch, the conservation group said in a statement.
SOUTH AFRICA
Ex-prosecutor mulls action
The former state prosecutor who led the case against convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius is prepared to take legal action against former president Jacob Zuma, who left office last week following a series of scandals. A group called AfriForum on Sunday said that Gerrie Nel, head of the group’s private prosecuting unit, is to go to court if state prosecutors decide not to bring charges against Zuma for alleged corruption in an arms deal in the 1990s, when he was deputy president.
PAKISTAN
Khan marries ‘faith healer’
Cricketer-turned-politican Imran Khan has tied the knot for the third time, his party said on Sunday, confirming his marriage to a woman local media call a “faith healer.” Khan wed Bushra Watto in a low-key ceremony attended by family and friends in Lahore. Khan has previously referred to Watto, a mother of five, as his “spiritual adviser” and someone whose guidance he valued. His first marriage to British socialite Jemima Khan, with whom he had two sons, ended in divorce in 2004. His second, to former BBC journalist Reham Khan, ended after nine months in 2015, following a whirlwind romance.
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
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