PHILIPPINES
Shooter kills four in Silay
A disgruntled former village official in the central province of Negros Occidental went on a shooting rampage yesterday, killing four people and critically wounding three others, police said. Noel Ayalin, a former village leader in Silay City, barged into a community meeting and shot at the officials present one by one, Negros Occidental Senior Superintendent Allan Guisihan said. “This is connected to local political rivalry,” Guisihan said, noting that one of the victims had beaten Ayalin in previous elections. Guisihan said a manhunt had been launched to find the gunman, who fled after the shooting.
SAMOA
HRPP retains control
The party that has ruled the country for the past 28 years has retained power in elections despite complaints about the government’s handling of a tsunami that struck the South Pacific island nation in 2009, killing 183 people. According to preliminary results released on Saturday by the Samoan Electoral Commission, the governing Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) lost a seat, but gained the support of an additional two independent lawmakers. That gives Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi control of 36 seats in the 49-seat parliament.
BANGLADESH
Ruling on Yunus expected
Deputy Attorney General Karunamoy Chakma said the High Court is set to rule on the legality of a government order dismissing Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as head of the microfinance bank he founded. Chakma said the ruling was expected yesterday. The central bank ordered Yunus out of Grameen Bank on Wednesday, saying he violated the country’s retirement laws. Yunus then went to the court challenging the legality of the order and said he was still holding the post. Yunus’ bank pioneered the concept of reducing poverty by making tiny loans to the poor. His work spurred a boom in such lending across the developing world and earned him and the bank the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.
TUNISIA
Villains rounded up
The Interior Ministry said that more than 2,300 escaped inmates, thieves and other troublemakers have been rounded up by security forces since Feb. 1. More than 9,000 prisoners have fled prisons in the unrest that followed the end of the regime of former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who fled the country on Jan. 14. A ministry statement on Saturday, carried by the TAP news agency, didn’t say how many of the 2,342 people arrested were escaped inmates. It said that 700 had committed acts of theft and 260 were delinquents who had “terrorized citizens.” The caretaker government wants to re-establish security before elections for a constituent assembly on July 24.
CROATIA
Protesters take to the streets
Hundreds of protesters marched on Saturday in several towns demanding the government resign amid economic hardship and corruption allegations in the nation hoping to join the EU. The marches are the latest in a series of similar anti--government demonstrations, some of which erupted in clashes with police. Although not big in numbers, the protests have increased pressure on the government, which faces elections later this year or in early next year. The media reported that Saturday’s marches — just like previous gatherings — have been organized through Facebook and were held in eight towns throughout the country.
UNITED STATES
Professor sorry for sex act
A Northwestern University professor apologized on Saturday for letting a couple demonstrate the use of a sex toy after one of his classes, but he said he still sees “absolutely no harm” in what happened. Psychology professor J. Michael Bailey said he regrets hurting Northwestern’s reputation and “upsetting so many people in this particular manner. I apologize.” After a class on human sexuality on Feb. 21, Bailey invited students to stay for a discussion of sexual fetishes. He repeatedly warned that it would be graphic. The discussion included a woman who stripped and allowed her partner to use a sex toy on her. In a statement, Bailey said he had never before allowed something like that and would never again.
CUBA
American’s spy trial ends
The trial of an American for espionage concluded on Saturday, a US diplomat said. A second full day of court proceedings brought to a close the prosecution of Alan Gross, 61, whom officials accuse of violating the “territorial integrity” of the communist nation. There was no official statement about the trial, but a diplomat with the US Interests Section said: “The trial has concluded,” and added that the lawyer for Gross would be informed of the verdict, “but we don’t know when.” Prosecutors are seeking 20 years in prison for Gross, who was working under contract with the US State Department when he was arrested in late 2009 for distributing cellphones and computers to members of the nation’s Jewish community.
UNITED KINGDOM
Lady Gaga threatens to sue
Lawyers for US pop icon Lady Gaga have threatened legal proceedings against the makers of breast milk ice cream named “Baby Gaga,” according to papers seen on Saturday. The New York singer’s lawyers have given the manufacturers until 4pm on Wednesday to change the name “if you wish to avoid proceedings for trade mark infringement and passing off,” according to a letter addressed to London restaurant The Icecreamists. The cafe in the trendy Covent Garden district must also “cease and desist from in any other way associating with Lady Gaga any ice cream you are offering,” the letter from law firm Mishcon de Reya said.
UNITED STATES
Rape suspect tries suicide
Authorities say the man they believe is the East Coast rapist tried to hang himself in his cell and is in a Connecticut hospital. New Haven police Officer Joe Avery said on Saturday night that Aaron Thomas was expected to survive and undergo a psychological evaluation. Avery said it’s not clear how long Thomas will remain hospitalized. Authorities say Thomas, an unemployed truck driver, is the rapist suspected of terrorizing women with sexual assaults from Virginia to Rhode Island over 12 years. New Haven police say DNA linked Thomas to the assaults. He is charged in both Connecticut and Virginia.
UNITED STATES
Tornado kills woman
A tornado slammed a southwestern Louisiana town on Saturday, killing a young mother who was sheltering her child and injuring 11 others. More than 100 homes were damaged, many of them destroyed, authorities said, and about 1,500 people were evacuated because of natural gas leaks. Maxine Trahan, a spokeswoman for the Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office, said 21-year-old Jalisa Granger was killed when a tree fell on her house.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
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