PAKISTAN
Clash leaves seven dead
A security official says Islamist militants ambushed paramilitary soldiers patrolling a tribal area along the Afghan border, triggering a shootout that left two troops and five insurgents dead. The official said yesterday the clash happened overnight in the Shaheedano Dhand area of the Kurram tribal region. The army recently said it intended to launch a new offensive against insurgents in Kurram, but has not given details.
JAPAN
Manga doctorate offered
To earn this doctorate, you need to hit the books — specifically, the country’s comic books. Kyoto Seika University said on Tuesday it would launch the country’s first doctoral program in manga studies next year. The private university is well known for its manga and anime programs and established a master’s degree course in manga last year. Manga comics and graphic novels are often less action-oriented and cuter than their traditional US counterparts. The university says it has received overseas requests for an advanced center for manga research, and that the industry is in transition amid globalization and the growth of digital media. The university plans to enroll four doctoral students starting next year.
INDONESIA
Police probe coffin stunt
A marketing executive who anonymously sent coffins to journalists and celebrities to promote a new book is being investigated for “unpleasant acts,” police said on Tuesday. Sumardy Ma sent dozens of small coffins to newsrooms, advertising executives and social media personalities on Monday with anonymous messages pointing to a Web site promoting his book on word-of-mouth marketing. Many of the recipients said they were disturbed and frightened, and some threatened to sue. Police officer Johanson Simamora said Ma could face up to a year in jail.
CHINA
Protesters clash with police
Hundreds of people battled police and destroyed cars after a factory worker was wounded in a knife attack over a wage dispute, authorities and media said yesterday. Eighteen people were injured and nine were detained in Chaozhou, Guangdong Province, on Monday when police tried to quell a protest involving more than 200 migrant workers, the local government and Global Times newspaper said. Protesters had gathered in front of a government building demanding authorities punish three people suspected of attacking a migrant worker surnamed Xiong (熊) on June 1, reports said. The attack came after Xiong had demanded two months of unpaid wages, the state-run Global Times said. The three suspects, including the boss of the ceramics factory where Xiong worked, have been arrested and their cases transferred to the local judicial department for “criminal punishment,” the Chaozhou government said in a statement.
INDIA
Elephant rampage kills man
Two wild elephants trampled one person to death in a three-hour rampage in the city of Mysore early yesterday, causing widespread panic, local officials said. Karnataka State Higher Education Minister S.A. Ramdas said the elephants entered the city from a nearby forest at about 6am and “wreaked havoc in a suburb by trampling one person to death and caused panic across the city.” The victim was a 55-year-old man who had come out of his house on hearing a commotion. He was trampled to death and died instantly, Ramdas said.
GAZA STRIP
Border with Egypt reopens
A Palestinian official said the Gaza Strip’s rulers had reopened the territory’s main gateway to the world after reaching an agreement with neighboring Egypt. Egypt’s new rulers permanently opened the Rafah terminal late last week, ending a four-year blockade of Gaza imposed by ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in cooperation with Israel. However, Hamas abruptly shut down the terminal on Sunday, citing repeated delays at the crossing. Egypt had also closed the passage without notice a day earlier. Palestinian terminal director Ayoub Abu Shaer said yesterday the crossing was reopened after Hamas reached an unspecified agreement with Egypt. He said the priority for passage would be given to medical cases and to people who were unable to leave Gaza late last week.
WEST BANK
Mosque set ablaze
Arsonists torched a mosque early on Tuesday and scrawled Hebrew graffiti on one of its walls. The Palestinian mayor of el-Mughayer Village said a tire was set ablaze inside the mosque in an apparent attempt to burn down the building. No one claimed responsibility, but suspicion fell upon Jewish settlers, because they have carried out similar acts in the past and because the graffiti read, “Price tag, Aley Ayin.” “Price tag” is a settler practice of attacking Palestinians in revenge for Israeli government operations against settlers. Aley Ayin is a small, unauthorized settler outpost that was evacuated by security forces last week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the act, calling it “a heinous act of provocation.” The US also condemned the burning and vandalizing of the mosque.
UNITED KINGDOM
‘Titanic II’ sinks off Dorset
Most people would think twice before buying a boat named Titanic II, and sure enough, when Mark Wilkinson took the 4.8m cabin cruiser out for its maiden voyage, it promptly sank. “If it wasn’t for the harbormaster, I would have gone down with the Titanic,” said Wilkinson, who had to be fished out of the sea at West Bay harbor in Dorset, southern England. “It’s all a bit embarrassing and I got pretty fed up with people asking me if I had hit an iceberg.” Wilkinson, in his 40s, had only recently bought the boat and brought it by road from his home in Birmingham in central England for its first outing. After a successful fishing trip, things started to go wrong when he entered the harbor and the boat began taking on water. Wilkinson was forced to abandon ship and pictures showed him clinging to a rail before he was rescued. One eyewitness said: “It wasn’t a very big boat — I think an ice cube could have sunk it!”
SPAIN
Contortionist steals bags
A flexible thief squeezed into a large suitcase and then emerged to plunder valuables from other bags while inside the luggage compartment of an airport bus, police said. The thief had a partner who would buy a bus ticket and place the suitcase in a bus from Girona airport to Barcelona, police said in a statement late on Tuesday. “Once the trip began, he would get out of the suitcase, search for valuable objects and hide them in a smaller bag he carried with him,” regional Catalan police said. The thief would then get back into the suitcase, to be reclaimed by his partner at the end of the 90-minute trip. Alerted by the repeated thefts, police inspected a suspicious bag on the bus on Friday and opened it up. “They saw there was a man doubled up almost like a contortionist,” the statement said.
UNITED STATES
Mayor sounds familiar
Las Vegas voters chose a new leader with a familiar last name on Tuesday, electing Carolyn Goodman to replace her husband, the colorful former mob lawyer turned mayor Oscar Goodman. The 72-year-old mayor-elect garnered 60 percent support to crush her opponent, Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, in a vote seen as a reaffirmation of the public’s affection for the outgoing three-term mayor who is not permitted to seek a fourth term. Carolyn Goodman, who founded the region’s most prestigious private college preparatory academy, ran largely on a promise to continue her husband’s work in attracting development to the city’s decaying downtown. She will be sworn in next month. Oscar Goodman, 71, said he was negotiating a job promoting the gambling and entertainment mecca for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and is also in talks to create a fictional TV serial based on his mayoral exploits.
MEXICO
Former governor arrested
Former Chiapas governor Pablo Salazar was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly stealing funds meant to rebuild the state after it was hit by hurricane Stan in 2005. He was arrested at Cancun airport, Quintana Roo Deputy Attorney General Juan Hernandez said. After his arrest, Salazar was sent to Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of Chiapas, where state prosecutors have accused him of embezzlement and criminal conspiracy, Hernandez said
URUGUAY
Mass penguin deaths probed
Authorities said they have found about 600 dead penguins washed up on the Atlantic coast since Saturday. Experts are trying to determine what has killed the animals. A navy statement on Tuesday said the latest batch was 200 dead Magellan penguins discovered on the shore at La Paloma, about 200km east of Montevideo. A marine animal rescue group had earlier reported that the carcasses of 400 Magellan penguins washed up around the resort town of Piriapolis, along with dead turtles, dolphins and albatrosses. Experts say it is common for dead penguins to appear in the area at this time of year, but the extent of the die-off appears to be unusual.
UNITED STATES
Tip on mass grave was false
A false tip from a psychic prompted Texas authorities to swarm a rural home looking for a mass grave that included children. “There’s no crime scene,” Liberty County Judge Craig McNair told reporters as deputies, Texas Rangers and FBI agents wrapped up a fruitless search that gained national media attention. A spokesman for the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office said the woman who twice called in the tip would be investigated for making a false report. He said the sheriff’s office decided to take the tip seriously because the psychic claimed children’s bodies were among those at the home in Hardin.
UNITED STATES
Ja Rule heading to prison
Rapper Ja Rule was set to go to prison yesterday for having a loaded gun in his luxury sports car as he left a New York City concert four years ago. The platinum-selling rapper-actor was to be sentenced yesterday to two years behind bars. He pleaded guilty in December to attempted criminal weapon possession. He said on the TV show Good Day New York on Monday that “laws are laws,” and he’s been trying to prepare himself mentally for prison.
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
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
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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