BRAZIL
Writer Rubem Alves dies
Writer, philosopher and theologian Rubem Alves died on Saturday aged 80 after a short illness, local media reported. Alves died in hospital in Campinas from multiple organ failure 10 days after he was admitted for respiratory failure brought on by pneumonia, according to Globo television and CBN radio. The writer of about 160 widely translated works on education and psychology, Alves received a doctorate from the Princeton Theological Seminary in 1968. Alves, an exponent of liberation theology — an interpretation of Christianity through the eyes of the suffering of the poor and marginalized — had numerous works published in English, among them What is Religion? and A Theology of Hope. He also wrote a number of children’s books.
BRAZIL
World Cup protesters jailed
A judge in Rio de Janeiro on Friday ordered 23 people jailed for “violence” during ant-World Cup protests, including those arrested before the Argentina-Germany final. Judge Flavio Itabaiana de Oliveira Nicolau said the decision was made because of “the danger the accused pose to the public.” Of the 23, two of those jailed are accused of the death of a TV camerman who was killed when he was struck by a flare. Minutes before the final, police launched tear gas and stun grenades to disperse about 300 anti-Wold Cup protesters who tried to march toward Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium. However, World Cup protests on the whole were much smaller than the mass protests that rocked Brazil during last year’s Confederations Cup.
PUERTO RICO
Police rescue 12 migrants
Police say they have rescued 12 Haitian migrants who were found on an island just west of the US territory. Authorities on Friday said that six of them were taken to the hospital and treated for dehydration and cuts. The group was found on Desecheo Island. The number of Haitian migrants trying to reach the territory from the Dominican Republic has increased in recent years, with many being abandoned on nearby uninhabited islands. US Customs and Border Protection said agents have detained 582 Haitian migrants and prosecuted 11 smugglers in the past 10 months alone.
UNITED STATES
Fugitive returned from Nepal
A New Mexico man who fled sex abuse and kidnapping charges 14 years ago returned to the state on Saturday following his capture in Nepal, the FBI said. Neil Stammer, 47, arrived in the afternoon at the Albuquerque International Sunport, FBI spokesman Frank Fisher said. Stammer will be booked on outstanding warrants at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center, according to Albuquerque police. The owner of a local magic shop and a juggler, Stammer was arrested in 1999 on allegations of criminal sexual penetration of a minor, kidnapping, intimidation of a witness, battery and criminal sexual contact of a minor. Stammer was allowed to bond out before his arraignment, authorities said. The former Albuquerque resident already had an arrest warrant for failing to appear at his arraignment. A federal arrest warrant was issued in June 2000 for Stammer for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, authorities said. The FBI and investigators from multiple jurisdictions used investigative photographs to determine that Stammer had used a fraudulent passport to enter Nepal, Fisher said. He briefly escaped prison in Kathmandu, but was recaptured by Nepalese authorities. Stammer had been living there since 2006 under a different name. He is expected to face state charges.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
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