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.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
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