PAKISTAN
Polio workers attacked
A government official said gunmen have killed a driver and wounded a polio worker in a northwestern tribal region ahead of a nationwide anti-polio drive. Manzoor Khan said that yesterday’s attack took place in the Khyber tribal region bordering Afghanistan. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the shooting, though Muslim militants have carried out similar previous attacks. The latest incident came ahead of tomorrow’s anti-polio vaccination drive. Militants oppose the campaign, claiming the vaccine sterilizes children and that Western governments use it to spy on insurgents after the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the only three countries in the world where polio remains endemic. Pakistan detected about 300 polio cases last year.
IRAN
Khamenei said to send letter
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has responded to overtures from US President Barack Obama amid nuclear talks by sending him a secret letter, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Citing an Iranian diplomat, the paper said the cleric had written to Obama in recent weeks in response to a presidential letter sent in October last year. Obama’s letter suggested the possibility of cooperation in fighting the Islamic State group if a nuclear deal was secured, the paper said, quoting the diplomat. Khamenei’s letter was “respectful,” but noncommittal, it quoted the diplomat as saying. Both the White House and the Iranian mission to the UN declined to comment on the report. Khamenei said this week he could accept a compromise in the nuclear talks and gave his strongest defense yet of President Hassan Rouhani’s decision to negotiate with the West, a policy opposed by some at home.
MEXICO
Bus and freight train collide
A passenger bus and a freight train collided at a grade crossing in northern Mexico on Friday, killing at least 16 people and injuring 22, an official in Nuevo Leon said. The official said the accident occurred in the town of Anahuac, which is near the border city of Nuevo Laredo, across from Laredo, Texas. The official was not authorized to be quoted by name. The train’s operator, Kansas City Southern de Mexico, issued a statement confirming there had been “a lamentable accident” between one of its trains and a passenger bus at about 5:25pm. The company said its employees reported “an undetermined number of dead and injured at the scene.” Kansas City Southern did not give a cause for the crash. The Mexican official said investigators were looking into whether the bus driver tried to beat the train to the crossing. The train was operated by the Transporte Frontera line on a route from Nuevo Laredo to the neighboring state of Coahuila.
DR CONGO
WHO assists sea search
The WHO on Friday said it is assisting in the search for as many as 100 people believed missing after their boat sank on the Congo River. Thursday’s accident happened when two boats collided close to the town of Kwamouth, about 200km east of Kinshasa, the WHO said in a statement. The WHO cited survivors as saying there might have been close to 150 people onboard one of the boats. An initial official toll said three people had been killed and 42 rescued, claiming that about 100 passengers were on the stricken vessel. The agency said it was providing medical kits to support a search operation launched by national and provincial authorities, including 100 body bags.
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
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
Two people died and 19 others were injured after a Mexican Navy training ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said yesterday. The ship snapped all three of its masts as it collided with the New York City landmark late on Saturday, while onlookers enjoying the balmy spring evening watched in horror. “At this time, of the 277 on board, 19 sustained injuries, 2 of which remain in critical condition, and 2 more have sadly passed away from their injuries,” Adams posted on X. Footage shared online showed the Mexican Navy ship Cuauhtemoc, its sails furled
RSS