AUSTRALIA
Cadbury mixes Vegemite
Confectionery-maker Cadbury on Friday said it has created a new taste sensation by combining its well-loved milk chocolate with an unusual flavor — the country’s famous, sharply savory spread Vegemite. Cadbury Australia said the new product was “surprisingly delicious” and one of four new flavor combinations to hit the shelves in coming weeks — along with pretzel and peanut, salted caramel and golden toffee. The company said it believed the new flavor, which combines chocolate and smooth flowing caramel with Vegemite, a paste based on yeast extract, would give Australians “something new and unexpected.” “We’re sure it will stimulate Australians’ flavor curiosity so we encourage everyone to give the block a try while they can,” it said in a statement on the products, which will be only be available for a limited time.
PHILIPPINES
Would-be kidnappers killed
Five militants were killed in a failed kidnapping as the family of the victim fought back, the military said on Thursday. The Abu Sayyaf attackers were shot in a sea battle with the victim’s family on Wednesday after they grabbed the local businesswoman and dragged her to their boat, provincial military chief Colonel Alan Arrojado said. The family was at their seaside home at the time of the incident, but had armed themselves with guns given the high crime rates in many areas in the south, Arrojado said. The military official said the victim had been wounded in the gunfire. He said local fishermen found the 48-year-old clinging on to a floating log with gunshot wounds to her breast and ankle. She is now being treated in hospital. He gave no details about the whereabouts of the other two kidnappers.
NETHERLANDS
‘King insulter’ faces jail
A protester who shouted an obscenity about the king could face up to five years in prison and a fine of more than 20,000 euros under a 19th-century law against insulting the monarch, prosecutors said on Thursday. Anti-racism activist Abulkasim al-Jaberi was detained in December last year while demonstrating against a centuries-old Dutch Christmas parade at which black-faced helpers called “Zwarte Piet” (Black Pete) assist Santa Claus. Critics of the custom denounce the use of blackface as racist. Prosecution spokesman Franklin Wattimena said that al-Jaberi, a Dutch-Iraqi journalist, had been summoned to appear in court on May 27 after failing to pay a 500 euro (US$562) fine. He could be thrown behind bars under a law dating back to 1881 against “insulting the king,” Wattimena said. The law is enforced about once a year.
TURKEY
Cat torturer jailed
A student has been jailed for three years after he filmed himself torturing a cat to death, reports said on Thursday, in a legal first in the country for the deadly abuse of domestic animals. Mustafa Can Aksoy, 21, filmed himself last year killing the cat with knife cuts and blows to the head in the western city of Eskisehir, the Hurriyet daily reported. He was found guilty by a court in the city on Wednesday of needlessly killing the animal and sentenced to three years in jail, it said. His lawyers said they planned to appeal. The cat called Iletki belonged to a local cafe called “Cafe de Cat,” whose owners were among the plaintiffs against Aksoy. Details of the crime emerged when the footage surfaced on the Internet. “I admit my guilt. I regret what happened. I was not always the kind that kills an animal,” Aksoy was quoted as telling the court.
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
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