HONDURAS
‘Indignados’ demand change
Thousands of people protested in Tegucigalpa on Friday, the latest in a series of marches calling for an investigation into President Juan Orlando Hernandez over allegations of massive corruption. Two separate marches eventually joined near the president’s palace, where scores of hunger-striking protesters known as indignados (the indignant) — have been camped out in tents. “Get out JOH!” demonstrators chanted on Friday, using the president’s initials. Some protesters carried torches, while others held banners showing Hernandez in a prison uniform under the word “corrupt.” Massive crowds have been marching since May against Hernandez, who is accused of receiving government money illegally in his 2013 presidential campaign. Hernandez admitted his conservative ruling National Party had accepted US$94,000 that had been misappropriated from social security funds.The opposition charges that more than US$300 million was skimmed from Honduras’ public health system.
UNITED STATES
Plane crashes in Alaska
A plane crash in southeast Alaska left one person dead and four others injured, the coast guard said on Friday. The four were transported by helicopter to a hospital in Juneau. One patient was listed in serious condition while another was in critical condition. Juneau police said they received a 911 call about 1:30pm on Friday from a person who said they had been involved in a crash on a flight from Juneau to the community of Hoonah. Police said the caller’s name matched that of someone on the aircraft. The Cessna 207 operated by Wings of Alaska was reported missing on Friday afternoon. The company confirmed the plane had been involved in an accident. Coast guard spokesman Grant DeVuyst said authorities, initially thwarted by poor weather and steep, rugged terrain, were able to find a clearing for helicopter hoist operations.
ISRAEL
PM wishes Abbas happy Eid
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have spoken by telephone, a rare exchange amid years of paralyzed peace efforts. Netanyahu’s office said that the Israeli leader wished Abbas a happy Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that caps the fasting month of Ramadan. A statement issued on Friday said Netanyahu told Abbas that Israelis want peace and that Israel would “continue to act toward regional stability.” The Palestinian news agency WAFA said Abbas told Netanyahu it is important to reach a peace deal next year.
UNITED STATES
Empire State building lit up
New York’s Empire State Building was lit in green late on Friday to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. The green light is to shine until the building closes to the public at 2am, when the building traditionally turns out its lights. The skyscraper has carried out the tradition “for several years now — it is an annual lighting,” a building spokeswoman told reporters. The Empire State Building shines specific colors for a number of religious holidays — pastel shades for Easter, blue and white for Hanukkah and red and green for Christmas. It has also marked a number of events — red, white and blue for the US women’s World Cup victory, rainbow colors for gay Pride Week, and blue, white and purple for World Oceans Day on June 8. The tower is otherwise illuminated in white each night.
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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