JAPAN
Whisky arrives at ISS
An uncrewed Japanese cargo ship loaded with supplies — including local whisky — docked at the International Space Station (ISS) early yesterday, officials said. However, astronauts will have to keep their hands off the tipple — it is a science experiment. Drinks giant Suntory sent the booze to space so it could test how time in a zero-gravity environment affects its flavor. The delivery also included food, water, clothing, tools and parts for a water recycling system.
PHILIPPINES
‘Hand of God’ unjams traffic
An 83-year-old retired Catholic cardinal on Sunday came to the rescue of thousands of stranded motorists after single-handedly untangling a traffic jam during a typhoon. Gaudencio Rosales took matters into his own hands as he traveled a rain-lashed highway near Manila to help settle a traffic dispute. “We were trapped for over an hour and we were rushing to another engagement. I said to myself: ‘We cannot take this anymore,’” Rosales said yesterday. He zipped up his raincoat and walked nearly a kilometer to find out what was causing the 1.6km-long snarl. He found six drivers fighting over two lanes. So he used hand signals to force the vehicles to back up, freeing up the jam. After the drivers saw a giant crucifix peeking out of Rosales’ jacket, they got out of their vehicles to kiss his ring before driving off.
NEW ZEALAND
Fraud suspect found dead
A 58-year-old man facing fraud charges yesterday died in his Auckland hotel room, but sparked wider alarm after authorities said they found a brew of toxic gas inside. Assistant Area Fire Commander David Woon said firefighters responded to complaints of a smell similar to rotten eggs coming from the third floor of the Hotel Grand Chancellor, where they found a note on the man’s door warning there was toxic gas inside the room. That led to a partial evacuation of the hotel and a callout of hazardous material experts before the hotel room was eventually deemed safe. Police named dead man as Mark Lawrence Ivil, who was due to make an appearance in court yesterday.
BANGLADESH
Court temporarily bans film
The High Court has imposed a six-month ban on the screening of a movie about a garment worker who was rescued from the rubble 17 days after a five-story factory complex collapsed more than two years ago, killing more than 1,000 people. A two-member panel of judges on Monday ordered the ban on the film Rana Plaza after a petition was submitted alleging that the movie has scenes of horror, cruelty and violence that could negatively affect workers in the nation’s garment industry. The Rana Plaza collapsed in 2013, killing 1,135 people. Thousands more were rescued from the ruins of the illegally built complex.
THAILAND
Tourism unhurt by bombing
The government yesterday insisted the tourist industry was unaffected by last week’s bombing of the Erawan shrine in Bangkok that killed 20 people, saying visitor numbers remained “at a normal level.” “The number of tourists in prominent tourist attractions both in Bangkok and other provinces is still high,” junta spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree said in a daily broadcast, without giving any numbers. “The Ministry of Tourism and Sports has further reported that the statistics of foreign tourists travelling into Thailand is at the normal level. No arrests have been made over the bombing.
NETHERLANDS
Russia to pay redress: panel
An international arbitration panel on Monday announced that Russia must compensate the Netherlands for breaching an international treaty regulating the laws of the sea by seizing a Greenpeace ship protesting at an oil platform in Arctic waters. The Arctic Sunrise, sailing under a Dutch flag, was seized by Russian authorities in September 2013 during a protest against an offshore oil platform and the 30 people on board were arrested and detained in Russian prisons for months.
GUATEMALA
Baldetti took bribes: officials
Prosecutors on Monday said that former vice president Roxana Baldetti accepted US$3.7 million in bribes as part of a customs corruption scandal that forced her from office and has shaken the government of President Otto Perez Molina. Judge Miguel Angel Galvez noted the prosecutors’ statements were not formal accusations. “The only thing they are doing in legal terms is to state that there is a reasonable suspicion,” he said. Prosecutors said Baldetti, who resigned on May 8, pocketed 50 percent of the bribes funneled to a chain of officials who helped businesses evade import duties.
CANADA
Plane crash leaves six dead
Six people, including a French tourist and four Britons, died in a floatplane crash in Quebec province on Sunday, officials said on Monday. The French victim, Emilie Delaitre, born in 1987, was visiting the country with her aunt and uncle, who did not board the airplane with her, the French consulate said. The four British victims of the crash have not been identified.
SAUDI ARABIA
Executions top 175: report
The government has executed at least 175 people over the past 12 months, on average of one person every two days, according to a report by Amnesty International released yesterday. The 43-page report titled Killing in the Name of Justice: The Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia said that between January 1985 and June this year, at least 2,208 people were executed in the kingdom. Amnesty said almost half of those executed over the past 30 years were foreign nationals, many of whom lack the Arabic-language skills to understand court proceedings and charges.
BRAZIL
Government to cut ministries
The government is to sharply pare back the number of ministries after years of expansion, the administration said on Monday. Minister of Planning Nelson Barbosa said the government is to cut 10 of its 39 ministries to make the state more efficient, but did not specify how much the government could save. He said the government is to reveal more details on Monday next week. The reduction of the Cabinet posts could further complicate Rousseff’s relations with political parties of her unwieldy alliance in the National Congress.
ZIMBABWE
Lion mauls, kills tour guide
Local tour guide Quinn Swales was mauled to death by a lion at Hwange National Park, the country’s biggest game reserve, while escorting visitors, police said. None of the tourists were injured. Swales, 40, was attacked while tracking a pride of the animals, Zimbabwe Republic Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said by telephone yesterday. “He had spotted six lions, one of which had cubs,” Charamba said. “Initially, he managed to scare the male lion away, but it later charged him.”
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
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