SPAIN
Coin trove unearthed
Workers laying pipes in a park in the nation’s south have unearthed a 600kg trove of Roman coins in what culture officials say is a unique historic discovery. The Seville Archeological Museum says the construction workers came across 19 amphoras containing thousands of unused bronze and silver-coated coins dating from the end of the fourth century. The coins are believed to have been recently minted at the time and had probably been stored to pay soldiers or civil servants. Museum director Ana Navarra said the discovery this week in the park in the southern town of Tomares outside Seville is unique for Spain and of incalculable value. The regional cultural department on Friday said construction work in the park has been halted while archeologists investigate further.
CHINA
Truck crash kills 14
Authorities said 14 people were killed when a truck carrying stones overturned and dumped its cargo onto a roadside activity center. The central government’s State Administration of Work Safety said Friday’s accident in the southern province of Guizhou was apparently caused by brake failure. The incident occurred on the eve of the three-day May Day holiday, during which millions of Chinese travel within the nation and abroad. Traffic police in recent days have been cracking down on overloading, poorly maintained vehicles and drunk driving in an effort to avoid the carnage regularly seen on highways during public holidays. Those efforts have been intensified with the rise of private car ownership among the growing middle class, which now drives more than 172 million vehicles.
UNITED NATIONS
China touts N Korea idea
Chinese Ambassador to the UN Liu Jieyi (劉結一) said a North Korea proposal according to which Pyongyang would halt its nuclear program if the US and South Korea suspend joint military exercises merits consideration. “I think anything, anything, any proposal, no matter where the proposal comes from, so long it is conducive to a negotiated solution that will contribute to denuclearization to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula should be studied very carefully,” Liu said on Friday. He stressed the need for a multidimensional approach to the North Korea situation and said that sanctions and Security Council resolutions alone would not resolve the issue. Countries could also work directly with North Korea to diffuse tensions, he said. Liu made his remarks during a news conference wrapping up his month-long term as Security Council president.
UNITED KINGDOM
Labour to probe racism
The opposition Labour Party has launched an inquiry into how to tackle antisemitism after suspending former London mayor Ken Livingstone days before it contests elections in London, Scotland and Wales. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn — a close ally of party veteran Livingstone — said in a statement late on Friday that he would propose a new code of conduct explicitly banning antisemitism and other forms of racism. “There is no place for antisemitism or any form of racism in the Labour party, or anywhere in society,” he said. Labour suspended Livingstone on Thursday after he said Hitler was “supporting Zionism” when he proposed in 1932 that Jews be moved to Israel. Livingstone served as mayor from 2000 to 2008.
Incumbent Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on Sunday claimed a runaway victory in the nation’s presidential election, after voters endorsed the young leader’s “iron fist” approach to rampant cartel violence. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, the National Election Council said Noboa had an unassailable 12-point lead over his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez. Official results showed Noboa with 56 percent of the vote, against Gonzalez’s 44 percent — a far bigger winning margin than expected after a virtual tie in the first round. Speaking to jubilant supporters in his hometown of Olon, the 37-year-old president claimed a “historic victory.” “A huge hug
Two Belgian teenagers on Tuesday were charged with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser-known species. Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate that they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal. In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis
A judge in Bangladesh issued an arrest warrant for the British member of parliament and former British economic secretary to the treasury Tulip Siddiq, who is a niece of former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August last year in a mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule. The Bangladeshi Anti-Corruption Commission has been investigating allegations against Siddiq that she and her family members, including Hasina, illegally received land in a state-owned township project near Dhaka, the capital. Senior Special Judge of Dhaka Metropolitan Zakir Hossain passed the order on Sunday, after considering charges in three separate cases filed
APPORTIONING BLAME: The US president said that there were ‘millions of people dead because of three people’ — Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskiy US President Donald Trump on Monday resumed his attempts to blame Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for Russia’s invasion, falsely accusing him of responsibility for “millions” of deaths. Trump — who had a blazing public row in the Oval Office with Zelenskiy six weeks ago — said the Ukranian shared the blame with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered the February 2022 invasion, and then-US president Joe Biden. Trump told reporters that there were “millions of people dead because of three people.” “Let’s say Putin No. 1, but let’s say Biden, who had no idea what the hell he was doing, No. 2, and
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