TURKEY
More detained over coup
Authorities have issued detention warrants for 216 people suspected of having links to last year’s failed coup attempt, the state-run Anadolu news agency said yesterday. Seventeen former finance ministry personnel had been detained so far and another 65 were sought over alleged links to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen’s network, Anadolu said. Authorities also carried out operations across 40 provinces targeting “private imams” believed to be recruiting members from the nation’s armed forces to the network of Gulen. Ankara has accused Gulen of orchestrating the July 15 coup attempt last year and has repeatedly demanded the US extradite him.
INDONESIA
Stop virginity tests: HRW
The military and police continue to perform abusive virginity tests on female recruits three years after the WHO said they had no scientific validity, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said yesterday. The group said that senior Indonesian police and military officers have told it that security forces still impose the “cruel and discriminatory tests,” which are carried out under the guise of psychological examinations for mental health and morality reasons. The group urged President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to order the national police chief and military commander to ban the practice. The testing includes the invasive “two-finger test” to determine whether female applicants’ hymens are intact.
UNITED STATES
Teen idol Cassidy dies
David Cassidy of The Partridge Family fame has died at age 67. Publicist JoAnn Geffen released a statement on Tuesday evening saying Cassidy had died “surrounded by those he loved.” No further details were immediately available, but Geffen on Saturday said that Cassidy was in a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, hospital suffering from organ failure. Cassidy starred in the 1970s sitcom and sold millions of records as the musical group’s lead singer.
AUSTRALIA
Euthanasia approval near
Victoria state yesterday took another step toward adopting a law allowing voluntary assisted dying for terminally ill patients. Any resident of the nation’s second-largest state over 18, with a terminal illness and with less than six months to live can request a lethal dose of medication under the new legislation. Assisted dying will remain illegal in the nation’s other five states. In a vote in Victoria’s upper house, 22 of 40 senators supported the legislation, which was amended to pass the upper house, including halving the time frame for eligible patients to access the scheme, reduced from 12 months to live to six months to live. The amendments must be approved by the lower house before becoming law. The legislation is not expected to be opposed.
INDONESIA
Singapore advisory nixed
Singapore’s travel advisory to avoid parts of the island of Bali following a minor eruption at Mount Agung volcano was “excessive,” the Center of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said. The eruption spouted ash clouds reaching up to 700m above Mount Agung’s crater, the agency said on its Web site. Singapore told its citizens to refrain from non-essential travel to affected areas of the island. “It’s excessive for Singapore to issue an advisory on Bali as only a radius of 6 to 7.5km around the crater of Mount Agung is considered dangerous,” agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a text message. “So the condition is safe. Flights are also safe.”
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
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
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
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
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