AUSTRALIA
Listeria claims fourth victim
A fourth person has died after consuming melon contaminated with listeria, authorities said yesterday, in an outbreak that has so far affected 17 people. The cases first came to the attention of health officials last month, with the source traced back to a farm in New South Wales (NSW). “There have been two deaths in NSW and two in Victoria,” NSW Health said in an update, adding that two new cases took the total affected nationally to 17. Vicky Sheppeard, director of communicable diseases at NSW Health, said all contaminated rockmelons were recalled from the market on Wednesday last week. “Typically, around one-third of people who fall ill with listeriosis die every year. Most of the cases are never related to an outbreak like this one we’re seeing with the rockmelon contamination,” she said.
SYRIA
Plane crash claims 39 lives
A Russian military cargo plane crashed on Tuesday as it was descending to land at an air base, killing all 39 people onboard, the Russian Ministry of Defense said. The military said an An-26, with 33 passengers and six crew members onboard, crashed 500m from the runway. The military blamed the crash on a technical error and insisted that the plane was not shot down. All of the people on board were Russian troops, the ministry said. Russia, a key ally of President Bashar al-Assad, leases the Hemeimeem military base near the Mediterranean coast. Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his condolences to the families of those killed in the crash after receiving a briefing by Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu, the Kremlin said.
UNITED STATES
Murder triggers sanctions
The government on Tuesday formally concluded that North Korea ordered the murder of a half-brother and potential rival to leader Kim Jong-un with the banned VX nerve agent. “This public display of contempt for universal norms against chemical weapons use further demonstrates the reckless nature of North Korea and underscores that we cannot afford to tolerate a North Korean WMD [weapons of mass destruction] program of any kind,” US Department of State spokeswoman Heather Nauert said. The finding triggered another layer of US economic sanctions against Pyongyang, just as South Korea reported that the regime is ready for talks to end a nuclear standoff. Under the law, when a nation or leader violates the ban on chemical and biological weapons, an import ban is imposed on its products, but North Korea is already under severe US and UN sanctions and Tuesday’s decision would have little impact, but reviving the controversy over last year’s assassination of Kim Jong-nam at Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia could disrupt attempts to start talks.
UNITED STATES
Man pleads guilty to murder
A man charged with fatally shooting an Indian immigrant last year at a suburban Kansas City bar on Tuesday pleaded guilty to murder in the slaying that fanned fears of anti-immigrant violence. Witnesses said Adam Purinton, who is white, yelled: “Get out of my country” before firing at two men who had stopped for an after-work drink at Austin’s Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas. Srinivas Kuchibhotla was killed in the Feb. 22 attack. His friend, Alok Madasani, was wounded. The men, both 32, worked as engineers at Garmin. Another man, Ian Grillot, was wounded when he tried to intervene. Purinton faces life in prison when he is sentenced on May 4 for premeditated first-degree murder.
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
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
Counting was under way in Nepal yesterday, after a high-stakes parliamentary election to reshape the country’s leadership following protests last year that toppled the government. Key figures vying for power include former Nepalese prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli, rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah, who is bidding for the youth vote, and newly elected Nepali Congress party leader Gagan Thapa. In Kathmandu’s tea shops and city squares, people were glued to their phones, checking results as early trends flashed up — suggesting Shah’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was ahead. Nepalese Election Commission spokesman Prakash Nyupane said the counting was ongoing “in a peaceful manner”
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