MYANMAR
Nineteen killed in clashes
At least 19 people have been killed in clashes between the military and an ethnic armed group yesterday in northern Shan State, the army and local sources told reporters, the most deadly flare-up in recent years as fighting in the borderlands intensifies. Rights defenders have said clashes in the country’s north near the Chinese border have ramped up since January as the international community focuses on the Rohingya crisis in the west of the country. Yesterday’s violence was between the military and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, one of several insurgent groups fighting for more autonomy in the north.
EAST TIMOR
Second vote held in a year
The nation yesterday voted in its second election for parliament in less than a year after the collapse of a minority government. A three-party alliance led by independence hero Xanana Gusmao’s National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction party is vying against Fretilin, which headed the short-lived government formed following the July last year election. Both sides in the election are promising economic development to reduce widespread poverty in the country. “I wish the winning party may look after the clean water, the roads to villages, education system and health sector,” farmer Sergio Soares Ximenes said.
UNITED STATES
Doe killer faces charges
A central Indiana man is facing charges for allegedly shooting a three-legged doe that other hunters had agreed to spare. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources on Friday said that conservation officers have filed misdemeanor charges against a Hamilton County man for shooting the deer from his vehicle on a public roadway in January last year. It said residents around the town of Deming, about 40km north of Indianapolis, had frequently spotted the doe over several years while it raised several sets of fawns. The agency said local deer hunters had formed a pact to leave the doe alone.
UNITED STATES
‘Fuck the NRA’: candidate
A Democratic congressional candidate in New Mexico on Friday used an expletive in a television ad to condemn the National Rifle Association (NRA) and inaction by lawmakers on gun control, beginning a 15-second spot with the words: “Fuck the NRA.” In the ad, Albuquerque City Council member Pat Davis goes on to say that NRA policies have “resulted in dead children, dead mothers and dead fathers,” and that “if Congress won’t change our gun laws, we’re changing Congress.” The ad was broadcast on KRQE-TV in Albuquerque, where general manager Bill Anderson said the station was not permitted by law to censor or edit Davis’ commercial and must provide equal access to candidates.
GUATEMALA
Two envoys told to leave
The country on Thursday said Swedish envoy Anders Kompass and Venezuelan envoy Elena Salcedo had to go, to be replaced by new ambassadors. Minister of Foreign Affairs Sandra Jovel said Kompass had to be withdrawn because he described Guatemala as having a “corrupt society.” Salcedo was alleged to have links to a rural organization opposed to President Jimmy Morales. Luis Linares, an analyst with the Association for Social Studies and Research, said that Salcedo’s ejection might be an attempt by Morales to ingratiate himself with the US, which is stepping up its campaign against Caracas.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
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