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.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
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