CHINA
Suspects arrested for blast
Authorities have detained “several” suspects in the wake of an explosion at a chemical plant that left 19 dead and injured 12, state media said yesterday. The blast occurred at 6:30pm on Thursday at an industrial park in Yibin, Sichuan Province, a statement on the Web site of the local work safety administration said. Photographs on a local news Web site showed what appeared to be the burned-out shell of a building surrounded by rubble. The building was owned by chemical manufacturer Yibin Hengda Technology Co, which was “conducting illegal construction at the plant, which had not passed safety and fire control checks,” Xinhua news agency said late on Friday, citing local authorities. The Ministry of Emergency Management has sent a team to further investigate the cause of the explosion, Xinhua added.
DR CONGO
Not guilty Bemba to run
Former vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba has been declared an opposition party candidate for the December presidential election after being acquitted of war crimes charges in an appeal with the International Criminal Court. Bemba on Friday accepted the candidacy from his Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) party by telephone from Brussels, where he was released days after the court overturned his 18-year sentence. He is awaiting his diplomatic passport so he can return to the country. Bemba had encouraged his party to make him the candidate for a coalition of opposition parties. The court in 2016 found Bemba guilty as a military commander of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes with a campaign of murder, rape and pillaging by his MLC troops in the Central African Republic in 2002 and 2003.
SPAIN
Fastest bull run injures six
Health officials yesterday said the final bull run of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona has left six people injured in the fastest dash this year in the northern city. Tomas Belzunegui, a spokesman with Navarra’s provincial hospital, said the six were bruised after being trampled as the bulls completed the 850m course along cobbled streets in 2 minutes, 12 seconds. One man was dragged for several meters by a bull after a horn got entangled in his neckerchief; he was taken away on a gurney. The eight bull runs on consecutive days caused injuries to a total of 28 people this year. Two of them were gored. The festival draws about 1 million visitors each year. Dancing, food and alcohol are among the main attractions.
THAILAND
Cave boys to be discharged
A dozen boys and their soccer coach who were rescued from a flooded cave are to be discharged from a hospital next week, Minister of Public Health Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn said yesterday. The last group of the 12-member Wild Boars soccer team and their coach was on Tuesday night evacuated from the Tham Luang cave complex, near the border with Myanmar, safely ending a dangerous rescue and evoking international relief and joy. The 12 boys and their coach are recovering both physically and mentally, and are to be discharged from hospital on Thursday, Piyasakol told reporters. “We need to prepare both the children and their families for the attention they will receive when they come out,” he said.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
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