NIGERIA
Boko Haram attacks town
Boko Haram has killed at least 60 people in a “devastating” attack on the northeastern Nigeria border town of Rann, Amnesty International said on Friday, calling it one of the deadliest assaults by the group in its nearly decade-long insurgency. Fighters on motorcycles drove through the town near the Cameroon border on Monday morning, setting houses on fire and killing people left behind, the international rights group said in a series of Twitter posts. The fighters also chased residents fleeing the “massive attack” and killed several outside town. Amnesty International published satellite imagery that it said showed “hundreds of burned structures.”
PHILIPPINES
Pair blamed for blast
Two suicide bombers from Indonesia were behind the explosions that left 22 people dead in a Catholic church in the southern province of Sulu on Jan. 27, Secretary of the Interior Eduardo Ano said. The two people were helped by Abu Sayyaf militants, who acted as a guide in the bombings, which also injured about 100 people, Ano told reporters in Leyte Province on Friday. CNN Philippines quoted Ano as saying that the Indonesians wanted to set an example among Filipino militants, adding that there are still some foreign terrorists in the country. The military this week launched an airstrike against a splinter group from the Abu Sayyaf that it believed led the attack. Secretary of Defense Delfin Lorenzana earlier said a Yemeni couple might have been behind the blast.
HONG KONG
Sex-change IDs refused
The High Court refused to allow three transgender people to be recognized as males on their official identity cards because they have not undergone full sex-change operations. The three, identified as Henry Tse, Q and R, are shown on their ID cards as having been born female, but are undergoing hormone therapy.
JAPAN
Fishing boat seized
A crab fishing boat with 10 people onboard has been seized by Russian authorities, an official said yesterday. The No. 68 Nishino-maru was taken to Russia’s eastern port of Nakhodka, where the crew members are expected to be questioned, said an official of Shimane Prefecture, western Japan. “We are asking the Russian side, through diplomatic channels, to release them as soon as possible,” he told reporters, adding that the fishermen were in good condition. Local media said the boat left Shimane on Jan. 26 to fish for snow crabs, also known as spider crabs, but lost contact on Wednesday.
INDONESIA
Drug suspect recaptured
A French drug suspect on the run since escaping from jail nearly two weeks ago has been recaptured, police said yesterday. Felix Dorfin — who faces the death penalty if convicted — was found hiding in a forest in North Lombok on Friday night, police said, and was returned to jail in Mataram, the island’s capital. Wearing disheveled black clothes and looking tired, Dorfin initially tried to bribe officers to let him go. “He didn’t resist arrest, but wanted to bribe our officers,” North Lombok police chief Herman Suriyono said yesterday, adding that he was found following a tip-off from locals in the area. After being checked by medical teams he was returned to jail. The 35-year-old Frenchman was arrested in September last year allegedly carrying a false-bottomed suitcase filled with 4kg of drugs.
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
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
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