UNITED KINGDOM
Harry, Meghan to ‘step back’
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, plan “to step back” as senior members of the royal family, a statement issued on Wednesday by Buckingham Palace said. “Harry and Meghan intend to become financially independent” and to “balance” their time between the UK and North America, the statement said. “After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution,” it said. “We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the royal family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support her majesty the queen.”
CANADA
Bieber announces illness
Pop super star Justin Bieber on Wednesday announced that he has Lyme disease. In a post on Instagram, Bieber said he would address his struggle with the illness, which is contracted through a tick bite, in a YouTube documentary. “It’s been a rough couple years, but getting the right treatment that will help treat this so far incurable disease and I will be back and better than ever,” the 25-year-old entertainer wrote in the post’s caption. He called out critics who he says have been saying he looks like he is “on meth.” He said: “They failed to realize I’ve been recently diagnosed with Lyme disease, not only that but had a serious case of chronic mono which affected my, skin, brain function, energy, and overall health.”
MEXICO
Mayor-elect’s body found
The body of a missing mayor-elect who disappeared in the nation’s south more than a year ago has been found, authorities said on Wednesday. Prosecutors in Guerrero State said that information obtained from people linked to the case led investigators to a river bank where remains were found. Those remains were matched to Daniel Esteban Gonzalez by DNA testing. Gonzalez disappeared on Sept. 2, 2018, after winning the mayorship of the town of Cochoapa el Grande. Gonzalez was the candidate of the Democratic Revolutionary Party. Representatives of that party have blamed the disappearance on the rival Institutional Revolutionary Party, whose candidate had disputed the election.
UNITED STATES
Twitter to test new controls
Twitter on Wednesday said that it would test new features early this year that would allow people to control who can reply to their tweets, as it looks to limit abuse and harassment on the platform. “We want to help people feel safe participating in the conversation on Twitter by giving them more control over the conversations they start,” the San Francisco-based company said in a tweet.
UNITED STATES
Old paper finds new owner
A retiree has canceled an around-the-world trip to save the Mountain Messenger, California’s oldest weekly newspaper, which was set to shut down when editor Don Russell retires this month. The paper began in 1853. Its claim to fame is that Mark Twain once wrote there under his real name, Sam Clemens. Carl Butz said he is to take over the Mountain Messenger. “I’ve been a widower for three years and this is a new chapter in my life,” Butz told SFGate. “What am I going to do? Go on another trip around the world? Instead, I’m doing something good for the community, and I feel good about it.” Known in the area as the “Mountain Mess,” the paper covers school board meetings, federal land use and other issues.
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
Two Belgian teenagers on Tuesday were charged with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser-known species. Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate that they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal. In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis
Incumbent Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on Sunday claimed a runaway victory in the nation’s presidential election, after voters endorsed the young leader’s “iron fist” approach to rampant cartel violence. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, the National Election Council said Noboa had an unassailable 12-point lead over his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez. Official results showed Noboa with 56 percent of the vote, against Gonzalez’s 44 percent — a far bigger winning margin than expected after a virtual tie in the first round. Speaking to jubilant supporters in his hometown of Olon, the 37-year-old president claimed a “historic victory.” “A huge hug
A judge in Bangladesh issued an arrest warrant for the British member of parliament and former British economic secretary to the treasury Tulip Siddiq, who is a niece of former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August last year in a mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule. The Bangladeshi Anti-Corruption Commission has been investigating allegations against Siddiq that she and her family members, including Hasina, illegally received land in a state-owned township project near Dhaka, the capital. Senior Special Judge of Dhaka Metropolitan Zakir Hossain passed the order on Sunday, after considering charges in three separate cases filed
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