AFGHANISTAN
Doctor killed in blast
A female doctor was killed in a bomb blast in the eastern city of Jalalabad in what appeared to be another targeted hit, officials said yesterday, just days after three female media workers were gunned down in the area. Journalists, religious scholars, rights advocates and judges have all been victims of a wave of political assassinations. The doctor was killed after a magnetic bomb was attached to the vehicle in which she was traveling, a spokesman from the provincial governor’s office said. A child was also injured by the explosion. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.
AUSTRALIA
Teen dies from jellyfish sting
A teenager on Monday died after a suspected box jellyfish sting, authorities said yesterday, in a rare case believed to be the country’s first such death in 15 years. The 17-year-old was stung while swimming at Bamaga, a rural community on the tip of Cape York, on Monday last week, health officials said. He was airlifted to a hospital where he later died, police said. The Australian box jellyfish is among the world’s most venomous creatures. Marine biologist Lisa-Ann Gershwin said it was the country’s first recorded box jellyfish death since 2006.
UNITED STATES
Rare artifact found at sale
A small bowl bought for US$35 in a yard sale in Connecticut turned out to be a rare 15th century Chinese artifact possibly worth US$500,000. The porcelain bowl — with delicate floral motifs — was acquired by a buyer, whose identity is being kept secret. Experts said that it was painted for the court of Emperor Yongle (永樂), the third emperor of the Ming dynasty. “There are only six such bowls known in the world. It is a very exclusive group,” said Angela McAteer, head of Chinese artworks at Sotheby’s in New York. Sotheby’s is to put the bowl up for auction on March 17, when it is expected to sell for US$300,000 to US$500,000. Five of the bowls are in museums: two in Taiwan, two in London and one in Tehran.
CHINA
Astronauts train for missions
A cohort of astronauts is training for four crewed missions this year, as the country works to complete its first permanent orbiting space station, authorities said yesterday. The station’s core module, Tianhe, could be launched as soon as next month, the China National Space Administration said. The massive Long March-5B Y2 rocket and its payload were moved into place last month at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan Province for assembly and testing. That launch would be the first of 11 missions over the next two years to finish the station.
THAILAND
Sailors rescue cats
Navy sailors on Tuesday braved choppy waters to launch a dramatic rescue this week after discovering four cats had been abandoned on a sinking ship that caught fire in the Andaman Sea. After the crew had been taken to safety, the navy was sent to the site of the capsized vessel to check for an oil spill, but discovered a few crew members had been forgotten. “I used my camera to zoom in to the boat, and I saw one or two cats popping their heads out,” said First-Class Petty Officer Wichit Pukdeelon. A sailor in a life vest swam out to the capsized boat, on which four ginger cats were huddled together on a wooden beam. The rescuer brought the cats to his boat on his shoulder above the water level, with his team pulling him in by rope. The cats are now being cared for by their rescuers.
Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg was deported from Israel yesterday, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, the day after the Israeli navy prevented her and a group of fellow pro-Palestinian activists from sailing to Gaza. Thunberg, 22, was put on a flight to France, the ministry said, adding that she would travel on to Sweden from there. Three other people who had been aboard the charity vessel also agreed to immediate repatriation. Eight other crew members are contesting their deportation order, Israeli rights group Adalah, which advised them, said in a statement. They are being held at a detention center ahead of a
A Chinese scientist was arrested while arriving in the US at Detroit airport, the second case in days involving the alleged smuggling of biological material, authorities said on Monday. The scientist is accused of shipping biological material months ago to staff at a laboratory at the University of Michigan. The FBI, in a court filing, described it as material related to certain worms and requires a government permit. “The guidelines for importing biological materials into the US for research purposes are stringent, but clear, and actions like this undermine the legitimate work of other visiting scholars,” said John Nowak, who leads field
NUCLEAR WARNING: Elites are carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers, perhaps because they have access to shelters, Tulsi Gabbard said After a trip to Hiroshima, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday warned that “warmongers” were pushing the world to the brink of nuclear war. Gabbard did not specify her concerns. Gabbard posted on social media a video of grisly footage from the world’s first nuclear attack and of her staring reflectively at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. On Aug. 6, 1945, the US obliterated Hiroshima, killing 140,000 people in the explosion and by the end of the year from the uranium bomb’s effects. Three days later, a US plane dropped a plutonium bomb on Nagasaki, leaving abut 74,000 people dead by the
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to visit Canada next week, his first since relations plummeted after the assassination of a Canadian Sikh separatist in Vancouver, triggering diplomatic expulsions and hitting trade. Analysts hope it is a step toward repairing ties that soured in 2023, after then-Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau pointed the finger at New Delhi’s involvement in murdering Hardeep Singh Nijjar, claims India furiously denied. An invitation extended by new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to Modi to attend the G7 leaders summit in Canada offers a chance to “reset” relations, former Indian diplomat Harsh Vardhan Shringla said. “This is a
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