UNITED STATES
Bishops aim to rebuke Biden
Catholic bishops overwhelmingly approved the drafting of a “teaching document” that many of them hope will rebuke Catholic politicians, including President Joe Biden, for receiving Communion despite their support for abortion rights. The decision raises questions of how closely the bishops would be able to cooperate with the Biden administration on issues such as immigration and racial injustice. The result of the vote — 168 in favor and 55 against — was announced on Friday near the end of a three-day meeting of the Conference of Catholic Bishops that was held virtually.
HONG KONG
Boar takes subway ride
A young wild boar has sparked delight by hopping onto a subway train and leading staff on a merry cross-harbor chase that included boarding two separate trains. The plucky piglet slipped under the ticket barriers of Quarry Bay station on Hong Kong Island on Friday afternoon and somehow managed to board a passing train. Video of the incident showed the juvenile trotting down a carriage half-filled with bemused commuters as a hapless staff member tried — and failed — to catch him with a blue tarpaulin. Officials said the pig alighted a few stops later and then boarded a second train that headed under Victoria Harbour. The train was eventually diverted to a depot where officers from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department were able to safely capture the animal and release him back into the wild.
SRI LANKA
Help sought for sick lion
The country’s main zoo on Friday said that it was seeking India’s help to treat a lion that tested positive for COVID-19 — the first animal on the island known to be infected. The Department of National Zoological Gardens said it was consulting vets at the Central Zoo Authority of India to treat 11-year-old Thor, a lion gifted by Seoul’s zoo in 2013. Thor had been experiencing breathing difficulties and refused food, prompting authorities at Dehiwala Zoo near Colombo to test it for COVID-19. Officials said Thor was receiving oxygen treatment and four other lions at the zoo had been isolated.
UNITED STATES
Teen accused in shooting
An Arizona teenager suspected of killing one person and injuring a dozen others during a 90-minute drive-by shooting spree in metropolitan Phoenix told police that he believed people were after him because of his involvement in another shooting, according to court documents released on Friday. Ashin Tricarico, 19, is accused of opening fire on vehicles and pedestrians from a white sports utility vehicle on Thursday in at least eight separate shootings in three cities that stoked fear throughout the region. Four people were shot, including a man whose pickup truck careened into a canal alongside a freeway. “Ashin thinks every vehicle and person he drives past is pointing a gun at him,” police wrote.
UKRAINE
Couple break ties, literally
After 123 days handcuffed together to save their on-again off-again relationship, Alexandr Kudlay and Viktoria Pustovitova have split up, shedding their bonds on national TV and saying the experiment had brought home uncomfortable truths. The young couple from the eastern city of Kharkiv decided to handcuff themselves together on Valentine’s Day, in a last-ditch attempt to break the cycle of breaking up and making up.
The Bolivian government on Friday struck a deal with protesting miners, but was still grappling with blockades and demonstrations by other workers across La Paz. Other groups are still blocking access roads into the city, which is also the seat of the government. Police on Thursday prevented the miners from entering the main square by using tear gas, while the demonstrators hurled stones and explosives with slingshots. Protests against the policies of Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz have convulsed the Andean nation since early this month, and roadblocks were choking routes into La Paz throughout Friday, the national road authority said. Miners demanded that Paz
The Philippines said it has asked the country’s Supreme Court to allow it to arrest former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s chief drug war enforcer to stand trial in an international tribunal. The International Criminal Court (ICC) last week unsealed an arrest warrant against Philippine Senator Ronald dela Rosa, accusing him along with Duterte and other “coperpetrators” of the “crime against humanity of murder.” Dela Rosa briefly sought refuge in the Philippine Senate last week while asking the Philippine Supreme Court to stop an ongoing attempt by government agents to arrest him. “By his own conduct, he has placed himself outside the protection of
A ship anchored off the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was seized and taken toward Iran and another — a cargo ship near Oman — sank after being attacked, authorities said on Thursday, as tensions escalated near the Strait of Hormuz. It was not immediately clear who was behind these incidents, but they happened as a senior Iranian official reiterated his country’s claim of control over the waterway and another said it had a right to seize oil tankers connected to the US. The turmoil in the strait has been a sticking point for weeks in talks between the US and Iran to
The researchers in Ireland looked at their computer screen, marveling at a medieval book tracked down in a Roman library. They flipped through its digitized pages and found their sought-after treasure: the oldest surviving English poem. “We were extremely surprised. We were speechless. We couldn’t believe our eyes when we first saw that,” said Elisabetta Magnanti, a visiting research fellow at Trinity College Dublin’s school of English. The poem was also within the main body of Latin text, she said, calling it “extraordinary.” Composed in Old English by a Northumbrian agricultural worker in the 7th century, Caedmon’s Hymn appears within some copies of
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