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.
Former Nicaraguan president Violeta Chamorro, who brought peace to Nicaragua after years of war and was the first woman elected president in the Americas, died on Saturday at the age of 95, her family said. Chamorro, who ruled the poor Central American country from 1990 to 1997, “died in peace, surrounded by the affection and love of her children,” said a statement issued by her four children. As president, Chamorro ended a civil war that had raged for much of the 1980s as US-backed rebels known as the “Contras” fought the leftist Sandinista government. That conflict made Nicaragua one of
COMPETITION: The US and Russia make up about 90 percent of the world stockpile and are adding new versions, while China’s nuclear force is steadily rising, SIPRI said Most of the world’s nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their arsenals last year, setting the stage for a new nuclear arms race, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Nuclear powers including the US and Russia — which account for about 90 percent of the world’s stockpile — had spent time last year “upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions,” researchers said. Since the end of the Cold War, old warheads have generally been dismantled quicker than new ones have been deployed, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of warheads. However, SIPRI said that the trend was likely
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
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