SWITZERLAND
Missing skiers found dead
Five of six cross-country skiers who went missing in the Alps over the weekend have been found dead, police in the canton of Valais said yesterday, with the search still on for the last person. The group of skiers, who ranged in age from 21 to 58, had left Zermatt on Saturday morning with the goal of reaching the town of Arolla later that day. They went missing in the vicinity of the Tete Blanche mountain. A storm over the weekend prevented helicopters and rescuers from reaching the area, but on Sunday evening a team was finally able to be dropped off by helicopter nearby, police said in a statement. “At about 9:20pm it reached the Tete Blanche sector, where it discovered the bodies of five of the six people who were missing,” the statement said. Five of the six skiers are members of the same family, but police have not yet revealed the identities of the bodies found.
PANAMA
Aid groups criticized
The government on Sunday accused international aid groups of encouraging illegal migration by handing out maps to help those crossing the treacherous Darien Gap jungle. The comments came amid a spat between the government and medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which last month criticized a sharp rise in sexual violence against migrants making the dangerous trek on their way to the US. In response, the government suspended MSF’s humanitarian work in the jungle and accused it of failing to share data on alleged victims of sexual violence. “International organizations give [migrants] maps on how to cross the jungle, knowing they are going to be raped, they are going to be robbed. It is extremely irresponsible,” Director of Migration Samira Gozaine said in a video posted on social media. MSF last month reported an “extreme” level of brutality against migrants crossing the jungle and urged the authorities to redouble efforts to protect the most vulnerable people “on their territory.” In just one week last month, MSF said that it had treated 113 people, including nine children, who had been sexually assaulted by criminal groups operating in the lawless Darien Gap. “If they have that information, the first thing they should do responsibly, and legally, is provide pertinent complaints with pertinent evidence, which they have not done,” Gozaine said.
UNITED STATES
Murder-suicide probed
Honolulu police on Sunday said that they were investigating what appeared to be the murder-suicide of a family, including three children, at a Manoa home. Police first arrived at the home at 8:30am, but left after no one answered the door, Lieutenant Deena Thoemmes said at a news conference on Sunday afternoon. She said that the initial call was from an anonymous person and police had no cause to enter the home. Officers returned at 9:15am after receiving another call and were able to speak with a caller. Upon entering the residence, they found four people who had been fatally stabbed, and appeared to be a wife and three children aged 10, 12 and 17. The husband was also found dead. A preliminary investigation found that the husband fatally stabbed his wife and children, Thoemmes said. She added that the husband’s cause of death was under investigation. The ages of the adults was not immediately known. There was no history of domestic calls to the residence and police did not have a motive for the killings, Thoemmes said. Witnesses reported there had been an argument at the home early on Sunday morning, police said.
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: By showing Ju-ae’s ability to handle a weapon, the photos ‘suggest she is indeed receiving training as a successor,’ an academic said North Korea on Saturday released a rare image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor. Kim’s daughter, Ju-ae, has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and took part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including last week’s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea’s key party congress. Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju-ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rifle scope
India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a fresh start in the relationship between their nations. “Our ties have seen a new energy, mutual trust and positivity,” Modi said. Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
Counting was under way in Nepal yesterday, after a high-stakes parliamentary election to reshape the country’s leadership following protests last year that toppled the government. Key figures vying for power include former Nepalese prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli, rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah, who is bidding for the youth vote, and newly elected Nepali Congress party leader Gagan Thapa. In Kathmandu’s tea shops and city squares, people were glued to their phones, checking results as early trends flashed up — suggesting Shah’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was ahead. Nepalese Election Commission spokesman Prakash Nyupane said the counting was ongoing “in a peaceful manner”
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