PALESTINE
Strikes kill 22, reports say
Israeli airstrikes yesterday killed at least 22 people, including a family of six whose home was struck in Gaza City, Gaza rescue teams and medics said. The family — a couple and their four children — were killed when an airstrike leveled their home in northern Gaza City, Gaza’s civil defense agency said in a statement. Deaths were also reported in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza and in the southern city of Khan Yunis. Since Israel resumed its military operations last month, at least 1,928 people have been killed in Gaza, raising the total death toll to at least 51,305 since the war began, the health ministry in Gaza said.
PHILIPPINES
Possible China meddling: NSC
The National Security Council (NSC) yesterday said it found indications China is conducting a “state-sponsored” campaign to interfere in next month’s mid-term elections. The accusation emerged at a Senate hearing where Senator Francis Tolentino said that Beijing’s embassy in Manila was “paying Filipinos to work in troll farms” to undermine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s administration. The May 12 poll will decide hundreds of seats in the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as thousands of hotly contested local positions. NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said his agency believed China was likely behind online attacks aimed at influencing the polls, adding that the agency had identified a list of local proxies known to be amplifying Beijing’s messaging.
HONG KONG
Cardinal allowed to leave
Outspoken Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen (陳日君) was allowed to leave the territory to attend Pope Francis’ funeral in the Vatican City. Zen, a 93-year-old retired bishop, left Hong Kong on Wednesday night after applying at a court to get back his passport, his secretary said in a text message yesterday. Authorities confiscated his passport after his controversial arrest under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law in 2022.
SRI LANKA
Tooth draws huge crowds
Buddhist devotees flocking to see a sacred tooth yesterday were urged by police to stay clear after hundreds of people fell sick and a woman died. Lines in the city of Kandy were already 10km long to worship what Buddhists believe to be a tooth of the Buddha — a special showing of the relic that will end on Sunday, regional police chief Lalith Pathinayake said. Officials estimated that about 450,000 people yesterday morning had lined up to see the relic, more than double the expected daily number of 200,000. The city’s main state-run hospital reported that nearly 300 people had been admitted after falling ill while spending days in cramped conditions. One woman was pronounced dead on admission.
UNITED KINGDOM
Oasis fans lose ￡2m in scams
Oasis fans wishing to see the reunited band live in concert have collectively lost more than ￡2 million (US$2.7 million) from ticket scams, mostly on Facebook, Lloyds Bank said yesterday. The chaotic scramble for the prized tickets followed the announcement in August last year that brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher had ended their infamous 15-year feud and were reuniting for a worldwide tour. Working from figures based on its own customers, “the bank estimates that across the UK there are likely to have been at least 5,000 victims since tickets went on sale, with over ￡2 million lost to fraudsters” — an average of ￡436 per person.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
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