PAKISTAN
Indian guard returned
Islamabad yesterday handed over an Indian border guard who was captured a day after an April attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 people, India’s paramilitary border guard said. The attack near the tourist town of Pahalgam sparked a four-day conflict between the two nations that ended with a ceasefire on Saturday. Indian Border Security Force soldier “Purnam Kumar Shaw, who had been in the custody of Pakistan Rangers since 23 April 2025, was handed over to India,” the force said in a statement. The handover was “conducted peacefully and in accordance with established protocols,” it said.
Photo: AFP / Indian Border Security Force
COLOMBIA
Ministry hails China deal
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday hailed a “historic” deal with China that would bring Bogota into China’s Belt and Road Initiative. “Colombia and China signed a cooperation plan for the Belt and Road Initiative today,” the ministry wrote on X early yesterday morning, calling it a “historic step that opens up new opportunities for investment, technological cooperation, and sustainable development for both countries.” The agreement came on the sidelines of a gathering of Latin American leaders in Beijing during which Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged US$9.2 billion in credit toward “development.”
Photo: EPA-EFE / Xinhua / Huang Jingwen
UNITED STATES
Menendez terms reduced
Erik and Lyle Menendez have a new shot at freedom after 35 years behind bars for murdering their parents after Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic on Tuesday reduced the brothers’ sentences from life in prison without parole to 50 years to life, making them immediately eligible for parole. The state parole board must decide whether to release them. The judge’s decision followed months of pushback from prosecutors who opposed resentencing, arguing that the brothers had not taken adequate responsibility for their crimes. Ultimately prosecutors did not call any witnesses, saying they had presented all of their evidence. “On Aug. 20, 1989, I killed my mom and dad. I make no excuses and also no justification,” Lyle Menendez said, choking up as he addressed the room. “The impact of my violent actions on my family ... is unfathomable.” Jesic issued his decision immediately after the brothers spoke. The hearing was slated to last two days, but Jesic made his decision in one. The brothers were convicted in 1996 for murdering their father, Jose Menendez — a record executive — and their mother, Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. While defense attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
Photo: EPA-EFE / Xinhua / Huang Jingwen
UNITED STATES
Senate confirms Troy Meink
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Troy Meink as the secretary of the air force, putting a former KC-135 tanker aircraft navigator and space expert in charge of the service. The vote was 74-25. Meink has almost four decades of experience in the military and in government, including managing some of the nation’s most sensitive satellite intelligence capabilities and the military’s space portfolio. He previously served as a deputy of the National Reconnaissance Office. “Your leadership is exactly what we need to refocus the Department of Defense on its core mission — lethality, readiness, and putting the warfighter first,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on social media.
Photo: Bloomberg
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
RSS