UNITED STATES
‘Cheers’ actor Wendt dies
George Wendt, the American actor best known for his role as the curmudgeonly Norm Peterson in Cheers, has died, a representative said on Tuesday. Wendt, who was 76, was nominated for six successive Emmy awards for his role as the perennial barfly opposite Ted Danson in one of television’s most successful ever sitcoms. “George’s family confirmed the news of his death early Tuesday morning, announcing he died peacefully in his sleep while at home,” the family’s representative, Melissa Nathan, said. “George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend and confidant to all of those lucky enough to have known him.
PAKISTAN
School bus bombing kills 6
A suspected suicide bomber targeted a school bus yesterday, killing at least four children and two adults, in an attack the government accused India of backing. The bus driver and his assistant were among those killed in the attack in Khuzdar District of Balochistan Province, on the way to a school that caters to the children of army personnel and civilians living in the area. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accused archrival India of backing the militants that carried out the attack, coming almost two weeks after the two sides settled a ceasefire to end their most serious conflict in decades.
AUSTRALIA
Towns cut off by floods
Heavy rain in the southeast yesterday triggered flash flooding and cut off entire towns, stranding some residents on the roofs of their homes, as authorities issued snap evacuation orders with rivers staying above danger levels. Rural towns in the Hunter and Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales were the worst hit from the downpour, with some areas receiving more than four months of rain over the past 24 hours. The Bureau of Meteorology said some areas could receive up to 300mm of rain over the next 24 hours, three times the mean total for May. Images shared on social media showed some residents sitting inside their homes ankle-deep in water waiting for rescue crews.
MEXICO
Mexico City staff killed
The personal secretary and an adviser to Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada were shot dead on Tuesday, authorities said, in the worst attack against public officials in the capital in the past few years. Brugada — who holds the second-most powerful political post in the country — said in a statement that her secretary, Ximena Guzman, and adviser, Jose Munoz, were killed in the Moderna neighborhood. The motive was under investigation. The attack happened at about 7am, when Munoz and Guzman were in an Audi on a busy thoroughfare. Four bullet holes were found clustered on the driver’s side of the windshield. One body lay on the pavement.
COSTA RICA
Drug-smuggling cat caught
Guards have intercepted an unusual prison drug delivery, catching a cat as it jumped over the periphery fence at night with marijuana and crack taped to its body. The black-and-white feline, carrying more than 230g of marijuana and 67g of crack cocaine in two packages, was captured this month at a prison in the canton of Pococi, the Ministry of Justice and Peace said in a statement on Tuesday. It shared a video of a guard climbing a perimeter fence to catch the cat burglar. Later, the feline is seen on a prison table, while guards cut the packages from its tiny body. The cat was taken to an animal welfare society.
Yemen’s separatist leader has vowed to keep working for an independent state in the country’s south, in his first social media post since he disappeared earlier this month after his group briefly seized swathes of territory. Aidarous al-Zubaidi’s United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces last month captured two Yemeni provinces in an offensive that was rolled back by Saudi strikes and Riyadh’s allied forces on the ground. Al-Zubaidi then disappeared after he failed to board a flight to Riyadh for talks earlier this month, with Saudi Arabia accusing him of fleeing to Abu Dhabi, while supporters insisted he was
‘SHOCK TACTIC’: The dismissal of Yang mirrors past cases such as Jang Song-thaek, Kim’s uncle, who was executed after being accused of plotting to overthrow his nephew North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has fired his vice premier, compared him to a goat and railed against “incompetent” officials, state media reported yesterday, in a rare and very public broadside against apparatchiks at the opening of a critical factory. Vice Premier Yang Sung-ho was sacked “on the spot,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency said, in a speech in which Kim attacked “irresponsible, rude and incompetent leading officials.” “Please, comrade vice premier, resign by yourself when you can do it on your own before it is too late,” Kim reportedly said. “He is ineligible for an important duty. Put simply, it was
The Chinese Embassy in Manila yesterday said it has filed a diplomatic protest against a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman over a social media post that included cartoonish images of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela and an embassy official had been trading barbs since last week over issues concerning the disputed South China Sea. The crucial waterway, which Beijing claims historic rights to despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, has been the site of repeated clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels. Tarriela’s Facebook post on Wednesday included a photo of him giving a
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday announced a deal with the chief of Kurdish-led forces that includes a ceasefire, after government troops advanced across Kurdish-held areas of the country’s north and east. Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said he had agreed to the deal to avoid a broader war. He made the decision after deadly clashes in the Syrian city of Raqa on Sunday between Kurdish-led forces and local fighters loyal to Damascus, and fighting this month between the Kurds and government forces. The agreement would also see the Kurdish administration and forces integrate into the state after months of stalled negotiations on
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