PAKISTAN
Over 100 inmates escape
More than 100 inmates escaped from a prison and at least one was killed in a shoot-out in Karachi overnight after they were temporarily moved out of their cells following mild earthquake tremors. Senior police official Kashif Abbasi said 216 inmates fled the prison in the capital of Sindh Province before dawn. Of those, 78 had been recaptured. No one convicted or facing trial as a militant is among those who fled, he said. One prisoner was killed and three security officials were wounded in the ensuing shoot-out, but the situation has been brought under control, Abbasi said, adding that police are conducting raids to capture the remaining escapees.
CHINA
Two Japanese men killed
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that two Japanese men killed last month in the northeastern city of Dalian were business partners of the suspect and authorities were investigating. Dalian police confirmed the case in a statement yesterday, saying a 42-year-old Chinese male, who had lived in Japan for a long time, had been arrested. The two victims were business partners of the suspect and had entered China temporarily, police said. The Japanese government is “providing necessary support to the victims’ families and will continue to respond appropriately from the perspective of protecting Japanese nationals,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said. Chinese police notified the Japanese consulate in Shenyang on May 25 about the killings, two days after the incident, Hayashi told a regular briefing.
MONGOLIA
PM resigns after protests
Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene has stepped down after losing parliamentary support following corruption claims that erupted into street protests last month, the parliament said yesterday. The parliament did not pass a draft resolution on a confidence ballot, meaning Oyun-Erdene was deemed to have resigned, a parliament statement said. “It was an honor to serve my country and people in difficult times, including pandemics, wars and tariffs,” Oyun-Erdene said after the result of the vote was known. Oyun-Erdene, who has been prime minister since January 2021 and was re-elected in July last year, is to remain caretaker prime minister until a successor is named within 30 days. The political upheaval comes after Mongolians last month protested for weeks in the capital, Ulan Bator, alleging corruption involving Oyun-Erdene and his family.
TURKEY
Dozens injured in quake
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake yesterday shook a coastal town, causing panic among residents, officials said. Dozens were reported injured after jumping from windows or balconies to get out of their homes while a teenager died after being taken to the hospital. No major damage was reported. The Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency said the quake hit at 2:17am and was centered in the Mediterranean Sea, off the holiday resort of Marmaris. It was felt in neighboring regions, including on the Greek island of Rhodes, waking many from their sleep. Minister of the Interior Ali Yerlikaya said on X that a 14-year-old girl was taken to hospital and died there after what he said was an anxiety attack. It was not known if she had any underlying conditions. Nearly 70 other people were treated for injuries after jumping from windows or balconies in panic, he said. There were no reports of damage to buildings, he said.
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
It turns out that looming collision between our Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies might not happen after all. Astronomers on Monday said that the probability of the two spiral galaxies colliding is less than previously thought, with a 50-50 chance within the next 10 billion years. That is essentially a coin flip, but still better odds than previous estimates and farther out in time. “As it stands, proclamations of the impending demise of our galaxy seem greatly exaggerated,” the Finnish-led team wrote in a study appearing in Nature Astronomy. While good news for the Milky Way galaxy, the latest forecast might be moot
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