INDIA
Encephalitis cases rise
An increase in cases of a rare, but fatal form of encephalitis has put authorities in Kerala on alert. The state has reported about 69 cases of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) since the beginning of this year, including 19 deaths, following contact with Naegleria fowleri, commonly known as the “brain-eating” amoeba, Kerala Minister of Health, Women and Child Development Veena George told the state assembly on Wednesday. Three of the deaths occurred in the past month, including that of a three-month-old. “Unlike last year, we are not seeing clusters linked to a single water source. These are single, isolated cases, which has complicated our epidemiological investigations,” George said. Last year, the state reported 36 cases of PAM and nine deaths, reports said. Amoebic encephalitis is a rare, but lethal central nervous system infection caused by free-living amoeba found in freshwater lakes and rivers, a Kerala government document said. Of the two types of amoebic encephalitis, primary amoebic encelphalitis has been found in Kerala, and is caused by N fowleri, the document said.
Photo: Reuters
FRANCE
Snooze delays landing
Passengers on a flight from Paris to Corsica were left hanging in mid-air after an air traffic controller on the ground took a mid-shift snooze, the civil aviation authority said on Wednesday. After the worker dozed off on Monday, the Air Corsica flight from Paris Orly airport to Ajaccio was forced to fly in circles above the Mediterranean Sea for “18 minutes,” the agency told reporters, confirming a report in Corse Matin. “The intervention of the airport fire department at the control tower revealed that the air traffic controller on duty had fallen asleep at his post,” the aviation authority added. After the controller was woken up, “the flight landed safely,” it said, adding that it had opened an investigation into the “unusual situation.” Although the controller had tested negative for alcohol, “a possible sanction is under consideration,” it said.
UNITED STATES
Kimmel taken off air
Walt Disney Co’s ABC network is taking Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air indefinitely amid a backlash to remarks the late-night host made about the killing of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. The suspension started with Wednesday’s broadcast, Disney said in a statement. The company announced the decision minutes after Nexstar Media Group Inc said it would pull the show indefinitely from its stations over remarks that were “offensive and insensitive.” Kimmel accused Republicans of using Kirk’s death to criticize their opponents. “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them,” Kimmel said in his monologue on Monday, referring to President Donald Trump’s “make America great again” slogan.
ECUADOR
New constitution mooted
President Daniel Noboa on Wednesday proposed the creation of a special body to draw up a new constitution with tougher laws against drug trafficking and organized crime. Noboa proposed a referendum be held to approve the creation of a “constitutional assembly” to draw up a new constitution. The new document would, in turn, also be put to a referendum. “We present clear questions for the people to express their opinion,” Noboa wrote on X.
DEADLOCK: Putin has vowed to continue fighting unless Ukraine cedes more land, while talks have been paused with no immediate results expected, the Kremlin said Russia on Friday said that peace talks with Kyiv were on “pause” as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wanted to capture the whole of Ukraine. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that he was running out of patience with Putin, and the NATO alliance said it would bolster its eastern front after Russian drones were shot down in Polish airspace this week. The latest blow to faltering diplomacy came as Russia’s army staged major military drills with its key ally Belarus. Despite Trump forcing the warring sides to hold direct talks and hosting Putin in Alaska, there
North Korea has executed people for watching or distributing foreign television shows, including popular South Korean dramas, as part of an intensifying crackdown on personal freedoms, a UN human rights report said on Friday. Surveillance has grown more pervasive since 2014 with the help of new technologies, while punishments have become harsher — including the introduction of the death penalty for offences such as sharing foreign TV dramas, the report said. The curbs make North Korea the most restrictive country in the world, said the 14-page UN report, which was based on interviews with more than 300 witnesses and victims who had
COMFORT WOMEN CLASH: Japan has strongly rejected South Korean court rulings ordering the government to provide reparations to Korean victims of sexual slavery The Japanese government yesterday defended its stance on wartime sexual slavery and described South Korean court rulings ordering Japanese compensation as violations of international law, after UN investigators criticized Tokyo for failing to ensure truth-finding and reparations for the victims. In its own response to UN human rights rapporteurs, South Korea called on Japan to “squarely face up to our painful history” and cited how Tokyo’s refusal to comply with court orders have denied the victims payment. The statements underscored how the two Asian US allies still hold key differences on the issue, even as they pause their on-and-off disputes over historical
CONSOLIDATION: The Indonesian president has used the moment to replace figures from former president Jokowi’s tenure with loyal allies In removing Indonesia’s finance minister and U-turning on protester demands, the leader of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is scrambling to restore public trust while seizing a chance to install loyalists after deadly riots last month, experts say. Demonstrations that were sparked by low wages, unemployment and anger over lawmakers’ lavish perks grew after footage spread of a paramilitary police vehicle running over a delivery motorcycle driver. The ensuing riots, which rights groups say left at least 10 dead and hundreds detained, were the biggest of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s term, and the ex-general is now calling on the public to restore their
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