NORWAY
Oslo police investigate blast
Police on Tuesday said they were investigating a blast on a street in central Oslo and later conducted a controlled detonation of a second explosive device found at the site, adding that a suspect had been apprehended for questioning. There were no reports of injuries at the location, in the immediate vicinity of a university campus and 500m from the royal palace and the Israeli embassy. In a rare step, authorities sent an emergency message to Oslo residents’ mobile phones, warning them about the blast. The second device found at the site appeared to be a “military-style” hand grenade, the police officer in charge at the scene, Brian Skotnes, told reporters. “Our hypothesis is that it is criminals who have an agenda against other criminals, but we cannot rule out anything,” he said. A 13-year-old was apprehended by police, TV2 and daily Aftenposten reported, citing unnamed sources. Skotnes declined to comment on the suspect’s age.
Photo: Terje Pedersen, NTB via Reuters
GREECE
Flotilla targeted: organizers
Organizers of a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists yesterday said that several of their boats had been targeted by multiple drones. The Global Sumud Flotilla said that more than a dozen explosions were heard around the flotilla as it sailed off Greece late on Tuesday, with damage caused by “unidentified objects” dropped on deck. “Multiple drones, unidentified objects dropped, communications jammed and explosions heard from a number of boats,” it said. Polish lawmaker Franek Sterczewski, who is on board one of the vessels, wrote on social media that there had been 13 attacks on a total of 10 vessels, including the one he is on. “Three of the ships were damaged,” he added.
UNITED STATES
Trump convoy blocks Macron
Even presidents are subject to the annoyances of New York traffic, as French President Emmanuel Macron learned late on Monday, when a New York City police officer stopped him crossing the street because of US President Donald Trump’s motorcade. Macron then rang Trump personally from the sidewalk to joke about his plight, a video clip circulating on social media shows. “I’m sorry, Mr President, I’m really sorry,” a clearly embarrassed police officer told Macron who was trying to cross the street with members of his delegation. “If you don’t see it, let me cross. I negotiate with you,” Macron quipped. Forced to wait at the barricade, Macron called Trump. “How are you? Guess what? I’m waiting in the street because everything is frozen for you,” Macron said.
CHILE
Human leg shipment hobbled
A shipment of 30 human legs imported from the US for doctor training has been stuck in a Santiago warehouse for more than a year in legal limbo, the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday. The legs have been held at Santiago airport pending a Supreme Court decision on whether they can be released to the importer: Chile’s private Surgical Medical Training Center. Commenting on an article in El Mercurio about the unusual holdup, the health authority said that legally, “bodies intended for teaching and research must come from donations made in Chile.” The center is challenging that decision, and a Supreme Court ruling is expected this year. According to a 2019 Austral University of Chile study, most higher education institutions in the country are finding it hard to source body parts for their anatomy labs, partly due to a scarcity of donors.
BEIJING FORUM: ‘So-called freedom of navigation advocated by certain countries outside the region challenges the norms of international relations,’ the minister said Chinese Minister of National Defense Dong Jun (董軍) yesterday denounced “hegemonic logic and acts of bullying” during remarks at a Beijing forum that were full of thinly veiled references to the US. Organizers said that about 1,800 representatives from 100 countries, including political, military and academic leaders, were in Beijing for the Xiangshan Forum. The three-day event comes as China presents itself as a mediator of fraught global issues including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Addressing attendees at the opening ceremony, Dong warned of “new threats and challenges” now facing world peace. “While the themes of the times — peace and development —
Venezuela on Saturday organized a day of military training for civilians in response to the US deployment in the Caribbean, and amid new threats from US President Donald Trump. About a month ago, Washington deployed warships to international waters off Venezuela’s coast, backed by F-35 jets sent to Puerto Rico in what it calls an anti-drug and anti-terrorism operation. Venezuelan Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino Lopez has accused Washington of waging “undeclared war” in the Caribbean, after US strikes killed over a dozen alleged drug traffickers off his country’s coast. Caracas also accused the US of seeking regime change, and
BRIBERY ALLEGATIONS: A prosecutor said they considered the risk of Hak-ja Han tampering with evidence to be very high, which led them to seek the warrant South Korean prosecutors yesterday requested an arrest warrant for the leader of the Unification Church, Hak-ja Han, on allegations of bribery linked to the country’s former first lady and incitement to destroy evidence. The move came a day after the 82-year-old was questioned over her alleged role in bribing former first lady Kim Keon-hee and a lawmaker. Founded in 1954 by her late husband, Sun Myung Moon, the Unification Church has long been the subject of controversy and criticism, with its teachings centered on Moon’s role as the “second coming” and its mass weddings. Followers are derisively referred to as “Moonies.” However, the church’s
‘MURDER’: The US has not provided proof that boats it has struck were trafficking drugs, and a Venezuelan official said it was a crime against humanity that must be investigated Venezuela on Friday accused the US of waging an “undeclared war” in the Caribbean and called for a UN probe of US strikes that have killed more than a dozen alleged drug traffickers on boats over the past few weeks. Washington has deployed warships to international waters off Venezuela’s coast, backed by F-35s sent to Puerto Rico in what it calls an anti-drug operation. “It is an undeclared war, and you can already see how people, whether or not they are drug traffickers, have been executed in the Caribbean Sea. Executed without the right to a defense,” Venezuelan Minister of Defense Vladimir
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