UNITED STATES
National Guards blocked
A federal judge late on Sunday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from deploying any National Guard units to Oregon at all, after a legal whirlwind that began hours earlier when the president mobilized California troops for Portland after the same judge blocked him from using Oregon’s National Guard the day before. During a hastily called evening telephone hearing, US District Judge Karin Immergut granted a temporary restraining order sought by California and Oregon. Immergut, who was appointed by Trump in his first term, seemed incredulous that the president moved to send National Guard troops to Oregon from neighboring California and then from Texas on Sunday, just hours after she had ruled the first time. “How could bringing in federalized National Guard from California not be in direct contravention to the temporary restraining order I issued yesterday?” she asked the federal government’s attorney, cutting him off. “Aren’t defendants simply circumventing my order?” she said later. “Why is this appropriate?” The White House did not immediately comment on the judge’s decision.
RUSSIA
Drone barrage cuts power
A Ukrainian drone barrage triggered power cuts in a border region, the Russian Ministry of Defense said. Kyiv has vowed to increase its strikes on Russian territory, in particularly on oil infrastructure, in what it sees as a legitimate response to Moscow’s daily barrages of Ukrainian cities and its energy network that have at times cut off heating and power to millions. The ministry said it had downed 251 Ukrainian drones overnight — one of the highest daily tolls since Moscow launched its offensive in February 2022. In the Belgorod border region, 5,400 were left without electricity, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on social media. A refinery in the southern Krasnodar region was also hit, wounding two people, local authorities said.
JAPAN
Tourist attacked by bear
A bear on Sunday attacked a Spanish tourist, a local official said yesterday, days after another mauling left one woman dead and another missing. More wild bears have been spotted in recent years, even in residential areas, due to factors including a declining human population and climate change. The 44-year-old tourist was pounced on from behind, as he was walking to a bus stop in Shirakawa-go, a UN World Heritage site, village official Kazunari Takashima said. The tourist “was injured with a scratch on his right arm, then he walked to a tourist information office nearby and requested an ambulance,” Takashima said, adding that the man was treated in hospital and discharged the same day. The animal was about 1m long and is believed to be a juvenile black bear, he said.
AUSTRALIA
‘Mushroom’ case appealed
Prosecutors yesterday said they had launched an appeal against last month’s “manifestly inadequate” sentence for convicted murderer Erin Patterson, after a trial that drew global attention. Patterson, 51, was handed life in prison with parole last month for serving a sumptuous beef Wellington laced with poisonous fungi to her estranged husband’s parents, aunt and uncle during a lunch at her home in 2023, killing three of them. However, local media, including national broadcaster ABC and the Sydney Morning Herald, quoted Victoria State’s Office of Public Prosecutions as saying it had appealed that sentence. The Victoria Office of Public Prosecutions did not respond to a request for confirmation.
READINESS: According to a survey of 2,000 people, 86 percent of Swedes believe the country is worth defending in the event of a military attack Swedes are stocking up on food items in case of war, as more conflict in Europe no longer feels like a distant possibility, and authorities encourage measures to boost readiness. At a civil preparedness fair in southwest Stockholm, 71-year-old Sirkka Petrykowska said that she is taking the prospect of hostilities seriously and preparing as much as she can. “I have bought a camping stove. I have taken a course on preservation in an old-fashioned way, where you can preserve vegetables, meat and fruit that lasts for 30 years without a refrigerator,” Petrykowska said. “I’ve set aside blankets for warmth, I
FRUSTRATIONS: One in seven youths in China and Indonesia are unemployed, and many in the region are stuck in low-productivity jobs, the World Bank said Young people across Asia are struggling to find good jobs, with many stuck in low-productivity work that the World Bank said could strain social stability as frustrations fuel a global wave of youth-led protests. The bank highlighted a persistent gap between younger and more experienced workers across several Asian economies in a regional economic update released yesterday, noting that one in seven young people in China and Indonesia are unemployed. The share of people now vulnerable to falling into poverty is now larger than the middle class in most countries, it said. “The employment rate is generally high, but the young struggle to
ENERGY SHIFT: A report by Ember suggests it is possible for the world to wean off polluting sources of power, such as coal and gas, even as demand for electricity surges Worldwide solar and wind power generation has outpaced electricity demand this year, and for the first time on record, renewable energies combined generated more power than coal, a new analysis said. Global solar generation grew by a record 31 percent in the first half of the year, while wind generation grew 7.7 percent, according to the report by the energy think tank Ember, which was released after midnight yesterday. Solar and wind generation combined grew by more than 400 terawatt hours, which was more than the increase in overall global demand during the same period, it said. The findings suggest it is
‘ARMED CONFLICT’: At least 21 people have died in such US attacks, while experts say the summary killings are illegal even if they target confirmed narcotics traffickers US forces on Friday carried out a strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat off the coast of Venezuela, killing four people, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said. The latest strike, which Hegseth announced in a post on X, brings the number of such US attacks to at least four, leaving at least 21 people dead. An accompanying video shared by Hegseth showed a boat speeding across the waves before being engulfed in smoke and flames. “Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed,” the Pentagon chief wrote. He said the strike “was conducted in international waters just off the
RSS