UNITED NATIONS
Houthis detain nine more
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday denounced the arbitrary detention of nine more UN workers in Yemen by Houthi rebels, along with the seizure of assets and facilities in areas under Houthi control. “Most recently, the Houthi de facto authorities detained nine additional UN personnel, bringing the total number of arbitrarily detained UN staff to 53 since 2021,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. “These actions hinder the UN’s ability to operate in Yemen and to deliver critical assistance.” “The United Nations will continue to work tirelessly, and through all available channels, to secure the safe and immediate release of all arbitrarily detained personnel, as well as the return of UN agency offices and other assets,” Dujarric said.
NEW ZEALAND
Minister’s home attacked
A man has been charged after a window of Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters’ home was on Monday smashed with a crowbar and a note pinned to his front door that said “welcome to the real world,” the minister’s spokesperson said yesterday. Peters has come under pressure from protest groups and opposition parties in recent days after he announced that New Zealand would not be following Australia, Britain and Canada in recognizing a Palestinian state amid the Israel-Gaza war. Protests have been held outside his Auckland home. In a speech to parliament yesterday discussing the second anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, Peters said that the violent targeting of private homes by some protesters was “a disgrace.” Peters on Monday said in a social media post on X that he was not home, but both his partner and a guest were. “This is truly gutless,” it said. “When we have protesters, political bloggers, and MPs alike encouraging this behaviour, posting politicians’ home addresses online, and acting with pure ignorance and extremism, this is the result.”
NETHERLANDS
71,000 chickens to be culled
About 71,000 chickens at a poultry farm in the northern part of the country would be culled following the detection of bird flu, the government said in a statement yesterday. This marks the first outbreak of bird flu in the nation since March. The government has so far not imposed a nationwide requirement to keep poultry indoors, stating that this outbreak does not warrant such a measure. However, an expert group on animal diseases is to meet soon to assess the risk.
JAPAN
Ex-banker gambler jailed
The Tokyo District Court on Monday sentenced a former employee at one of the nation’s biggest banks to nine years in jail for repeatedly stealing gold bars and cash totaling nearly US$2.6 million, slamming her crimes as “heinous.” Yukari Yamazaki, who worked for Mitsubishi UFJ and had a gambling addiction, began thieving after falling into debt due to currency trading and horse betting, the court ruling said. Abusing her position and inside knowledge to “incapacitate the security system,” Yamazaki purloined gold bars worth more than ￥330 million (US$2.2 million), and more than ￥60 million in cash, from safety deposit boxes at her bank in 2023 and last year. Despite the defendant’s lack of previous criminal history and the fact she has “vowed to undergo treatment for her gambling addiction,” a nine-year jail term was “unavoidable,” Judge Hironobu Ono said. The bank has been able to retrieve only a portion of the amount she stole.
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
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