NORTH KOREA
Kim’s daughter tests pistol
The government yesterday released an image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter, Kim Ju-ae, firing a pistol, weeks after photographs showed her shooting a rifle — once again stoking speculation she is being groomed as heir. State media images showed the duo, donning matching leather jackets — often seen as a symbol of power in the country — at a “major munitions factory” being briefed by officials as they inspected the facility. Despite her young age, “it appears the regime is trying to cultivate the image of a strong and formidable woman,” said Lim Eul-chul, a North Korea expert at South Korea’s Kyungnam University. “The pistol-shooting scene clearly serves to signal that she is cultivating the attributes of a military leader.”
Photo: Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service / AFP
AUSTRALIA
Two bodies recovered
Police have recovered two bodies during a search for two Chinese backpackers who went missing in a flood-hit region in the east, local media reported yesterday. The bodies, believed to be those of the missing Chinese tourists, were found inside a car, national broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) reported, citing police. Police divers and emergency personnel were expected to arrive at the scene in the Gympie region of Queensland to confirm the identities of the bodies, it said. The missing tourists — a 26-year-old man and 23-year-old woman — had been traveling to North Burnett in Queensland, police said in a statement. “These people have come to Australia to see our beautiful country ... and tragically they’ve ended up losing their lives,” Gympie Mayor Glen Hartwig told ABC News.
DENMARK
Noma cofounder resigns
Chef Rene Redzepi — the cofounder of Noma, several times crowned the best restaurant in the world — yesterday said that he was stepping down, following reports of past abuse at his fabled restaurant. “After more than two decades of building and leading this restaurant, I’ve decided to step away,” Redzepi wrote on Instagram. Over the weekend, the New York Times published a story detailing witness testimony about stories of past abuse at Noma, including physical violence and episodes of public shaming. The newspaper said it had interviewed 35 former employees about the period from 2009 to 2017. “I have worked to be a better leader and Noma has taken big steps to transform the culture over many years. I recognize these changes do not repair the past,” Redzepi said. Noma on Wednesday opened a pop-up restaurant in Los Angeles, but the opening was marked by a protest led by former employees.
UNITED STATES
Fox stows away on ship
This stowaway truly was sly as a fox. A red fox somehow slipped onto a cargo ship that traveled from Southampton, England, to New York, where the animal is now in the Bronx Zoo’s care. The zoo on Wednesday said that the 5kg male fox appears healthy after early examinations. “He seems to be settling in well,” said Keith Lovett, the zoo’s director of animal programs. “It’s gone through a lot.” It is not clear how the animal got on the ship full of automobiles, which left Southampton on Feb. 4, the zoo said. The ship arrived on Feb. 18 at the Port of New York and New Jersey, and officials brought the fox to the zoo the next day. He is estimated to be two years old. Zoo representatives were not sure how and when the fox was discovered.
When a hiker fell from a 55m waterfall in wild New Zealand bush, rescuers were forced to evacuate the badly hurt woman without her dog, which could not be found. After strangers raised thousands of dollars for a search, border collie Molly was flown to safety by a helicopter pilot who was determined to reunite the pet and the owner. A week earlier, an emergency rescue helicopter found the woman with bruises and lacerations after a fall at a rocky spot at the waterfall on the South Island’s West Coast. She was airlifted on March 24, but they were forced to
CONFIDENCE BOOSTER: ’After parkour ... you dare to do a lot of things that you think only young people can do,’ a 67-year-old parkour enthusiast said In a corner of suburban Singapore, Betty Boon vaults a guardrail, crawls underneath a slide, executes forward shoulder rolls and scales a steep slope, finishing the course to applause. “Good job,” the 69-year-old’s coach cheers. This is “geriatric parkour,” where about 20 retirees learned to tackle a series of relatively demanding exercises, building their agility and enjoying a sense of camaraderie. Boon, an upbeat grandmother, said learning parkour has aided her confidence and independence as she ages. “When you’re weak, you will be dependent on someone,” she said after sweating it out with her parkour classmates in suburban Toa Payoh,
Chinese dissident artist Gao Zhen (高兟), famous for making provocative satirical sculptures of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東), was tried on Monday over accusations of “defaming national heroes and martyrs,” his wife and a rights group said. Gao, 69, who was detained in 2024 during a visit from the US, faces a maximum three-year prison sentence, said his wife, Zhao Yaliang (趙雅良), and Shane Yi, a researcher at the Chinese Human Rights Defenders group which operates outside the nation. The closed-door, one-day trial took place at Sanhe City People’s Court in Hebei Province neighboring the capital, Beijing, and ended without a
‘TOXIC CLIMATE’: ‘I don’t really recognize Labour anymore... The idea that you can implement far-right ideas in order to stop the far right is nonsense,’ a protester said Tens of thousands of people on Saturday marched through central London to protest against the far right, weeks ahead of local elections and six months after Britain saw one of its largest far-right demonstrations. Organized by hundreds of civic groups, including trade unions, anti-racism campaigners and Muslim representative bodies, Saturday’s Together Alliance event was billed as the biggest in UK history to counter right-wing extremism. A separate pro-Palestinian march had also converged with the main rally. While organizers claimed 500,000 had turned out in total, the police gave a figure of about 50,000. Protesters carrying placards with slogans such as
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