INDIA
Soldiers killed on base
Four soldiers were shot dead yesterday in a predawn incident at a military base in Punjab, an army statement said. The incident was reported at about 4:35am at the Bathinda Military Station in the northern state where tensions have been high over the local resurgence of a separatist movement. “The area continues to be sealed off and joint investigations with Punjab Police are being coordinated to establish the facts of the case,” the army said. Bathinda’s top police official G.S. Khurana told broadcaster NDTV that the incident did not appear to be a terror attack. State police and the Ministry of Defence did not respond to requests for comment.
SOUTH KOREA
Party calls for US spy probe
The opposition Democratic Party yesterday urged the government to investigate alleged espionage by the US after leaked documents appeared to show that Washington was spying on its key Asian ally. A trove of highly sensitive US intelligence that has emerged online included revelations that Washington had been spying on President Yoon Suk-yeol’s national security advisers as part of an effort to secure arms supplies for Ukraine. Seoul on Tuesday sought to downplay the importance of the leaked documents, with Yoon’s office claiming “a significant number” of the documents were fake and his national security adviser saying there were no “malicious intentions” in the incident. The revelation has sparked criticism about the vulnerability of sensitive sites including the presidential office. “The government must get to the bottom of eavesdropping allegations and if they are found to be true, it must get an official apology and guarantee that it won’t do it again from the US,” Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung said.
UNITED STATES
Proud Boys leader testifies
A former leader in the Proud Boys on Tuesday took the witness stand to fight seditious conspiracy and other serious charges in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, telling jurors that the group had “no objective” that day. Zachary Rehl, who was a chapter leader from Philadelphia, became the first defendant in the high-stakes trial of five Proud Boys to testify. It is a potentially risky move in one of the most serious cases to emerge from the riot. “There was no objective on Jan. 6. I even asked the night before in the chat,” Rehl, 37, testified, referring to the chat the Proud Boys used to communicate ahead of the riot. “There were no objectives. We were just going to walk around the city. I said over and over again, I want the legal process to play out. That’s the process our country was founded on.”
UNITED STATES
Chemical use to be limited
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday proposed limiting the use of the chemical ethylene oxide after finding a higher-than-expected cancer risk at facilities that use it to sterilize billions of medical devices each year. The agency said its proposal would reduce ethylene oxide emissions by about 80 percent by targeting 86 medical sterilization facilities across the country. The companies would also have to test for the antimicrobial chemical in the air and make sure their pollution controls are working properly. “EPA’s number one priority is protecting people’s health and safety,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. The agency’s proposals “would significantly reduce worker and community exposure to harmful levels of ethylene oxide,” he said.
UNITED STATES
Snowfall helps ski resorts
Record snowfall across much of the country’s west has not only helped to alleviate drought, it has also brought a massive boon for the region’s ski resorts, with many hoping to keep their lifts running deep into summer. “I bet you, here, we might make it into July. I hope so,” said local ski enthusiast Ian Burkle, 52. “We always aim for July 4. If you can ski up here on the fourth, it’s always great. It’s been a couple years since that.” This year, with mountains across California, Utah and Colorado reporting staggering snowfall, “A-Basin” has plenty of competition for spring skiing, in what is shaping up to be a bumper-sized season across the west.
UNITED STATES
Schwarzenegger fills pothole
Fed up by an enormous pothole in his Los Angeles neighborhood, Arnold Schwarzenegger picked up a shovel and filled it himself. The actor and former California governor on Tuesday posted a video on Twiter of him and a helper using packaged concrete to repair the road in the Brentwood area. “Today, after the whole neighborhood has been upset about this giant pothole that’s been screwing up cars and bicycles for weeks, I went out with my team and fixed it,” he wrote on Twitter. “I always say, let’s not complain, let’s do something about it. Here you go.” A neighbor rolled down her car window and shouted her thanks at the action-movie star. “You’re welcome,” said Schwarzenegger, decked out in work boots, a leather jacket and shades reminiscent of his role in The Terminator. “You have to do it yourself. This is crazy. For three weeks I’ve been waiting for this hole to be closed,” he said.
TURNAROUND: The Liberal Party had trailed the Conservatives by a wide margin, but that was before Trump threatened to make Canada the US’ 51st state Canada’s ruling Liberals, who a few weeks ago looked certain to lose an election this year, are mounting a major comeback amid the threat of US tariffs and are tied with their rival Conservatives, according to three new polls. An Ipsos survey released late on Tuesday showed that the left-leaning Liberals have 38 percent public support and the official opposition center-right Conservatives have 36 percent. The Liberals have overturned a 26-point deficit in six weeks, and run advertisements comparing the Conservative leader to Trump. The Conservative strategy had long been to attack unpopular Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but last month he
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
RSS