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.
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said if US President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid sooner, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive nominating process to choose his replacement. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview on Thursday published by the New York Times the next day. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said. Pelosi said she thought the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, “would have done
Farmer Liu Bingyong used to make a tidy profit selling milk but is now leaking cash — hit by a dairy sector crisis that embodies several of China’s economic woes. Milk is not a traditional mainstay of Chinese diets, but the Chinese government has long pushed people to drink more, citing its health benefits. The country has expanded its dairy production capacity and imported vast numbers of cattle in recent years as Beijing pursues food self-sufficiency. However, chronically low consumption has left the market sloshing with unwanted milk — driving down prices and pushing farmers to the brink — while
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