AUSTRALIA
Albanese criticizes HK
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday criticized Hong Kong authorities over their pursuit of two democracy advocates who live in Australia. Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) on Tuesday said that eight people who now live in the US, Britain, Canada and Australia would be pursued for life for alleged national security offenses. Albanese said his government was concerned and disappointed by Hong Kong authorities issuing arrest warrants for Australian citizen Kevin Yam (任建峰) and permanent resident Ted Hui (許智?). “I am of course disappointed. I’ve said we’ll cooperate with China where we can, but we will disagree where we must. And we do disagree with China with these actions,” Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Albanese also said he disagreed with China on the detention of Australian journalist Cheng Lei (成蕾), who has yet to learn of a verdict after standing trial in March last year on national security charges. Cheng was being held “without proper process,” he said. “We continue to advocate for the interests of Australia. We’ll continue to do so. We will disagree where we must. We will engage in our national interest. And this decision overnight is an example of where Australia and China do have different approaches to these issues. And we’ll stand up for our values.”
COLOMBIA
Rebels to stop attacks
The nation’s largest rebel group said it would stop attacks on the nation’s military as it prepares for a ceasefire with the government that could bring both sides closer to ending five decades of war. In a statement published on Tuesday, the National Liberation Army’s (ELN) Central Command ordered its units across the country to “cease all offensive actions” against the military from today, including espionage. However, the ELN said that its fighters would continue to use their weapons to defend themselves from any attack staged by the military or other armed groups that operate in Colombia’s rural areas. The ELN and the government last month agreed to take actions that would lead to a bilateral ceasefire on Aug. 3. The ceasefire is supposed to last six months. It is meant to facilitate peace talks that began at the end of last year and are expected to last at least until next year.
UNITED STATES
Four die in Rio Grande
An infant was among four people who died while crossing the Rio Grande in the Texas border city of Eagle Pass in a 48-hour period over the holiday weekend, authorities said. The Texas Department of Public Safety’s Tactical Marine Unit on Saturday recovered four people from the river, including a woman and baby girl who were unresponsive, Texas Department of Public Safety Lieutenant Chris Olivarez wrote on Twitter on Monday. Officials immediately began chest compressions on the woman and baby, and both were taken to a hospital, Olivarez said. Both were pronounced dead at the hospital, he said. The two survivors were turned over to Border Patrol, Olivarez said. On Sunday, the body of a man was recovered from the river and on Monday the body of a woman was found, Olivarez said. The identities of the dead were not known because none had identifying documents on them, he said. The bodies were found in the same region where nine migrants died while attempting to cross the river in September last year.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS