PAKISTAN
Chinese engineers attacked
Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) militants yesterday attacked a convoy carrying Chinese engineers to the Beijing-financed Gwadar Port in the southwest, the group said. “BLA Majeed Brigade today targeted a convoy of Chinese engineers in Gwadar. The attack is still ongoing,” the separatist group said in a statement. Security sources confirmed an attack on a convoy carrying Chinese engineers, but there was no immediate official response. No injuries were reported within the convoy, China’s Global Times said, citing unidentified “Chinese personnel” in Gwadar. One militant was killed and three were wounded in a gunfight with security forces, Aaj News reported.
INDONESIA
Miss Universe cuts ties
The Miss Universe Organization said it was cutting ties with its Indonesian franchisee and canceling this year’s Malaysia pageant after contestants accused local organizers of sexual harassment. The US-based organization said in an e-mailed statement late on Saturday that it had severed its contract with PT Capella Swastika Karya and its national director Poppy Capella, who also holds the license for Miss Universe Malaysia. Six Miss Universe Indonesia contestants filed complaints with police accusing organizers of sexual harassment, saying they were subjected to topless “body checks,” their lawyer said on Tuesday last week. “It has become clear that this franchise has not lived up to our brand standards, ethics, or expectations as outlined in our franchise handbook and code of conduct,” the Miss Universe Organization said.
COLOMBIA
Survivor abused: prosecutors
Prosecutors on Saturday announced sexual abuse charges against the father of two of the four indigenous children who survived a May plane crash in the Amazon. The children went missing after the small plane they were traveling in went down, killing their mother and two other adults. In a statement, prosecutors accused Manuel Ranoque of sexually abusing his 13-year-old stepdaughter, who was widely credited with ensuring that she and her younger siblings survived the more than five-week-long ordeal in the Amazon that garnered headlines across the globe. Ranoque, who was arrested on Friday, stands accused of abusing his stepfedaughter since she was 10 years old, the statement said.
UNITED STATES
Child influencer law passed
Illinois is the first state to ensure that child social media influencers are compensated for their work, said Illinois Senator David Koehler, who sponsored a bill that was signed into law on Friday and goes into effect on July 1 next year. “The rise of social media has given children new opportunities to earn a profit,” Koehler said in an e-mailed press release after the bill was signed Friday afternoon. “Many parents have taken this opportunity to pocket the money, while making their children continue to work in these digital environments.” The idea for the law, which covers children under the age of 16 featured in monetized online platforms, including video blogs, was brought to Koehler by a 15-year-old in his district, the Democratic senator said. Besides coordinated dances and funny toddler comments, family vlogs might share intimate details of their children’s lives — grades, potty training, illnesses, misbehaviors and first periods — for countless strangers to view. Brand deals featuring children can reap tens of thousands of dollars per video, but so far there are minimal regulations for the “sharenthood” industry.
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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