BANGLADESH
Train crash kills at least 17
The bodies of at least 17 people were recovered from a train crash outside Dhaka that might have occurred after one of the trains disregarded a red signal, officials said yesterday. The rescue operation was halted early in the morning a day after rescuers and residents together extracted passengers from the wreckage, said fire official Mosharraf Hossain at Bhairab, in the central district of Kishoreganj. He said 26 others were injured. “Our fire service teams returned early Tuesday from the scene as there is no chance of having more bodies from the wreckage. The train service has also been restored,” he said by telephone. The crash occurred when two rear coaches of the Dhaka-bound Egarosindur Godhuli Express passenger train were hit by a cargo train heading to Chattogram, senior fire official Azizul Haque Rajon said on Monday.
SPAIN
Stolen jewelry seized
Police on Monday said that they had confiscated 11 pieces of ancient gold jewelry that were taken out of Ukraine illegally in 2016. A police statement said that five people — two Ukrainians, one of them an Orthodox Church priest, and three Spaniards — who were attempting to sell the pieces in Spain have been arrested in recent weeks. The jewelry was estimated to be worth 60 million euros (US$64 million) and dated from between the 8th and 4th centuries BC. Police said the items were part of Ukraine’s national heritage. They went missing after being put on display between 2009 and 2013 in a museum in Kyiv. The pieces are being studied by the National Archeological Museum and the Cultural Heritage Institute.
KOREAS
‘Defectors’ arrive in boat
A small wooden boat carrying a group of North Koreans has crossed into South Korean waters, Seoul’s military said yesterday, in what appeared to be a rare defection across the maritime border. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the boat and its crew were “presumed to have defected” from the North. The vessel was intercepted in waters off the eastern port city of Sokcho and those aboard brought to safety, it added. The boat was carrying four North Koreans who “expressed their intent to defect,” Yonhap News Agency reported, citing an unnamed government source. More than 30,000 North Koreans have fled to the South over the decades since the 1950-1953 conflict to escape repression and poverty.
ICELAND
PM, women stage strike
Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir and women across the volcanic island nation yesterday went on strike to push for an end to unequal pay and gender-based violence. Jakobsdottir said she would stay home as part of the “women’s day off,” and expected other women in her Cabinet would do the same. “We have not yet reached our goals of full gender equality and we are still tackling the gender-based wage gap, which is unacceptable in 2023,” she told news Web site mbl.is. “We are still tackling gender-based violence, which has been a priority for my government to tackle.” Organizers called on women and nonbinary people to refuse both paid and unpaid work, including household chores, during the one-day strike. Schools and the health system, which have female-dominated workforces, said they would be heavily affected by the walkout. National broadcaster RUV said it was reducing television and radio broadcasts for the day.
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
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
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