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.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
The Philippine Department of Justice yesterday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the nation’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena. Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed. “The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Jesse Andres said at yesterday’s press briefing. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind
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