RUSSIA
US citizen arrested
The Federal Security Service (FSB) yesterday said that it had arrested an American-Russian woman suspected of treason and raising funds for the Ukrainian army while in the US, state media reported. The FSB in the central Urals city of Yekaterinburg said it had “suppressed the illegal activities” of a 33-year-old woman, a resident of Los Angeles with dual citizenship, and taken her into custody. It said the unnamed woman had been “proactively collecting funds ... which were subsequently used to purchase tactical medical items, equipment, means of destruction and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces,” local news agencies reported, citing an FSB statement. The RIA Novosti agency posted a video from the FSB showing hooded officers escorting and handcuffing a woman in a white coat with a white hat pulled down over her eyes. Treason is punishable by up to 20 years in prison in Russia.
HAITI
Moise’s widow charged
A judge in charge of the investigation into the 2021 assassination of former president Jovenel Moise has charged about 50 people, including his widow and a former prime minister, a document leaked to local media showed. The 122-page document from Judge Walther Wesser Voltaire, made public by AyiboPost, said that Moise’s widow, Martine, conspired with former prime minister Claude Joseph to kill the president with the aim of replacing him herself. Jovenel Moise was shot and killed when armed men broke into his Port-au-Prince bedroom on the night of July 7, 2021, a raid that left the former first lady injured. The judge’s order calls for the arrest and trial of those charged. Martine Moise and Joseph did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
INDIA
Farmers reject price offer
Farmer groups rejected a government offer to guarantee minimum prices for some crops traded with no such safeguard, and are expected to resume their protest today. The farmers, who are seeking price guarantees for 23 crops, last week traveled toward New Delhi, demanding that the government fulfill that promise, made at the end of the 2021 protests. After multiple rounds of talks, the federal government offered to guarantee minimum prices on a small number of crops. Growers had temporarily halted their protest to consider the proposal. The nation is keen to reduce its dependence on water-heavy crops such as rice and is encouraging farmers to diversify their crops. Speaking to reporters at the protest site, one of the group leaders said that the share of the crop basket covered by the government’s offer is too small. “The proposal is not in favor of the farmers nor for their benefit,” Jagjit Singh Dallewal said late on Monday evening.
UNITED STATES
Cougar attacks cyclist
A woman suffered injuries to her face and neck after a cougar leapt out and “latched onto” her while she was cycling with a group on a trail in Washington state, authorities said. The incident happened on Saturday on a trail northeast of Fall City, about 40km east of Seattle, KOMO-TV reported. Friends of the woman, 60, “were able to detach and fight this thing off” after it “latched onto” her, Sergeant Carlo Pace of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police said. “They were able to pin down a good size lion with its claws and teeth and everything else under a mountain bike until we arrived,” he said. The woman was released from the hospital. The cougar was shot and killed by wildlife police.
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
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
Ireland, the UK and France faced travel chaos on Saturday and one person died as a winter storm battered northwest Europe with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice. Hampshire Police in southern England said a man died after a tree fell onto a car on a major road near Winchester early in the day. Police in West Yorkshire said they were probing whether a second death from a traffic incident was linked to the storm. It is understood the road was not icy at the time of the incident. Storm Bert left at least 60,000 properties in Ireland without power, and closed
CONSPIRACIES: Kano suspended polio immunization in 2003 and 2004 following claims that polio vaccine was laced with substances that could render girls infertile Zuwaira Muhammad sat beside her emaciated 10-month-old twins on a clinic bed in northern Nigeria, caring for them as they battled malnutrition and malaria. She would have her babies vaccinated if they regain their strength, but for many in Kano — a hotbed of anti-vaccine sentiment — the choice is not an obvious one. The infants have been admitted to the 75-bed clinic in the Unguwa Uku neighbourhood, one of only two in the city of 4.5 million run by French aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Kano has the highest malaria burden in Nigeria, but the city has long
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