JAPAN
Kobayashi raids continue
Health officials yesterday inspected a factory producing health supplements linked to at least five deaths and the hospitalization of more than 100 people, one day after the authorities investigated another plant that manufactured the product. A team of 17 health officials from the central and prefectural governments raided a plant operated by the Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co’s subsidiary in Kinokawa, in western Wakayama Prefecture. The Wakayama plant took over the production of the supplements after Kobayashi Pharmaceutical closed another plant in nearby Osaka, which authorities searched on Saturday, NHK public television reported.
SYRIA
Car bomb kills eight
A bomb early yesterday exploded in a market in a northern city held by pro-Turkish forces. At least “eight people were killed and 23 others wounded” when “a car bomb exploded in the middle of a popular market” in Azaz, in Aleppo province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, adding that the toll was provisional. The Britain-based Observatory, which has a network of sources inside the country, said the blast caused “significant damage” and sparked a fire.
EUROPEAN UNION
Schengen area expanded
Bulgaria and Romania yesterday joined Europe’s vast Schengen area of free movement, opening up travel by air and sea without border checks after a 13-year wait. However, a veto by Austria means the new status would not apply to land routes, after Vienna expressed concerns over a potential influx of asylum seekers. Despite the partial membership, the lifting of controls at the two countries’ air and sea borders is of significant symbolic value. Admission to Schengen is an “important milestone” for Bulgaria and Romania, symbolizing a “question of dignity, of belonging to the European Union,” foreign policy analyst Stefan Popescu said. “Any Romanian who had to walk down a lane separate from other European citizens felt being treated differently.”
PERU
President Boluarte raided
President Dina Boluarte on Saturday slammed raids on her home and office as “arbitrary, disproportionate and abusive” after authorities carried out overnight searches in a corruption probe centered on Rolex watches she has been wearing publicly. TV footage showed agents with a metal bar breaking down the door of Boluarte’s home. A lawyer for Boluarte said police found watches in her office at the government palace. “They did not take them away. They were noted and photographed. There were around 10, and among them were some nice ones but I cannot say if they were Rolex,” attorney Mateo Castaneda told radio station RPP.
UNITED STATES
Chance Perdomo dies at 27
Actor Chance Perdomo, who rose to fame as a star of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Gen V, has died at the age of 27. “On behalf of the family and his representatives, it is with heavy hearts that we share the news of Chance Perdomo’s untimely passing as a result of a motorcycle accident,” a publicist said in a statement issued on Saturday evening. The statement said no one else was involved in the crash, and no details were immediately released. “We can’t quite wrap our heads around this. For those of us who knew him and worked with him, Chance was always charming and smiling, an enthusiastic force of nature,” the producers of Gen V said in a statement.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
A colossal explosion in the sky, unleashing energy hundreds of times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. A blinding flash nearly as bright as the sun. Shockwaves powerful enough to flatten everything for miles. It might sound apocalyptic, but a newly detected asteroid nearly the size of a football field now has a greater than 1 percent chance of colliding with Earth in about eight years. Such an impact has the potential for city-level devastation, depending on where it strikes. Scientists are not panicking yet, but they are watching closely. “At this point, it’s: ‘Let’s pay a lot of attention, let’s
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
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