NORTH KOREA
Delegation departs for Iran
A high-level economic delegation was on its way to Iran, state media reported yesterday, for what would be the two countries’ first known talks since August 2019. The delegation, led by Minster of External Economic Relations Yun Jung-ho, flew out on Tuesday for the trip to Iran, the Korean Central News Agency said.
RUSSIA
Navalny priest suspended
A priest who presided over the memorial service last month for late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been suspended from clerical duties for three years, the Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church said in a statement published on its Web site on Tuesday. The diocese did not say what the reason was for the punishment, which forbids the priest, Dmitry Safronov, from giving blessings, wearing the frock and bearing the church’s priestly cross until 2027. Safronov was also to be moved to another church in Moscow to perform the duties of a psalm-reader, it said. “At the end of the period of penance, based on feedback from the place of obedience, a decision will be made on the possibility of his further priestly service,” the statement said. On March 26, Safronov held a memorial service for Navalny, a critic of President Vladimir Putin. Navalny died in a penal colony in February.
JAPAN
Moon lander wakens again
A Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) moon lander woke up for a third time after its main functions survived another frigid two-week lunar night, the agency said yesterday. The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), dubbed the “Moon Sniper” for its landing precision, touched down in January, but landed at a wonky angle that left its solar panels facing the wrong way. However, the probe was revived in late February once the lunar night, which lasts about 14 Earth days, came to an end. Despite facing temperatures as low as minus-130°C, it repeated the feat late last month and transmitted new images back to Earth. JAXA said it had succeeded again in communicating with the probe after it woke up for the third time. It posted on X a new image of the moon’s surface that it had received from the lander.
JAPAN
Fukushima release paused
The release of treated wastewater into the ocean from Japan’s wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant was suspended yesterday as a partial power outage affected the site, Tokyo Electric Power Co said. The system to cool reactors remained operational and “no meaningful change” had been detected at plant facilities that monitor radioactivity, it added.
UNITED STATES
Virus fragments detected
Health authorities on Tuesday said that they had discovered fragments of bird flu virus in the nation’s pasteurized cow milk supply during the course of a large study, but the samples likely posed no health risk to humans. An outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has spread among dairy cattle herds throughout the country and infected one human, who had mild symptoms. The Food and Drug Administration said in a statement that it had discovered viral particles in “milk from affected animals, in the processing system, and on the shelves.” However, it said that the samples were run through a highly sensitive test, which is able to detect remnants of the pathogen’s genetic material even if the virus itself was inactivated by the pasteurization process.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
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