INDIA
Kashmir attack kills nine
The government is investigating an attack in which suspected militants fired at a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims in Kashmir, killing nine and injuring 33, officials said yesterday. The attack on Sunday caused the vehicle to fall into a deep gorge in Jammu Province’s Reasi District. The bus was carrying pilgrims to the base camp of the Hindu temple Mata Vaishno Devi. A team from the National Investigation Agency has reached the site of the attack, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Security forces were also trying to track down those suspected to be responsible. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha announced compensation of US$11,975 each for families of those killed, as well as nearly US$600 to those who were injured. Federal Minister Amit Shah said he was in touch with Sinha and the local administration was providing speedy medical attention. A police officer said some of the victims had gunshot wounds and blamed the attack on Muslim militants who are fighting Indian rule in Kashmir.
AUSTRALIA
US consulate vandalized
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday urged activists on both sides of the Israel-Palestinian debate to “turn the heat down” after the US consulate in Sydney was vandalized earlier in the day. CCTV footage showed a person wearing a dark hoodie using a small sledgehammer to smash nine holes in the reinforced glass windows of the building in North Sydney after 3am, a police statement said. Two inverted red triangles, seen by many as a symbol of Palestinian resistance, were also painted on the front of the building. Calling for “respectful political debate and discourse,” Albanese told reporters: “People are traumatized by what is going on in the Middle East, particularly those with relatives in either Israel or in the Palestinian Occupied Territories.” However, “measures such as painting the US consulate do nothing to advance the cause of those who have committed what is, of course, a crime to damage property,” he said. The consulate was closed yesterday because of a public holiday in New South Wales state, but would reopen today, a consulate statement said. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said an overwhelming majority of Australians did not approve of such vandalism.
JAPAN
Deportation rules tightened
Japanese laws making it easier for the country to deport failed asylum seekers took effect yesterday, with campaigners warning that the new system would put lives at risk. The world’s fourth-largest economy has long been criticized for the low number of asylum applications it accepts. Last year, refugee status was granted to a record 303 people, mostly from Afghanistan. Now the government can deport asylum seekers rejected three times, under immigration law changes enacted last year. Previously, those seeking refugee status had been able to stay in the country while they appealed decisions, regardless of the number of attempts made. The revised law is “meant to swiftly deport those without permission to stay, and help reduce long-term detentions,” Minister of Justice Ryuji Koizumi said last month. Critics have raised concerns over the transparency of the screening process, saying the new rules could heighten the risk of applicants facing persecution after repatriation. “We’re strongly concerned that the enforcement of this law will allow refugees who have fled to Japan to be deported, and endanger their lives and safety,” the Japan Association for Refugees said on X.
When Shanghai-based designer Guo Qingshan posted a vacation photo on Valentine’s Day and captioned it “Puppy Mountain,” it became a sensation in China and even created a tourist destination. Guo had gone on a hike while visiting his hometown of Yichang in central China’s Hubei Province late last month. When reviewing the photographs, he saw something he had not noticed before: A mountain shaped like a dog’s head rested on the ground next to the Yangtze River, its snout perched at the water’s edge. “It was so magical and cute. I was so excited and happy when I discovered it,” Guo said.
Chinese authorities said they began live-fire exercises in the Gulf of Tonkin on Monday, only days after Vietnam announced a new line marking what it considers its territory in the body of water between the nations. The Chinese Maritime Safety Administration said the exercises would be focused on the Beibu Gulf area, closer to the Chinese side of the Gulf of Tonkin, and would run until tomorrow evening. It gave no further details, but the drills follow an announcement last week by Vietnam establishing a baseline used to calculate the width of its territorial waters in the Gulf of Tonkin. State-run Vietnam News
TURNAROUND: The Liberal Party had trailed the Conservatives by a wide margin, but that was before Trump threatened to make Canada the US’ 51st state Canada’s ruling Liberals, who a few weeks ago looked certain to lose an election this year, are mounting a major comeback amid the threat of US tariffs and are tied with their rival Conservatives, according to three new polls. An Ipsos survey released late on Tuesday showed that the left-leaning Liberals have 38 percent public support and the official opposition center-right Conservatives have 36 percent. The Liberals have overturned a 26-point deficit in six weeks, and run advertisements comparing the Conservative leader to Trump. The Conservative strategy had long been to attack unpopular Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but last month he
Four decades after they were forced apart, US-raised Adamary Garcia and her birth mother on Saturday fell into each other’s arms at the airport in Santiago, Chile. Without speaking, they embraced tearfully: A rare reunification for one the thousands of Chileans taken from their mothers as babies and given up for adoption abroad. “The worst is over,” Edita Bizama, 64, said as she beheld her daughter for the first time since her birth 41 years ago. Garcia had flown to Santiago with four other women born in Chile and adopted in the US. Reports have estimated there were 20,000 such cases from 1950 to
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