MALDIVES
Minister arrested for ‘magic’
Police have arrested a state environment minister, officers said yesterday, with media in the Indian Ocean nation reporting she was accused of performing “black magic” on the president. State Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Energy Fathimath Shamnaz Ali Saleem was arrested on Sunday along with two others in the capital, Male, police said. She has been remanded in custody for a week pending investigations, officers added, without giving details for her arrest. “There have been reports that Shamnaz was arrested for performing black magic on President Dr Mohamed Muizzu,” said the Sun, a local media outlet. Police would neither confirm nor deny the report. Sorcery is not a criminal offense under the penal code in the Muslim-majority Maldives, but it does carry a six-month jail sentence under Islamic law.
AUSTRALIA
‘Mushrooms’ recalled
Authorities have issued a recall alert for a brand of “mushroom” gummies, citing five hospitalizations and symptoms including “disturbing hallucinations.” Uncle Frog’s Mushroom Gummies were sold in two versions: Lion’s mane mushrooms claiming to help “memory and focus” or cordyceps fungus offering “energy and power.” The packets promise to “elevate your day,” but also say they have been “infused with Earth’s finest hemp.” At least five people have been hospitalized after eating the gummies in the eastern state of New South Wales, the state’s chief health officer said in a statement on Wednesday. Symptoms included “disturbing hallucinations,” “drowsiness or loss of consciousness,” and “seizure-like activity and involuntary movement such as arms/legs twitching, eye movement.”
KENYA
Tax proposal shelved
Police yesterday put up roadblocks as some protesters vowed to “occupy State House,” despite President William Ruto’s climbdown on proposed tax hikes that sparked a week of demonstrations. However, opinion was divided on the call to occupy the presidential residence, with some protest leaders supporting further demonstrations, but opposing calls to invade State House.
GREECE
Crew detained over fire
Two crew members of a superyacht were detained early yesterday over a forest fire on the island of Hydra believed to have been started by fireworks launched from their vessel. The two men, the skipper and the first mate, were placed under pre-trial detention after giving testimony, state news agency ANA said. Eleven other crew members were conditionally freed. Hydra’s firefighting team on Friday last week said the blaze was sparked “by fireworks launched from a boat” and ravaged the island’s sole pine forest.
CANADA
Cod moratorium ended
The Fisheries Department on Wednesday said that it had ended a Newfoundland and Labrador cod moratorium, which gutted the Atlantic coast province’s economy and transformed its small communities more than 30 years ago. “Ending the northern cod moratorium is a historic milestone for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians,” Minister of Fisheries Diane Lebouthillier said in a news release. “We will cautiously but optimistically build back this fishery with the prime beneficiaries being coastal and indigenous communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.”
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said if US President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid sooner, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive nominating process to choose his replacement. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview on Thursday published by the New York Times the next day. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said. Pelosi said she thought the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, “would have done
Farmer Liu Bingyong used to make a tidy profit selling milk but is now leaking cash — hit by a dairy sector crisis that embodies several of China’s economic woes. Milk is not a traditional mainstay of Chinese diets, but the Chinese government has long pushed people to drink more, citing its health benefits. The country has expanded its dairy production capacity and imported vast numbers of cattle in recent years as Beijing pursues food self-sufficiency. However, chronically low consumption has left the market sloshing with unwanted milk — driving down prices and pushing farmers to the brink — while
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