NEPAL
Fifty missing after landslide
Rescue teams yesterday recovered the first body from about 50 people missing after monsoon rains triggered a landslide that swept two buses off a highway and into a river. The force of Friday’s landslide in central Chitwan District pushed the vehicles over concrete crash barriers and down a steep embankment, at least 30m from the road. Chitwan Deputy Chief Administrator Khimananda Bhusal said that about 50 people remained unaccounted for, revising down the number of missing from the 63 reported on Friday.
AUSTRALIA
‘Back off,’ Moscow: Albanese
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday told Moscow to “back off,” after Russia criticized the arrest of a Brisbane-based couple accused of spying. Moscow is engaging in “espionage here and around the world,” Albanese said. “Russia can get the message: Back off,” he added, speaking at an event in Brisbane. Albanese was responding to criticism by the Russian embassy after police on Friday said they had charged a 40-year-old woman and her 62-year-old husband — both Russian passport holders — with preparing for an espionage offense. The Russian embassy in Canberra wrote on X that the arrests and media coverage were “intended to launch another wave of anti-Russian paranoia in Australia.” The couple, who were arrested on Thursday, are accused of accessing national security-related material from the military.
NIGERIA
School collapse kills 22
A two-story school collapsed during morning classes on Friday in Plateau State, killing 22 students and sending rescuers on a frantic search for more than 100 people trapped in the rubble, authorities said. The Saints Academy college in the Busa Buji community collapsed shortly after students, many of whom were aged 15 or younger, arrived for classes. A total of 154 students were initially trapped in the rubble, but Plateau police spokesman Alfred Alabo later said 132 of them had been rescued and were being treated for injuries in various hospitals. Twenty-two students died, he said.
MALDIVES
Accused minister released
A former climate change minister detained last month on allegations she performed “black magic” on the president was released yesterday, police said. Fathimath Shamnaz Ali Saleem was arrested along with her sister and another person in the capital, Male, and resigned from her post shortly afterward. Local media reported she was accused of performing “black magic” on President Mohamed Muizzu to win favor from his new administration. Police had asked for an extension of her detention twice, but yesterday they had no reason to hold her any longer — although the case was still ongoing. Police and authorities have not confirmed or denied the nature of the allegations against Shamnaz, and a criminal court has heard the case behind closed doors. Sorcery is not a criminal offense, but it does carry a six-month jail sentence under Islamic law.
UNITED STATES
Five escape hot geyser
Five people escaped a hot, acidic pond in Yellowstone National Park after the sport utility vehicle they were riding in went off the road and into an inactive geyser, park officials said on Friday. The passengers escaped the 41°C water on their own after the crash on Thursday morning and were taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, park spokeswoman Morgan Warthin said in a statement.
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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