UNITED STATES
Phil Donahue dies at 88
Phil Donahue, who changed the face of daytime television with a long-running syndicated talk show that highlighted topical and often provocative social and political issues, has died at age 88, NBC’s Today show reported on Monday, citing a statement from his family. Donahue died surrounded by his family on Sunday following an illness, it said. Debuting in 1970 when daytime television offered its mostly female viewers a diet of soap operas, game shows and homemaking programs, Donahue’s show tackled subject matter once considered taboo for television — including abortion, the sexual revolution and race relations. With his boyish charm, irrepressible energy and thick white hair, Donahue was known for aggressively questioning his guests and bounding through the studio to give his audience a chance to be heard. The success of his show paved the way for other daytime talk-show hosts, most notably Oprah Winfrey, whose program eventually eclipsed Donahue’s in the ratings. “If it weren’t for Phil Donahue, there never would have been an Oprah show,” Winfrey has said.
PHILIPPINES
Ex-mayor seen in Indonesia
A former local official embroiled in alleged money laundering through China-centric online casinos has left the country, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission said. Dismissed mayor Alice Guo arrived in Kuala Lumpur from Denpasar, Indonesia, on July 18 then flew to Singapore after three days, commission spokesman Winston Casio said in a message to reporters late on Monday, citing immigration records from these countries. Guo arrived in Batam, Indonesia, from Singapore via a ferry boat on Sunday, he added. Her lawyer, Stephen David, said in a phone call yesterday that Guo told him she was still in the Philippines. The ex-mayor’s bank accounts were earlier frozen over suspected money laundering, human trafficking and fraud. The Department of Justice yesterday said it would investigate how Guo was able to exit the country, despite an immigration lookout bulletin order that directs authorities to closely monitor her movements.
JAPAN
PM election on Sept. 27
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) yesterday said it would select a new leader — and by extension the likely next prime minister — on Sept. 27. Following plummeting approval ratings, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last week announced that he would step down next month. Campaigning to become the next LDP president is to begin on Sept. 12 with a vote two weeks later, an internal committee decided early yesterday, a party official said. A hodgepodge of candidates, from party veterans to rising young stars and three women, are reportedly weighing their chances and seeking to rally intraparty support.
JAPAN
Fuji barrier taken down
A barrier erected to block a popular view of Mount Fuji has been taken down — for now — after succeeding in discouraging unruly tourists, a town official said yesterday. Fujikawaguchiko put up the large screen in May after residents complained about streams of mostly foreign visitors causing problems while trying to snap photos of the famous volcano. The town on Thursday lowered the screen ahead of a typhoon and has decided not to put it back up. “We wanted to see what would happen,” the town official said. “There are still some people who come to the place. But we no longer find many people suddenly rushing out into the traffic to cross the road.”
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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