UNITED STATES
Maduro’s plane seized
The government has seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s plane after concluding it was bought and operated in violation of Washington’s sanctions. The Dassault Falcon 900EX jet was seized earlier this year by police in the Dominican Republic when it landed in Santo Domingo. A Florida district court on May 22 requested an embargo on the aircraft, documents obtained by Bloomberg showed. The plane was purchased through a shell firm and smuggled out of the country, the Department of Justice said. It was found to be operating in violation of export control restrictions for the benefit of Maduro and those around him, the department said in a statement. The plane has been flown to Florida. Maduro’s government said in a statement it considered the “illegal” seizure by the US as part of a series of “incremental actions” against Venezuela.
DR CONGO
129 die in jail break try
At least 129 people were killed during a weekend prison break attempt at the nation’s largest jail, Minister of the Interior Jacquemain Shabani said in a video message yesterday. “The provisional human toll is 129 dead, including 24 who were shot after warnings,” Shabani said, adding that at least 59 others had been wounded at the Makala prison in Kinshasa. Several people had been crushed or suffocated and a number of women had been raped, the ministry said. Witnesses said gunfire had started at the prison at about 2am on Monday morning and lasted for several hours.
UAE
Jailed protesters pardoned
President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has pardoned 57 Bangladeshi citizens who were convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms for staging a rare protest in the Gulf country, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported yesterday. The decision cancels the sentences of those convicted and those pardoned are to be deported, the state media said. The Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal last month sentenced 57 Bangladeshis in an expedited trial after they staged a protest against then-Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her government amid protests in Bangladesh. Three Bangladeshis had been sentenced to life in prison, while 53 were sentenced to 10 years in prison. One Bangladeshi, who state media said had entered the nation illegally and “participated in the riot,” was sentenced to 11 years. The Public Prosecution had accused the Bangladeshi nationals of “crimes of gathering in a public place and protesting against their home government with the intent to incite unrest.”
INDIA
Recruitments death probed
The government yesterday launched a probe after 12 applicants for coveted government jobs died during physical tests for posts as excise officers, with commentators saying it illustrated the scale of the unemployment crisis. The young men were among 500,000 applicants vying for just 583 jobs as constables in the excise department — more than 850 people for each post. The 12 died in the past two weeks during a series of 10km races in humid conditions in Jharkhand State. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren called the deaths “heartbreaking” and ordered health experts to examine the “untimely death of these youth, so that such accidents do not happen in future.” State police chief Anurag Gupta said investigations had begun. The recruitment drive has been paused.
A museum in southern French city Marseille is inviting visitors to discover Europe’s relationship to the naturist lifestyle by wandering its halls in the nude. “It’s not every day you get to walk around a museum naked,” said Julie Guegnolle, 38, who was celebrating her birthday at the “Naturist Paradises” exhibition in the Museum of Civilizations of Europe and the Mediterranean (Mucem). Once a month, visitors to Mucem can explore the history of naturism in Europe in only their shoes — a precaution not for modesty’s sake but simply to “avoid getting splinters,” said Eric Stefanut, head of French naturist organization
SPIRITUAL COUPLE: Martha Louise has said she can talk with angels, while her husband, Durek Verrett, claims that he communicates with a broad range of spirits Social media influencers, reality stars and TV personalities were among the guests as the Norwegian king’s eldest child, Princess Martha Louise, married a self-professed US shaman on Saturday in a wedding ceremony following three days of festivities. The 52-year-old Martha Louise and Durek Verrett, who claims to be a sixth-generation shaman from California, tied the knot in the picturesque small town of Geiranger, one of Norway’s major tourist attractions located on a fjord with stunning views. Following festivities that started on Thursday, the actual wedding ceremony took place in a large white tent set up on a lush lawn. Guests
Four days after last scanning in for work, a 60-year-old office worker in Arizona was found dead in a cubicle at her workplace, having never left the building during that time, authorities said. Denise Prudhomme, who worked at a Wells Fargo corporate office, was found dead in a third-floor cubicle on Aug. 20, Tempe police said. She had last scanned into the building on Aug. 16 at 7am, police said. There was no indication she scanned out of the building after that. Prudhomme worked in an underpopulated area of the building. Her cause of death had not been determined, but police said the preliminary
‘DISCONNECTED’: Politics is one factor driving news avoidance, a professor said, adding that people who do not trust the government are more likely to tune it out Hannah Wong cried when the Hong Kong government effectively forced the territory’s Apple Daily and Stand News out of business three years ago. Among the last news firms in the territory willing to criticize the government openly, many saw their end as a sign that the old Hong Kong was gone for good. Today, the 35-year-old makeup artist says she has gone from reading the news every day to reducing her intake drastically to protect herself from despair. Four years into a crackdown on dissent that has swept up democracy-leaning journalists, rights advocates and politicians in the territory, a lot of people