PHILIPPINES
US-bound Afghans arrive
A group of Afghan nationals yesterday arrived to process special immigrant visas for their resettlement in the US, as part of an agreement between Manila and Washington. The Philippines agreed in July last year to temporarily host a US immigrant visa processing center for a limited number of Afghan nationals aspiring to resettle in the US. Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Teresita Daza said the US government would cover the costs for the Afghan nationals’ stay in the Philippines, including their food, housing, security, medical and transportation expenses, she said.
Photo: US embassy manila via AFP
INDONESIA
Rohingya refugees land
More than 260 Rohingya refugees, including women and children, arrived in the westernmost province of Aceh after floating at sea for days, an official said yesterday. East Aceh official Iskandar said that 117 men and 147 women, as well as about 30 children, arrived in West Peureulak on Sunday night. He said they had initially been on two boats, one of which had sunk off the coast while the second managed to move closer to shore, allowing them to walk ashore when the tide was low. “They told me they were rejected in Malaysia,” Iskandar said, adding that the local government has not decided where to move the refugees.
Photo: AFP
CHINA
Beijing to address dementia
The government has launched a national plan to address the rapidly growing prevalence of dementia, which authorities said is becoming “a widespread societal concern” and poses “significant challenges” to the well-being of the elderly and their families. A continuous “prevention and control system for dementia, covering prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and care, will be established by 2030,” Xinhua news agency said, adding that the growth of dementia would be controlled through widespread cognitive screenings, with early intervention. More than 16 million Chinese have dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type, an official report released last year showed.
RUSSIA
Oil spill kills dolphins: group
Thirty-two dolphins have died since fuel oil spilled out of two storm-stricken tankers three weeks ago in the Kerch Strait, which separates the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula from Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, an animal rescue group said on Sunday. The Delfa Dolphin Rescue and Research Center said the deaths are “most likely related to the fuel oil spill.” The center wrote on the messaging app Telegram that 61 dead cetaceans had been recorded since the emergency, but the condition of the bodies suggested that 29 had died before the spill.
ISRAEL
Soldier helped out of Brazil
The government helped a former soldier leave Brazil after legal action was initiated against him by a group accusing Israelis of war crimes in the Gaza Strip based in part on soldiers’ social media posts. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday said it had helped the former soldier safely leave Brazil on a commercial flight after what it described as “anti-Israel elements” sought an investigation. It warned Israelis against posting on social media about their military service. The Hind Rajab Foundation said Brazilian authorities had launched an investigation into the soldier after it filed a complaint based on video footage, geolocation data and photographs showing the soldier participating in the demolition of civilian homes.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
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