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.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
Two former Chilean ministers are among four candidates competing this weekend for the presidential nomination of the left ahead of November elections dominated by rising levels of violent crime. More than 15 million voters are eligible to choose today between former minister of labor Jeannette Jara, former minister of the interior Carolina Toha and two members of parliament, Gonzalo Winter and Jaime Mulet, to represent the left against a resurgent right. The primary is open to members of the parties within Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s ruling left-wing coalition and other voters who are not affiliated with specific parties. A recent poll by the
TENSIONS HIGH: For more than half a year, students have organized protests around the country, while the Serbian presaident said they are part of a foreign plot About 140,000 protesters rallied in Belgrade, the largest turnout over the past few months, as student-led demonstrations mount pressure on the populist government to call early elections. The rally was one of the largest in more than half a year student-led actions, which began in November last year after the roof of a train station collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 16 people — a tragedy widely blamed on entrenched corruption. On Saturday, a sea of protesters filled Belgrade’s largest square and poured into several surrounding streets. The independent protest monitor Archive of Public Gatherings estimated the
Irish-language rap group Kneecap on Saturday gave an impassioned performance for tens of thousands of fans at the Glastonbury Festival despite criticism by British politicians and a terror charge for one of the trio. Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has been charged under the UK’s Terrorism Act with supporting a proscribed organization for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London in November last year. The rapper, who was charged under the anglicized version of his name, Liam O’Hanna, is on unconditional bail before a further court hearing in August. “Glastonbury,
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