LEBANON
Israel strikes Beirut
Minister of Defense Israel Katz yesterday said that Israel would keep striking Lebanon until it disarms the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah, a day after Israeli air-strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs. “There will be no calm in Beirut, and no order or stability in Lebanon, without security for the State of Israel. Agreements must be honored and if you do not do what is required, we will continue to act, and with great force,” he said in a statement. Katz said he was responding directly to condemnation by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun of Thursday evening strikes on south Beirut. Aoun called the strikes a “flagrant violation” of the November last year ceasefire, carried out “on the eve of a sacred religious festival” — the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday. The strikes were “irrefutable proof of the aggressor’s refusal ... of a just peace in our region,” he added.
Photo: AFP
GAZA
Militants ready for talks
Hamas’ lead negotiator on Thursday said the militant movement was ready for a new round of negotiations to achieve a permanent ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip. “We reaffirm that we are ready for a new, serious round of negotiations aimed at reaching a permanent ceasefire agreement,” lead Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said in a televised speech marking the start of the Muslim Eid al-Adha festivities, adding that contacts with mediators were under way. Israel and Hamas appeared close to an agreement last month, following discussions mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US. US President Donald Trump on Friday last week said that he believed an agreement for a truce in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas was “very close.” However, Israel and Hamas then accused each other of scuppering a proposal submitted by US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who described Hamas’ response as “totally unacceptable.” Al-Hayya said that Hamas had not rejected Witkoff’s latest proposal, but submitted demands for a guarantee of a non-resumption of hostilities following any hostage release.
Japan
Curry shops shutter
A record number of curry shops went out of business in the past year, as purveyors of one of the country’s most beloved dishes took a hit from soaring rice prices. Thirteen curry shops with more than ￥10 million (US$69,453) in debt filed for bankruptcy in the year ending in March, marking a record high for the second consecutive year, Tokyo-based research firm Teikoku Databank said. The total number of bankruptcies is likely much higher when considering smaller mom-and-pop shops, Teikoku said. Prices of mainstay ingredients in Japanese curry — such as rice, spices, meat and vegetables — have gone up due to a rice shortage, adverse weather and a weak yen, the report said. Higher energy prices have also dented the profits of shop operators. Japanese curry, a thick brown sauce containing meat and vegetables, is usually served on a bed of rice. A basic curry rice dish, a classic comfort food, now costs ￥365 — a record high, Teikoku said. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s government has been scrambling to combat skyrocketing rice prices by releasing stockpiles of the staple ahead of a summer election. During the COVID-19 pandemic, takeout and delivery orders had fueled a curry boom — that has now also slowed and hurt sales for curry shops, Teikoku said.
Packed crowds in India celebrating their cricket team’s victory ended in a deadly stampede on Wednesday, with 11 mainly young fans crushed to death, the local state’s chief minister said. Joyous cricket fans had come out to celebrate and welcome home their heroes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after they beat Punjab Kings in a roller-coaster Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket final on Tuesday night. However, the euphoria of the vast crowds in the southern tech city of Bengaluru ended in disaster, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra calling it “absolutely heartrending.” Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said most of the deceased are young, with 11 dead
By 2027, Denmark would relocate its foreign convicts to a prison in Kosovo under a 200-million-euro (US$228.6 million) agreement that has raised concerns among non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and residents, but which could serve as a model for the rest of the EU. The agreement, reached in 2022 and ratified by Kosovar lawmakers last year, provides for the reception of up to 300 foreign prisoners sentenced in Denmark. They must not have been convicted of terrorism or war crimes, or have a mental condition or terminal disease. Once their sentence is completed in Kosovan, they would be deported to their home country. In
Brazil, the world’s largest Roman Catholic country, saw its Catholic population decline further in 2022, while evangelical Christians and those with no religion continued to rise, census data released on Friday by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) showed. The census indicated that Brazil had 100.2 million Roman Catholics in 2022, accounting for 56.7 percent of the population, down from 65.1 percent or 105.4 million recorded in the 2010 census. Meanwhile, the share of evangelical Christians rose to 26.9 percent last year, up from 21.6 percent in 2010, adding 12 million followers to reach 47.4 million — the highest figure
LOST CONTACT: The mission carried payloads from Japan, the US and Taiwan’s National Central University, including a deep space radiation probe, ispace said Japanese company ispace said its uncrewed moon lander likely crashed onto the moon’s surface during its lunar touchdown attempt yesterday, marking another failure two years after its unsuccessful inaugural mission. Tokyo-based ispace had hoped to join US firms Intuitive Machines and Firefly Aerospace as companies that have accomplished commercial landings amid a global race for the moon, which includes state-run missions from China and India. A successful mission would have made ispace the first company outside the US to achieve a moon landing. Resilience, ispace’s second lunar lander, could not decelerate fast enough as it approached the moon, and the company has
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