- The Guardian
- Issue #2064
VENEZUELA: Thousands of people in Venezuela celebrated the 69th anniversary of the birth of the legendary socialist leader of the Bolivarian Revolution, Commander Hugo Chávez on 28th July 1954. The Cuartel de la Montana in the Venezuelan capital Caracas saw fireworks, music, and traditional songs to celebrate the life of Mr Chávez who died from cancer on 5th March 2013.
SINGAPORE: The first execution of a woman in 19 years took place in Singapore on 28th July, for drug trafficking despite calls for the city-state to cease capital punishment for drug-related crimes. Saridewi Djamani was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking drugs in what the Central Narcotics Bureau said was “sufficient to feed the addiction of about 370 abusers for a week.”
POLAND: Lawmakers in Poland voted last week to approve a divisive law limiting Russian influences on the country. The law was proposed in May by Poland’s ruling right-wing Law and Justice party but critics in the country and outside, such as the European Union, see it as primarily targeting opposition leader and former Prime Minister Donald Tusk, before a parliamentary election scheduled for the autumn.
CHILE: The Supreme Court of Chile ordered compensation to 31 of the 33 miners who were trapped underground for 69 days after the collapse at the San Jose mine in 2010. The judiciary of the South American nation reported that the miners will receive the equivalent of around $48,200 for lost profits and non-pecuniary damage, leaving out two workers who decided to distance themselves from the lawsuit.
ISRAEL: Israel’s highest court said it will hear legal challenges to a divisive new law that weakens its power, putting the country’s top justices in the position of defending their own independence. Civil society groups and others filed petitions asking the supreme court to strike down the law enacted last month, the first major piece of legislation in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious plan to overhaul Israel’s judiciary.
RUSSIA: Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin said he supported plans to increase liquidity for the BRICS New Development Bank, which is part of the economic co-operation bloc led by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. “We are aware that the bank’s liquidity is on the agenda. There are several ideas … and we will support them,” Putin said during his meeting with BRICS NDB President Dilma Rousseff at the Constantine Palace in St Petersburg.
KUWAIT: Five prisoners have been hanged by the Kuwaiti authorities. Prosecutors said the five include a mosque attacker, three people convicted of murder, and a convicted drug dealer. One of the convicted murderers was Egyptian, another was Kuwaiti, and the drug dealer was from Sri Lanka. The statement did not provide the nationality of the mosque attacker or the third convicted murderer.
PHILIPPINES: At least 21 people died and 40 others were rescued after a Philippine passenger boat overturned when it was lashed by strong winds in Laguna Lake south-east of Manila, police said. Police said rescue operations were continuing, but did not immediately provide figures for the total number of people on board the MBCA Princess Aya.
