Around the world
North America Senator Ted Cruz of Texas was due to fire the starting pistol on the 2016 US presidential derby today by declaring himself a Republican candidate. The first-term US Senator, whose willingness to rebel against the Republican establishment has endeared him to the Christian and Tea Party wings of the party, was to eschew setting up an exploratory committee — a normal first step — and simply plunge straight in as a fullyfledged runner. By becoming the first in a crowded field of potential rivals for the Republican nomination formally to announce, Cruz, 44, will try to get a head start on others with similar hopes of winning support from conservatives as well as libertarians. Latin America An ailing Chilean girl who made a public plea for permission to end her life has had a change of heart, according to her father. Fredy Maureira said that his 14-year-old daughter, Valentina, had changed her mind after meeting people who responded to her plea to be euthanised, in order to end her suffering from cystic fibrosis. “Yes, she is thinking about it,” Maureira said. The girl told the El Mercurio newspaper that “there are people who have led me to change my way of thinking”. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, who is a trained pediatrician, visited the girl and her family but the Government said it could not approve her request. Asia/Oceania Hundreds of people have attended the burial of an Afghan woman who was beaten to death and set on fire by a mob for allegedly burning a copy of the Koran. The body of Farkhunda, 27, who was lynched last week by an angry crowd in central Kabul, was carried to the graveyard by women amid crowds of men, a rare act of protest in a male-dominated society. The crowd, shouting “Allah o Akbar” (God is greatest), demanded the Government bring the killers to justice. “This is a crime against this family, a crime against a sister and a crime against humanity,” said Bari Salam, a human rights activist. The lynching — in full view of several police officers — sparked widespread condemnation. Farkhunda’s father told the media she was not involved in burning the Muslim holy book.
About 400 residents from a remote Northern Territory island community were evacuated to Darwin for the second time in a month, as Cyclone Nathan moved along the coast. Residents of Warruwi on Goulburn Island were flown to Darwin. Tropical Cyclone Nathan intensified as it moved in a west northwest direction across the Arafura Sea, and had gusts reaching 150km/h. It was about 55km northwest of Galiwinku and 55km northeast of Milingimbi, the two remote Aboriginal communities hardest hit by Cyclone Lam in February. It was expected to reach the Top End north coast today. Europe Two fledgling parties that have shaken up Spain’s political scene made significant inroads in their first regional bids for power in Andalusia’s election, suggesting they could threaten the nation’s traditional twoparty system in other votes due later this year. The left wing party Podemos, with links to Greece’s antiausterity Syriza, came third by winning 15 seats in the 109-seat Andalusia Parliament, as polls had predicted. Podemos means “We can”. Fellow newcomer Ciudadanos, whose name means “Citizens”, finished fourth with nine seats.