NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Philippines escape: At least 29 detainees escaped Saturday from a jail in the southern Philippines when a guard briefly left his post, but 17 of them were captured when law officers fired warning shots, police said. The 12 detainees who managed to get away from the jail in Jolo town were mostly facing drug charges and were being pursued by police and security forces. Officials removed several police officers from their posts after the jailbreak, which is being investigated.
2 Deadly hit-and-run: A speeding jeep plowed through a group of schoolchildren crossing a road in eastern India on Saturday, killing nine and injuring 10 others. The jeep first hit and injured two adult female pedestrians. While trying to escape from the scene, it struck the children, who were leaving their school on the outskirts of Muzzafarpur, a town in Bihar state, said police officer Vivek Kumar. The children range in age from 10 to 14. Police are searching for the jeep driver, who sped away after the accident, he said. _3 Terror financing: Pakistan’s interior minister said Saturday that the Islamic nation will expedite steps to curb terror financing and money laundering a day after the country avoided ending up on a terror watch list by a global task force. Ahsan Iqbal said Pakistan’s performance in the war on terror was better than others, but the country still faced pressure from Washington. Pakistan on Friday escaped a bid to put it on a “grey list” by the Financial Action Task Force, which met in Paris. The U.S. and Britain had jointly submitted a letter to the panel, nominating it for placement on watch list. Pakistan feared a return would deter foreign investment and hurt access to international financial markets.
4 Organ donations: Britain has taken a crucial step toward making all adults presumed organ donors unless they say otherwise, which would add the country to a growing list of those that have adopted the policy to address a chronic shortage for transplants. The House of Commons gave unanimous approval Friday to send an organ donor bill to committee, where a final version would be hammered out. Though it still could face procedural obstacles, it has the support of a rare alliance of the Conservative government, the leadership of the opposition Labor Party, and the British medical establishment. Dozens of countries have “presumed consent” laws, in which people who do not want their organs to be used must take formal steps to opt out of donation. In the U.S., to be organ donors, people must fill out forms or join an online registry, or their families must give approval.
5 Bank failure: The European Central Bank said Saturday it has determined that Latvia’s ABLV Bank is failing or likely to fail, and the bank will be wound up under its home country’s laws. Latvia’s financial regulator on Monday ordered ABLV, Latvia’s third-largest bank by assets, to cease all payments at the ECB’s request amid U.S. accusations of money laundering and breaching sanctions on North Korea. The order came after the bank saw an abrupt wave of withdrawals and was unable to access U.S. dollar funding. “Due to the significant deterioration of its liquidity, the bank is likely unable to pay its debts or other liabilities as they fall due,” the ECB said in a statement Saturday. Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis said his government would not use any taxpayer money to rescue ABLV.