NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Korea MIAs: President Trump heightened expectations that the repatriation by North Korea of remains of U.S. troops missing from the Korean War was imminent following an agreement with Kim Jong Un, but U.S. officials said they were not aware of any remains being returned.
2 Hawking burial: The ashes of Stephen Hawking were buried Friday in a corner of Westminster Abbey that honors some of Britain’s greatest scientists, between the graves of Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton. More than 1,000 people attended a service of thanksgiving in the ancient abbey for the physicist, who died in March at age 76. Hawking conducted groundbreaking research into black holes and the origins of the universe, and gained global fame as a popularizer and communicator of science.
3 Nicaragua protests: Talks aimed at resolving a nearly twomonth-old political crisis in Nicaragua have resumed amid ongoing unrest. The negotiations are being mediated by the Roman Catholic Church. Representatives of business, student, civil society and farmers’ groups are participating along with representatives of President Daniel Ortega’s government. Opponents of Ortega have called for his exit from office. His government has likened such demands to an attempted coup. Human rights organizations say more than 160 people have been killed amid protests and a crackdown by authorities and allied civilian groups since demonstrations began in April.
4 Medicinal marijuana: Portugal’s parliament has given final legislative approval for the use of marijuana-based medicines, which are already permitted in other European countries. An initial parliamentary debate five months ago considered a provision allowing patients to grow and use marijuana, but that possibility was not included in the final vote Friday. Marijuana-based medicines will be available only with a doctor’s prescription starting July 1 and sold only in pharmacies.
5 1st terror trial: A Moroccan asylumseeker who was the subject of Finland’s first terrorism trial was convicted Friday of two terror-related murders and eight attempted murders from a stabbing attack in the Nordic country last year. The southern Finland district court sentenced Abderrahman Bouanane, an alleged sympathizer of the Islamic State, to life in prison after finding him guilty of the Aug. 18 attack in Turku. Prosecutors alleged that Bouanane was motivated largely by hatred following heavy military bombardments in the Syrian city of Raqqa carried out by the Western military alliance targeting the Islamic State. A life sentence in Finland averages 12 to 20 years, with most prisoners serving 14 to 16 years.
6 Buried alive: Australian performance artist Mike Parr walked through a cheering crowd, climbed down a ladder and disappeared into a hole cut into the street in Hobart, Tasmania. As he settled into a 25-square-foot steel box, workers sealed it with steaming-hot asphalt. Parr, 73, is no stranger to extreme acts. He has sewn his lips together to highlight Australia’s treatment of asylum-seekers, nailed his arm to a wall and spent 10 days in a glass cage with only water for sustenance. This week’s act honors the hardships of the early convicts brought to Tasmania and the Indigenous people slaughtered there. It also symbolizes the burying of Aboriginal history, particularly a 19th-century conflict fought between British settlers and Indigenous Tasmanians, who were virtually wiped out.