NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Tunisia election: Jailed media magnate Nabil Karoui and independent law professor Kais Saied without a party are advancing to the runoff in Tunisia’s presidential elections, the electoral authority announced Tuesday. The electoral commission said the two candidates came out on top in the first round of voting Sunday. Saied had 18.4% of the vote and Karoui 15.6%. The date for the runoff hasn’t yet been announced. Neither candidate has ever held political office. They beat out two prime ministers and the candidate for the moderate Islamist party Ennahdha, Abdelfattah Mourou, whose party is the biggest force in Tunisia’s parliament. He placed third with 12.8%.
2 Channel swimmer: An American cancer survivor has succeeded in her remarkable quest to swim across the English Channel four times in a row. Sarah Thomas, who is from Colorado, completed the feat Tuesday after more than 54 hours of swimming. The 37yearold completed treatment for breast cancer last year. She was cheered by a small crowd as she arrived in Dover. She was given champagne and chocolate to celebrate. She has dedicated the swim to “all the survivors out there.”
3 Gambling bust: The Philippine immigration bureau says its agents, backed by troops, have arrested 324 Chinese accused of involvement in illegal online gambling and other crimes in a raid on eight hotels and other establishments in a western province. Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said the Chinese were arrested Monday in Puerto Princesa city in Palawan province. The Philippines, backed by Beijing, has launched a crackdown on Chinese who enter the country as tourists and then work for online gambling operations, which are illegal in China. Last week, Philippine immigration agents arrested 277 Chinese in a raid on an online investment scam syndicate that defrauded hundreds of people in China.
4 Spying charges: Iran has acknowledged for the first time that it holds three Australian nationals on suspicion of spying, marking the latest cases of those with Western ties being detained in the Islamic Republic amid tensions between Tehran and the U.S. The semiofficial Tasnim news agency quoted judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili on Tuesday as saying the three had been charged in two separate cases. He said two Australians, likely the blogging couple Mark Firkin and Jolie King, had been detained over using a drone to take pictures and video of military areas and other unauthorized zones. He said the other Australian faced charges of spying for another country, without elaborating. That’s likely an as ofyet unnamed Melbourne academic. Australia said last week it was pressing Iran to free those held.
5 Scooter accidents: Berlin police say in the three months since popular electric scooters have been allowed in the German capital, they’ve seen 74 accidents, 65 cases of drunken driving and 233 traffic violations. Police said Tuesday spot checks of scooter drivers in the evening hours show they are “frequently intoxicated” — and are treated the same as drunken drivers of automobiles. In the accidents, there have been 16 serious injuries and 43 lighter injuries. Sixtyfive have been caused by the scooter drivers themselves, and 27 of them were solo accidents. In 19 cases, scooter drivers have been investigated for leaving the scene. Police say the main causes have been driver inattention, use of unauthorized paths, or alcohol.