CARIBBEAN: Tropical Storm Rafael headed toward the Cayman Islands today and was forecast to strengthen into a hurricane as it heads towards Cuba.

The storm, with its 60mph winds, ”is forecast to become a hurricane in the north-west Caribbean near the Cayman Islands with further strengthening before it makes landfall in Cuba,” according to the National Hurricane Centre in Miami.

SWEDEN: A court today sentenced far-right politician Rasmus Paludan to four months in jail for two counts of “incitement against an ethnic group” after making hateful comments at political rallies two years ago.

In 2022, Mr Paludan, founder and head of the Danish nationalist anti-immigration party Hard Line, made his offensive remarks directed at Muslims, Arabs and Africans during protests that he led in the southern city of Malmo in 2022, the court said. 

IRAN: An official claimed today that Iranian-German prisoner Jamshid Sharmahd died before Tehran could execute him — directly contradicting the country’s earlier announcement he had been put to death.

The comment by judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir comes after Germany shut down all three Iranian consulates in the country over Mr Sharmahd’s death, leaving only the embassy in Berlin open. Germany later disputed Mr Jahangir’s remark.

PAKISTAN: A guard shot and wounded two Chinese nationals working in a textile mill in the southern port city of Karachi today, but authorities said the attack was not related to militant violence.

China has frequently demanded better security for its nationals working in Pakistan. Last month, two Chinese were killed in a suicide car bombing outside Karachi airport.