Indonesia suspends antigraft chief amid probe
JAKARTA—President Joko Widodo has suspended the chief of Indonesia’s antigraft agency, his aide said on Saturday, following an accusation of extortion in an investigation that has ensnared a former minister. The step came after police this week named the official, Firli Bahuri, as a suspect accused of extorting money from former agriculture minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo, who was detained in a corruption case last month. The suspension took immediate effect on Friday. Police said authorities had confiscated foreign currency transaction documents from Singapore and 7.4 billion rupiah ($480,000) worth of US currency in two raids relating to the case against him. —REUTERS
Pope cancels Saturday activities because of flu
VATICAN CITY—Pope Francis canceled his morning audiences on Saturday because of mild flu, the Vatican said in a statement. The 86-year-old pontiff holds regular meetings with Vatican officials on Saturdays, including a weekly one with the head of the Vatican department that oversees the appointment of bishops, as well as private audiences. He also had a meeting scheduled with the president of Guinea Bissau. Earlier this month, the Pope skipped reading a prepared speech for a meeting with European rabbis as he was suffering from a cold, but he appeared to be in good health during a meeting with children just hours later. —REUTERS
Pakistan shopping mall fire kills at least 10
ISLAMABAD—A fire tore through a shopping mall in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Saturday, killing 10 people. Geo News said the blaze started early in the morning at the multistory RJ shopping mall. Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui said in a post on social media platform X that 10 people had been killed and 22 injured in the fire. “Fire had been extinguished,” Siddiqui said in the afternoon. The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear. —REUTERS
Shakira pays $7M in another Spain tax fraud case
MADRID—Colombian superstar Shakira has paid $7.2 million to a Spanish court investigating her for unpaid taxes, her agent said Friday, just days after she reached a deal to avoid trial in another tax case. Spanish prosecutors in July opened a second case against the 46-year-old singer, accusing her of using a network of companies, some of them based in tax havens, to cheat Spain’s tax office out of some 6.6 million euros in 2018, including interest and adjustments. —AFP
