A chicken-shaped lamp. A toilet paper holder in the shape of a smiling velociraptor. An apron that catches beard hair during shaving. The list of unusual products goes on.

Among the more everyday items are cleaning products, smartwatches, novelty T-shirts, knock-off sneakers and barbecue tools, but the common thread across all of them is that everything is incredibly, mindbogglingly cheap.

This is Temu, the latest Chinese shopping app to take the internet by storm and raise questions about provenance, competition and value.

Venezuela: Arrest warrant issued for Juan Guaido

An arrest warrant has been issued for Venezuela’s former opposition leader Juan Guaido. The prosecutor’s office said it would ask for interpol’s help in his apprehension.

The Venezuelan prosecutor’s office on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for former opposition politician Juan Guaido.

Guaido — who is living in exile in the United States — is accused of treason, usurpation of functions, money laundering and association with a view to committing a crime, said Attorney General Tarek William Saab.

The prosecutor said “Guaido used the resources of PDVSA (the public oil giant) to cause losses close to or greater than $19 billion,” adding that he relied on “revelations” provided to the press “by a federal court in the United States.”

Authorities looking to Interpol for assistance

The Venezuelan government says it had 27 different probes of Guaido under way but this is the first time it has sought his arrest.

Dutch-Polish spat after Legia Warsaw footballers held

Poland and the Netherlands traded barbs and accusations Friday after Dutch police arrested two footballers from Polish club Legia Warsaw amid violent scenes during their Europa Conference League clash against AZ Alkmaar.

Dutch police said in a statement they had arrested two Legia Warsaw players who had assaulted two AZ Alkmaar staff members “to such an extent that they needed medical attention.”

The two players have been widely named as Portuguese midfielder Josue Pesqueira and Serbian centre-back Radovan Pankov.

The confrontation took place when the Dutch police blocked the Legia Warsaw team bus “for the players’ own safety” because visiting fans were still being escorted from the ground after the game, which AZ Alkmaar won 1-0.

“A number of players and officials apparently disagreed with this and started to become violent,” Dutch police said.

Riot police boarded the bus and took the two players into custody, where they are being investigated for assault.

Muneo Suzuki confident Russia will win war against Ukraine

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

October 6, 2023 at 16:54 JST

Upper House member Muneo Suzuki of Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) told a Russian state news agency that he believes Moscow will emerge victorious in its war with Ukraine, it has been learned.

“While a special military operation is continuing, Russia will win, and Russia will not yield to Ukraine,” Suzuki said in an interview with the Sputnik news agency.

“Without any concern and with 100 percent confidence, I believe in and understand Russia’s future and its tomorrow.”

Sputnik distributed a footage of Suzuki’s interview early on Oct. 4. It said the video was taken as a message to its readers.

‘You can still smell the blood’: Shock turns to grief in Ukraine’s Hroza

Relatives struggling to cope after attack that killed more than 50 people in tiny village in northeastern Ukraine.

The missile attack was sudden and devastating.

In an instant, more than 50 people – or one-sixth of the population of Hroza, a remote village in Ukraine’s northeast – were wiped out.

Among those killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest attacks since Russia invaded Ukraine some 20 months ago was Olya, 36, who is survived by three children. Her husband died, too.

“It would have been better if I had died,” Olya’s father, Valeriy Kozyr said at the local cemetery as he prepared to bury her and his son-in-law.