Punch the baby snow monkey and his stuffed orangutan have captured ​hearts around the world, spawned memes, and even won over the White ‌House with their charm.

But in the wild, his fellow Japanese macaques often have a starkly different image: pests to be shooed away or even eliminated to prevent economic damage to farmers.

The ​agriculture ministry estimated that monkeys caused 770 million yen ($4.86 million) worth of ​damage in 2024 — enough for Japan to sanction the capture and ⁠killing of thousands of primates every year.

The treatment of the monkeys is an ​issue that divides those who suffer the consequences of stolen crops and others who ​advocate for a more humane solution.

“It’s important to put countermeasures in place to prevent damage,” said Takayo Soma, a primatologist at Kyoto University. “But it isn’t very scientific to cull a certain number ​of monkeys without proper justification.”

Killing a troop of monkeys only invites another to ​take its place, rendering the practice ineffective and “never-ending”, said Shigeyuki Izumiyama, a professor at Shinshu University.

Instead, some advocate ‌for ⁠non-lethal measures such as electric fences and “monkey dogs”, or pet dogs that can be trained to chase the intruders away across an entire mountain.

Apple farmer Takumi Matsuda, one of few agriculturalists enamoured with snow monkeys, said humans need to recognise the ​role they play in ​causing the problem ⁠in the first place, such as by encroaching on the critters’ natural habitat.

Matsuda has amassed a following on Instagram by ​sharing photos and videos he takes of the primates in ​the mountains ⁠of Nagano prefecture, in central Japan, but said he also understands farmers’ concerns.

“It’s not that farmers hate the monkeys; they are worried about the impact on their livelihood,” he ⁠said. “I ​really hope Punch will be a starting point for ​a lot more people to go and see real Japanese macaques living in the wild.”

• Rubio demands release of detained Americans, including Habibi, Coyle.
• Taliban accused of kidnappings for ransom or policy concessions.
• US warns it may restrict passports for travel to Afghanistan.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday censured Afghanistan over its detention of American citizens, a move that could lead to a ban on US passport holders travelling to the country.

Rubio said in a statement he was designating Afghanistan’s Taliban government as a “state sponsor of wrongful detention,” demanding that Kabul release all US citizens detained in the country, including Mahmood Habibi and Dennis Coyle.

“The Taliban continues to use terrorist tactics, kidnapping individuals for ransom or to seek policy concessions. These despicable tactics need to end,” he said, adding that he had concluded it was not safe for Americans to travel to the country because of the risk of being unjustly detained.

The US is also seeking the return of the remains of Paul Overby, an author who was last seen close to Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan in 2014, two sources familiar with the situation said.

The sources said the US could restrict the use of US passports for travel to Afghanistan if it does not meet the US demands. Such a passport restriction is currently only in place for North Korea.

Rubio, on February 27, issued the same determination against Iran, the first country to be designated under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in September. 

He warned the US could restrict travel to Iran over its detention of US citizens, but has not imposed any restrictions. The US and Israel launched a war against Iran the day after the determination was announced.

Reuters was unable to reach the government in Afghanistan for comment.

Afghanistan’s Taliban government has previously denied that it detained Habibi, who was the head of Afghanistan’s civil aviation.

CBS News was the first to report on the US considering designating Afghanistan as a state sponsor of wrongful detention earlier on Monday.

NEW YORK: Two men were charged Monday with “terrorist” offences for throwing a nail bomb near a weekend protest, after which the pair told police they were aligned with terrorist group Daesh, charging documents showed.

The two men, both US citizens, are in custody after allegedly being involved in tossing the bomb packed with explosives.

This is being investigated as an act of Daesh-inspired terrorism, said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

She said it was not thought to be linked to the ongoing conflict in Iran. No one was hurt during the incident.

Two suspicious devices were thrown by a man identified by police as Emir Balat near the protest Saturday, led by a far-right influencer.

According to the charging document, the men “referred to Daesh in recorded post-arrest statements… More specifically, Balat wrote on a piece of paper that he pledge(d) allegience (sic) to the Daesh.”

The men were charged with five counts including attempted support of a “foreign terrorist organisation” and “use of a weapon of mass destruction.”

On Sunday, the police bomb squad inspected a car connected to the men near the scene. Tisch said a suspicious device found in the vehicle tested negative for explosives.

‘Flames and smoke’ 

Police had said Saturday that the devices were jars wrapped in tape and containing nuts, bolts and screws. Also arrested was Ibrahim Kayumi.

The events unfolded after the far-right influencer, Jake Lang, staged a demonstration outside Gracie Mansion, the official residence of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

His protest drew around 20 people, while a counter-protest drew about 125. Mamdani was not home during the incident.

Lang returned to the scene of the incident Monday and was outside Mamdani’s official residence.

AFP correspondents at the scene on Saturday saw a man wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and beige cargo pants — later identified as Balat —being handed a device wrapped in tape and billowing smoke by another man, named by police as Kayumi.

Balat dropped the device near a line of police before vaulting a barrier.

“Witnesses reported seeing flames and smoke as it travelled through the air before it struck a barrier a few feet from police officers,” Tisch said Saturday.