AUSTRALIA
Albanese criticizes HK
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday criticized Hong Kong authorities over their pursuit of two democracy advocates who live in Australia. Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) on Tuesday said that eight people who now live in the US, Britain, Canada and Australia would be pursued for life for alleged national security offenses. Albanese said his government was concerned and disappointed by Hong Kong authorities issuing arrest warrants for Australian citizen Kevin Yam (任建峰) and permanent resident Ted Hui (許智?). “I am of course disappointed. I’ve said we’ll cooperate with China where we can, but we will disagree where we must. And we do disagree with China with these actions,” Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Albanese also said he disagreed with China on the detention of Australian journalist Cheng Lei (成蕾), who has yet to learn of a verdict after standing trial in March last year on national security charges. Cheng was being held “without proper process,” he said. “We continue to advocate for the interests of Australia. We’ll continue to do so. We will disagree where we must. We will engage in our national interest. And this decision overnight is an example of where Australia and China do have different approaches to these issues. And we’ll stand up for our values.”
COLOMBIA
Rebels to stop attacks
The nation’s largest rebel group said it would stop attacks on the nation’s military as it prepares for a ceasefire with the government that could bring both sides closer to ending five decades of war. In a statement published on Tuesday, the National Liberation Army’s (ELN) Central Command ordered its units across the country to “cease all offensive actions” against the military from today, including espionage. However, the ELN said that its fighters would continue to use their weapons to defend themselves from any attack staged by the military or other armed groups that operate in Colombia’s rural areas. The ELN and the government last month agreed to take actions that would lead to a bilateral ceasefire on Aug. 3. The ceasefire is supposed to last six months. It is meant to facilitate peace talks that began at the end of last year and are expected to last at least until next year.
UNITED STATES
Four die in Rio Grande
An infant was among four people who died while crossing the Rio Grande in the Texas border city of Eagle Pass in a 48-hour period over the holiday weekend, authorities said. The Texas Department of Public Safety’s Tactical Marine Unit on Saturday recovered four people from the river, including a woman and baby girl who were unresponsive, Texas Department of Public Safety Lieutenant Chris Olivarez wrote on Twitter on Monday. Officials immediately began chest compressions on the woman and baby, and both were taken to a hospital, Olivarez said. Both were pronounced dead at the hospital, he said. The two survivors were turned over to Border Patrol, Olivarez said. On Sunday, the body of a man was recovered from the river and on Monday the body of a woman was found, Olivarez said. The identities of the dead were not known because none had identifying documents on them, he said. The bodies were found in the same region where nine migrants died while attempting to cross the river in September last year.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
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