THE NETHERLANDS
One killed in ship blaze
A fire on a freight ship carrying nearly 3,000 vehicles was burning out of control yesterday in the North Sea, and the coast guard said that one crew member had died, others were hurt and it was working to save the vessel from sinking. Boats and helicopters were used to get the 23 crew members off the ship after they tried unsuccessfully to put out the blaze, the coast guard said in a statement. Coast guard spokeswoman Lea Versteeg said in a telephone interview that “we’re currently working out to see how we can make sure that ... the least bad situation is going to happen.”
CHINA
Ex-party boss sentenced
The government has jailed the former Chinese Communist Party secretary of Hangzhou, home to Ant Group and Alibaba, for life after finding that he took about US$25 million in bribes over his career. Zhou Jiangyong(周江勇), 55, was given a suspended death sentence on Tuesday on corruption charges, state broadcaster China Central Television reported. A court in Chuzhou said that Zhou helped people and firms secure rights to use land and contracts for projects. He was earlier linked to Ant, although prosecutors did not name the fintech company or Alibaba. Last year, he became the first cadre to be ousted from the party over corruption charges relating to the “disorderly expansion of capital.”
UKRAINE
Ex-US marine injured in war
A former US marine who spent more than two years in a Russian prison for assault on law enforcement in 2019 was injured fighting for Ukraine, the US Department of State confirmed on Tuesday. Trevor Reed, who was released by Moscow in a prisoner swap in April last year, has been sent to Germany for the treatment of unspecified injuries, state department spokesman Vedant Patel said. He added that Reed “was not engaged in any activities on behalf of the US government,” but had traveled to Ukraine to join the fight on his own.
ECUADOR
Death toll from riots rises
The attorney general on Tuesday raised the death toll from a wave of violence over the weekend in one of the country’s most dangerous jails to 31, after the government earlier declared a 60-day state of emergency for the country’s prisons. The emergency declaration seemed to set off violence in the city of Esmeraldas, where 15 prison guards and two other staffers were being held hostage at a local jail, the government said in a statement. In Esmeraldas itself, a police unit was attacked, explosives were placed at gas stations and several vehicles were burned.
UNITED STATES
Florida water hits 37.8°C
The water temperature on the tip of Florida hit hot tub levels, exceeding 37.8°C two days in a row, and meteorologists say that could potentially be the hottest seawater ever measured. Although weather records for seawater temperature are unofficial, the initial reading on a buoy at Manatee Bay was 38.4°C on Monday evening, National Weather Service meteorologist George Rizzuto said. On Sunday night the buoy showed a reading of 37.9°C. “This is a hot tub. I like my hot tub around 100[°F], 101[°F; 37.8°C, 38.3°C]. That’s what was recorded yesterday,” Yale Climate Connections meteorologist Jeff Masters said. Hot tub maker Jacuzzi recommends water between 37.8°C and 38.9°C.
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
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
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
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