RUSSIA
US citizen arrested
The Federal Security Service (FSB) yesterday said that it had arrested an American-Russian woman suspected of treason and raising funds for the Ukrainian army while in the US, state media reported. The FSB in the central Urals city of Yekaterinburg said it had “suppressed the illegal activities” of a 33-year-old woman, a resident of Los Angeles with dual citizenship, and taken her into custody. It said the unnamed woman had been “proactively collecting funds ... which were subsequently used to purchase tactical medical items, equipment, means of destruction and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces,” local news agencies reported, citing an FSB statement. The RIA Novosti agency posted a video from the FSB showing hooded officers escorting and handcuffing a woman in a white coat with a white hat pulled down over her eyes. Treason is punishable by up to 20 years in prison in Russia.
HAITI
Moise’s widow charged
A judge in charge of the investigation into the 2021 assassination of former president Jovenel Moise has charged about 50 people, including his widow and a former prime minister, a document leaked to local media showed. The 122-page document from Judge Walther Wesser Voltaire, made public by AyiboPost, said that Moise’s widow, Martine, conspired with former prime minister Claude Joseph to kill the president with the aim of replacing him herself. Jovenel Moise was shot and killed when armed men broke into his Port-au-Prince bedroom on the night of July 7, 2021, a raid that left the former first lady injured. The judge’s order calls for the arrest and trial of those charged. Martine Moise and Joseph did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
INDIA
Farmers reject price offer
Farmer groups rejected a government offer to guarantee minimum prices for some crops traded with no such safeguard, and are expected to resume their protest today. The farmers, who are seeking price guarantees for 23 crops, last week traveled toward New Delhi, demanding that the government fulfill that promise, made at the end of the 2021 protests. After multiple rounds of talks, the federal government offered to guarantee minimum prices on a small number of crops. Growers had temporarily halted their protest to consider the proposal. The nation is keen to reduce its dependence on water-heavy crops such as rice and is encouraging farmers to diversify their crops. Speaking to reporters at the protest site, one of the group leaders said that the share of the crop basket covered by the government’s offer is too small. “The proposal is not in favor of the farmers nor for their benefit,” Jagjit Singh Dallewal said late on Monday evening.
UNITED STATES
Cougar attacks cyclist
A woman suffered injuries to her face and neck after a cougar leapt out and “latched onto” her while she was cycling with a group on a trail in Washington state, authorities said. The incident happened on Saturday on a trail northeast of Fall City, about 40km east of Seattle, KOMO-TV reported. Friends of the woman, 60, “were able to detach and fight this thing off” after it “latched onto” her, Sergeant Carlo Pace of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police said. “They were able to pin down a good size lion with its claws and teeth and everything else under a mountain bike until we arrived,” he said. The woman was released from the hospital. The cougar was shot and killed by wildlife police.
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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