NEW ZEALAND
Gas pumps hit by bug
Some pumps at gas stations yesterday stopped working due to a “leap year glitch” in payment software, fuel stations and the payment service provider said. Allied Fuel, Gull, Z Energy and BP all confirmed some self-service fuel pumps they operate across the nation were not working due to issues with the payment system used. John Scott, chief executive officer of Invenco Group, which provides the payment software solution, said the system had stopped working due to a “leap-year glitch.” This was now fixed and just needed to be rolled out to affected fuel pumps, Scott said. It was only an issue in New Zealand code and while Invenco was unsure how it had happened, it would investigate the glitch over the coming days, he said.
HAITI
Election timeline set
Caribbean leaders on Wednesday said that Haitian Minister Ariel Henry has agreed to hold general elections by the middle of next year as the international community pushes to raise money for a foreign armed force to fight gang violence there. Members of the Caricom regional trade bloc issued a statement at the end of a four-day summit in Guyana saying that Henry agreed there is a need to hold elections and work with the opposition and civil society groups to achieve that goal.
UNITED STATES
Funding deal advances
Congressional leaders on Wednesday said that they had reached a tentative agreement to prevent a government shutdown for now, days before the deadline. Under the new plan, Congress would temporarily fund one set of federal agencies through March 8 and another set through March 22. In the meantime, Congress would try to draft and pass packages of legislation to fund the government for the remainder of the budget year.
UNITED STATES
McConnell to step down
Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell on Wednesday said that he would step down this year from his leadership role, ending a record-setting tenure. McConnell has represented Kentucky in the Senate since 1985 and has been his party’s leader since 2007. “I turned 82 last week. The end of my contributions are closer than I prefer,” McConnell said on the Senate floor. “Father Time remains undefeated. I’m no longer the young man sitting in the back hoping colleagues remember my name. It’s time for the next generation of leadership.” His tenure of nearly 17 years as a Senate party leader is the longest on record.
UNITED STATES
Illinois removes Trump
A judge in Illinois on Wednesday ordered former president Donald Trump stricken off the state’s primary ballot over his role in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The decision by Cook County Circuit Judge Tracie Porter comes as similar measures have cropped up in several states, including a Colorado ruling now before the Supreme Court. The question before the nine justices is whether Trump, the presumed Republican presidential candidate, is ineligible to appear on the Republican presidential primary ballot in Colorado because he engaged in an insurrection. Trump said that the Illinois decision was politically motivated and unjust. “Democrat front-groups continue to attempt to interfere in the election and deny President Trump his rightful place on the ballot,” Trump’s campaign said, vowing to appeal the decision. Porter put her decision on pause until today to allow an appeal.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
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