UNITED STATES
Voter ID law upheld
A federal judge on Thursday upheld provisions of new Arizona laws that would require counties to verify the status of registered voters who have not provided proof of citizenship and cross-check voter registration information with government databases. District Judge Susan Bolton said that Arizona legislators did not discriminate when they adopted the laws and the state does have an interest in preventing voter fraud and limiting voting to those individuals eligible to vote. “Considering the evidence as a whole, the court concludes that Arizona’s interests in preventing non-citizens from voting and promoting public confidence in Arizona’s elections outweighs the limited burden voters might encounter when required to provide” documentary proof of citizenship, she wrote.
UNITED STATES
Moon lander goes to sleep
An uncrewed lander that became the first private spaceship on the moon sent its final image on Thursday before its power banks depleted, the company that built it said. Houston-based Intuitive Machines posted a picture that was captured by Odysseus on Thursday last week, the day it touched down near the moon’s south pole, but the image was only received on Thursday. The company shared earlier that a wonky landing had left the vessel’s antennas misaligned and unable to transmit at an optimal rate. The photograph “showcases the crescent Earth in the backdrop, a subtle reminder of humanity’s presence in the universe,” the firm said. “Goodnight, Odie. We hope to hear from you again,” the company added. The onset of the long lunar night means it will be two or three weeks before flight controllers can attempt to awaken the vessel.
UNITED STATES
Tourist drives off cliff
A tourist driving on Sunday in the early-morning dark on the southern tip of Hawaii’s Big Island accidentally drove his rented Jeep off a cliff, but swam to shore until firefighters pulled him up with a rope and helicopter. The man was treated for facial injuries and slight hypothermia after rescue, the Hawaii County Fire Department said in a news release. Police said the 27-year-old was visiting from Canada. Firefighters, police and the Coast Guard responded to the cliffs of South Point in Naalehu at about 3:45am on Sunday to a report of a swimmer in distress in the ocean, the release said. He swam about 100m to shore at the bottom of a cliff, which the fire department estimated to be 15m to 18m.
CANADA
Former PM Mulroney dies
Former prime minister Brian Mulroney, who forged close ties with two US presidents through a sweeping free-trade agreement, died on Thursday. He was 84. The country’s 18th prime minister died peacefully and surrounded by family, his daughter, Caroline Mulroney, wrote on X. The family said last summer that the former leader was improving after a heart procedure that followed treatment for prostate cancer earlier in the year. Leader of the Progressive Conservative party from 1983 to 1993, Mulroney served almost a decade as prime minister after he was first elected in 1984. His government was re-elected in 1988. “He had the courage to do big things,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. “He shaped our past, but he shapes our present and he will impact our future as well. He was an extraordinary statesman and he will be deeply, deeply missed.” He is survived by his wife, Mila, and four children: Caroline, Ben, Mark and Nicolas.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
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