NORTH KOREA
Delegation departs for Iran
A high-level economic delegation was on its way to Iran, state media reported yesterday, for what would be the two countries’ first known talks since August 2019. The delegation, led by Minster of External Economic Relations Yun Jung-ho, flew out on Tuesday for the trip to Iran, the Korean Central News Agency said.
RUSSIA
Navalny priest suspended
A priest who presided over the memorial service last month for late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been suspended from clerical duties for three years, the Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church said in a statement published on its Web site on Tuesday. The diocese did not say what the reason was for the punishment, which forbids the priest, Dmitry Safronov, from giving blessings, wearing the frock and bearing the church’s priestly cross until 2027. Safronov was also to be moved to another church in Moscow to perform the duties of a psalm-reader, it said. “At the end of the period of penance, based on feedback from the place of obedience, a decision will be made on the possibility of his further priestly service,” the statement said. On March 26, Safronov held a memorial service for Navalny, a critic of President Vladimir Putin. Navalny died in a penal colony in February.
JAPAN
Moon lander wakens again
A Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) moon lander woke up for a third time after its main functions survived another frigid two-week lunar night, the agency said yesterday. The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), dubbed the “Moon Sniper” for its landing precision, touched down in January, but landed at a wonky angle that left its solar panels facing the wrong way. However, the probe was revived in late February once the lunar night, which lasts about 14 Earth days, came to an end. Despite facing temperatures as low as minus-130°C, it repeated the feat late last month and transmitted new images back to Earth. JAXA said it had succeeded again in communicating with the probe after it woke up for the third time. It posted on X a new image of the moon’s surface that it had received from the lander.
JAPAN
Fukushima release paused
The release of treated wastewater into the ocean from Japan’s wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant was suspended yesterday as a partial power outage affected the site, Tokyo Electric Power Co said. The system to cool reactors remained operational and “no meaningful change” had been detected at plant facilities that monitor radioactivity, it added.
UNITED STATES
Virus fragments detected
Health authorities on Tuesday said that they had discovered fragments of bird flu virus in the nation’s pasteurized cow milk supply during the course of a large study, but the samples likely posed no health risk to humans. An outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has spread among dairy cattle herds throughout the country and infected one human, who had mild symptoms. The Food and Drug Administration said in a statement that it had discovered viral particles in “milk from affected animals, in the processing system, and on the shelves.” However, it said that the samples were run through a highly sensitive test, which is able to detect remnants of the pathogen’s genetic material even if the virus itself was inactivated by the pasteurization process.
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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