NIGER
Russia, US use same base
Russian military personnel have entered an air base in Niger that is hosting US troops, a senior US defense official told Reuters, a move that follows a decision by Niger’s junta to expel US forces. The military officers ruling the West African nation have told the US to withdraw its nearly 1,000 military personnel from the country, which until a coup last year had been a key partner for Washington. A senior US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russian forces were not mingling with US troops, but were using a separate hangar at Airbase 101, which is next to Diori Hamani International Airport. The move by Russia’s military puts US and Russian troops in close proximity at a time when the nations’ military and diplomatic rivalry is increasingly acrimonious over the conflict in Ukraine.
BRAZIL
Floods kill at least 29
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday visited the country’s south where floods and mudslides caused by torrential rains have killed 29 people, with the toll expected to rise. Authorities in Rio Grande do Sul have declared a state of emergency as rescuers continue to search for dozens of people reported missing among the ruins of collapsed homes, bridges and roads. Storm damage has affected about 150 municipalities in the state, also injuring 36 people and displacing more than 10,000. Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite said the state is dealing with “the worst disaster in [its] history.”
UNITED STATES
Boeing whistle-blower dies
Josh Dean, a former quality auditor at a Boeing Co supplier who raised concerns about the safety of the 737 MAX jet, has died. “Our thoughts are with Josh Dean’s family,” Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc, which makes aircraft parts for Boeing, said in a statement. “This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones,” it added. Dean, who was 45, was hospitalized after developing breathing problems just over two weeks ago and had struggled with pneumonia and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a serious bacterial infection, the Seattle Times reported, citing his aunt Carol Parsons. Dean had given a deposition in a Spirit shareholder lawsuit and also filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration alleging “serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management of the 737 production line” at Spirit, according to the Times report. Dean’s death follows the passing of another Boeing whistle-blower in March.
INDONESIA
Orangutan treats its wound
An orangutan appeared to treat a wound with medicine from a tropical plant — the latest example of how some animals attempt to soothe their own ills with remedies found in the wild, scientists reported on Thursday. Scientists observed Rakus pluck and chew up leaves of a medicinal plant used by people throughout Southeast Asia to treat pain and inflammation. The adult male orangutan then used his fingers to apply the plant juices to an injury on the right cheek. Afterward, he pressed the chewed plant to cover the open wound like a makeshift bandage, according to a new study in Scientific Reports. “This is the first time that we have observed a wild animal applying a quite potent medicinal plant directly to a wound,” said coauthor Isabelle Laumer, a biologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz, Germany. The orangutan’s intriguing behavior was recorded in 2022 by Ulil Azhari, a coauthor and field researcher at the Suaq Project in Medan, Indonesia.
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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