YEMEN
Houthis detain UN staff
Houthi security forces have detained at least 15 Yemeni employees of international organizations including the UN, three officials of Yemen’s internationally recognized government said yesterday. In a series of raids on Thursday, armed Houthi intelligence officers detained nine UN employees, three employees of the US-funded pro-democracy group National Democratic Institute (NDI) and three employees of a local human rights group, the officials said. Intelligence officers of the Houthi group, which controls the capital and large parts north of the country, raided the homes and offices of these people, confiscating phones and computers. The detained UN employees work for the human rights office and the office for humanitarian affairs, the officials said. Neither the UN office nor NDI immediately responded to a request for confirmation or comment. A Houthi spokesperson did not immediately comment.
UKRAINE
Trust in Zelenskiy dips: poll
Ukrainians’ trust in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has fallen below 60 percent for the first time since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, a leading poll published yesterday showed. Zelenskiy has faced many challenges in the past year, including a failed summer counteroffensive, a divisive debate on mobilization and high-profile corruption scandals involving senior officials. Public trust in the 46-year-old zoomed to 90 percent in May 2022, but by May this year, it had plunged to 59 percent, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology reported. “We would like to point out that Volodymyr Zelenskiy still retains legitimacy in the eyes of Ukrainian society and the majority of Ukrainians continue to trust him,” the pollster said. “However, the downward trend in trust continues and ... the main reasons for criticism from ordinary Ukrainians are the not always successful staffing policy and issues of justice (in particular, in the form of fighting corruption and the fair burden of war for all),” it said.
GREECE
Michael Mosley missing
A search for missing British broadcaster and healthy living advocate Michael Mosley continued yesterday. He went missing on the island of Symi after setting out alone on a coastal walk in searing heat. Mosley, known for endorsing fasting diets, was last seen at 1:30pm on Wednesday when he set out on a short stroll along a rocky path between Agios Nikolaos beach and the village of Pedi, police officials said. Police, the fire brigade, coast guard and volunteers were searching for Mosley on land and sea, using a helicopter, drones and a rescue dog as temperatures hit 40°C. Mosley did not have his mobile phone with him, which made tracing him more difficult. “So far, we don’t have evidence of what may have happened, whether it is an accident ... or something else,” said a senior police official who declined to be named.
SUDAN
RSF kills 40: activists
Pro-democracy activists yesterday reported that about 40 people were killed in “violent artillery fire” carried out the previous day by paramilitary forces on Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city. “So far, the death toll is estimated at 40 civilians and there are more than 50 injured, some seriously,” the Karari Resistance Committee said in a statement posted on social media, blaming the shelling on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The strikes come a day after the RSF was accused of killing more than 104 people, including 35 children, in an attack on Wednesday on the village of Wad al-Noura.
When Shanghai-based designer Guo Qingshan posted a vacation photo on Valentine’s Day and captioned it “Puppy Mountain,” it became a sensation in China and even created a tourist destination. Guo had gone on a hike while visiting his hometown of Yichang in central China’s Hubei Province late last month. When reviewing the photographs, he saw something he had not noticed before: A mountain shaped like a dog’s head rested on the ground next to the Yangtze River, its snout perched at the water’s edge. “It was so magical and cute. I was so excited and happy when I discovered it,” Guo said.
TURNAROUND: The Liberal Party had trailed the Conservatives by a wide margin, but that was before Trump threatened to make Canada the US’ 51st state Canada’s ruling Liberals, who a few weeks ago looked certain to lose an election this year, are mounting a major comeback amid the threat of US tariffs and are tied with their rival Conservatives, according to three new polls. An Ipsos survey released late on Tuesday showed that the left-leaning Liberals have 38 percent public support and the official opposition center-right Conservatives have 36 percent. The Liberals have overturned a 26-point deficit in six weeks, and run advertisements comparing the Conservative leader to Trump. The Conservative strategy had long been to attack unpopular Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but last month he
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
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