MALAYSIA
Bleaching hits 50% of reefs
More than 50 percent of the coral reefs in the nation’s marine parks have been affected by mass bleaching caused by rising sea temperatures, the Department of Fisheries said in a statement on Sunday, citing a study conducted from April to this month. Severe or prolonged heat stress leads to corals dying off, though there is a possibility for recovery if temperatures drop and other stressors such as overfishing and pollution are reduced. The department urged tour operators to control the number of tourists involved in recreation activities to reduce pressure on reefs. “If bleaching is greater than 80 percent, further management interventions may include temporary access restrictions to protect affected reefs,” it said.
KOREAS
Parasites found in balloons
Parasites from human feces and defaced Western clothing were found in the bags of garbage carried by North Korean balloons into the South, Seoul said yesterday. Pyongyang has sent more than 1,000 trash-carrying balloons into the South in recent weeks, in retaliation for leaflets sent northward by activists opposed to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. An analysis of the contents of some 70 of the balloons found that they contained soil in which “numerous parasites, such as roundworms, whipworms and threadworms” were detected, the Ministry of Unification said in a statement. This is likely because human feces was used in the soil instead of chemical fertilizers, it said, adding that there was “no risk of land pollution [or] infectious diseases” from the balloons, as the volume of soil sent was relatively low.
NETHERLANDS
Man honored for honesty
A homeless man found a wallet containing about 2,000 euros (US$2,140) on an empty train at Amsterdam station and handed it to the police, receiving a gift voucher for his honesty. Hadjer al-Ali, who has been homeless for 18 months, found the wallet at Amsterdam central station while he was “doing his rounds” looking for empty plastic bottles to exchange for cash. Police said the 33-year-old turned in the wallet with “approximately 2,000 euros ... but unfortunately no identity papers or anything that would allow us to contact the owner.” Authorities said that “because we think that honesty should pay, he got a ‘silver thumb’ prize that we sometimes give to citizens and a gift voucher worth 50 euros.” If the money is not claimed within one year, it will go to the finder. “No matter what I find, I always give it back,” al-Ali said in a video posted on local media De Stentor, adding: “Maybe the owner has a business and can give me work, maybe a building I can live it. You never know what can happen.”
AUSTRALIA
‘Bicycle bandit’ gets jail
A bank robber known as the “bicycle bandit” was yesterday sentenced to 35 years in jail — though he reportedly has advanced cancer and is seeking an imminent voluntary assisted death. Kym Allen Parsons, 73, admitted to a string of aggravated robbery charges, documents from the South Australian Supreme Court in Adelaide showed. Parsons earned his moniker for fleeing some of his hold-ups on a bicycle. Justice Sandi McDonald ordered him to serve 35 years, with a minimum period of 28 years before being eligible for parole, court papers showed. Parsons carried out the robberies over a decade until 2014, often brandishing a rifle and wearing a balaclava or motorcycle helmet, public broadcaster ABC said. He reportedly got away with more than A$350,000 (US$233,000).
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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