JAPAN
Thousands told to evacuate
Authorities yesterday told tens of thousands of people to evacuate the quake-hit Ishikawa Prefecture as “unprecedented” rains triggered floods and landslides. A dozen rivers in the region had burst their banks by 11am, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism official Masaru Kojima said. Three people were missing in Ishikawa, public broadcaster NHK reported, two of them carried away by strong river currents. At least one person was missing further north in Wajima, and rescue workers were trying to confirm a report of another person missing, a local official said. The cities of Wajima and Suzu, and the town of Noto, ordered about 44,700 residents to evacuate, officials said.
VIETNAM
Activist released early
Prominent climate activist Hoang Thi Minh Hong has been released early from jail, her husband said yesterday, hours ahead of a visit by Communist Party General Secretary To Lam to the US. A second high-profile detainee, dissident Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, was also released, his friend and former human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh said. In September last year, Hong was sentenced to three years in prison for dodging US$275,000 in taxes related to her environmental group. She was one of five environmentalists jailed for tax evasion, in what activists have called a campaign to silence them.
AUSTRALIA
Murder suspect arrested
A 65-year-old man has been arrested in Rome over the “horrific, frenzied” 1977 murder of two women in their home in Melbourne, Victoria Police said yesterday. The bodies of Suzanne Armstrong, 27, and Susan Bartlett, 28, were discovered at their house in Easey Street, Melbourne, on January 13, 1977, with multiple stab wounds. Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton told a news conference the 47-year-old crime was the state’s longest and most serious cold case. The suspect, a dual Greek-Australian citizen, had been living in Greece where he was protected by the country’s statute of limitations, Patton said. Police waited for him to leave the country and he was finally arrested on Thursday at Fiumicino airport.
UKRAINE
EU, US prepare aid, loans
The US is preparing a US$375 million military aid package for Kyiv, breaking a months-long trend towards smaller packages for its military operations against Russia, two US officials said Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced plans for Brussels to lend Ukraine 35 billion euros (US$39.11 billion) backed by revenues of frozen Russian assets and promised to help Ukraine “keep warm” ahead of a third winter of war with Russia.
ICELAND
Police kill polar bear
A rare polar bear that was spotted outside a cottage in a remote village was shot by police after being considered a threat, authorities said on Friday. The bear was killed on Thursday afternoon in the northwest after police consulted the Environment Agency, which declined to have the animal relocated, Westfjords Police Chief Helgi Jensson said. “It’s not something we like to do,” he said. The bear was rummaging through the garbage at a summer house, when a woman called for help. Polar bears are not native to Iceland, but occasionally come ashore on ice floes from Greenland, Icelandic Institute of Natural History scientific collections director Anna Sveinsdottir said.
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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