RUSSIA
No new nuclear pact: report
Moscow will not sign a new treaty with the US to replace the agreement limiting each side’s strategic nuclear weapons that expires on Feb. 5, 2026, the Izvestia newspaper reported yesterday, citing an unidentified senior Russian source. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, is the last remnant of efforts to slow the nuclear arms race between the former Cold War superpowers and increase transparency by imposing verifiable limits on the number of weapons. President Vladimir Putin last year suspended Russian participation in the treaty due to US support for Ukraine, although Moscow has kept to the warhead, missile and bomber limits imposed by the agreement, as has the US. The source said that the US was supporting Kyiv and so there could be no new treaty.
INDIA
Climate activist detained
An environmental activist was detained by police outside New Delhi at the end of a month-long climate protest march on foot from the Himalayas, his colleague said yesterday. Sonam Wangchuk, 58, and about 100 of his supporters were taken into custody on Monday night when they were intercepted by police on a major highway leading into the city. The group had walked nearly 1,000km to demand more attention to climate change issues in their mountainous home region of Ladakh, on India’s frontier with China, and more political autonomy for the territory. They had planned to hold a peaceful rally today coinciding with the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi until they were prevented from entering the capital. “We have been detained at the police station and we are not being allowed to meet our lawyers,” group spokesman P. Namgial said. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi condemned the detentions as an “unacceptable” breach of the protesters’ rights.
YEMEN
25 feared dead in bus fire
A bus carrying young students with their teachers yesterday caught fire in suburban Bangkok, with 25 of those on board feared dead, officials and rescuers said. The bus was carrying 44 passengers from Uthai Thani province to Ayutthaya for a school trip when the fire started at about noon in Pathum Thani province, Minister of Transport Suriya Jungrungruengkit told reporters at the scene. Minister of the Interior Anutin Charnvirakul said officials could not yet confirm the number of fatalities, as they have not finished investigating the scene, but based on the number of survivors, he said 25 people were feared dead. He added that the bus was still too hot for them to get inside safely. Bodies were still inside the bus hours after the fire.
SOUTH KOREA
Ms Universe aspirant fails
An 81-year-old model fell short in her bid to become the oldest Miss Universe contestant after competing in the South Korean pageant against much younger rivals. Dressed in a beaded white gown, the silver-haired Choi Soon-hwa on Monday strutted across the stage and performed in a singing contest at the Miss Universe Korea pageant at a hotel in Seoul. She missed out on the crown, but did take home the “best dresser” award. Han Ariel, a 22-year-old fashion school student, won the contest and is to head to Mexico City for the Miss Universe pageant in November. Hours before the pageant, Choi, a former hospital care worker who began her modeling career in her 70s, said: “I want people to look at me and realize that you can live healthier and find joy in life when you find things you want to do and challenge yourself to achieve that dream.”
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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