INDIA
Wolf killed after attacks
Residents in the Bahraich district of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh have beaten to death a wolf believed to be the last of a six-member pack that killed nine people, eight of them children, wildlife officials said yesterday. The gray wolves were said to have attacked more than 40 people. Five of the animals were trapped, with drones and surveillance cameras suggesting that only one remained free. Government forest officer Ajit Singh said villagers had contacted his team yesterday after they killed a prowling wolf. “It seems it is part of the same pack of wolves,” Singh said. Wildlife officials say heavy flooding had swamped the wolves’ usual territory, driving them into areas of more populated farmland.
UNITED STATES
Florida braces for storm
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Saturday declared a state of emergency as forecasters warned that the state — still reeling from Hurricane Helene — could be slammed by another major storm this week. Tropical Storm Milton, currently churning in the western Gulf of Mexico, was “forecast to strengthen into a major hurricane as it moves toward Florida into midweek next week,” the National Weather Service wrote on social media. Milton could potentially bring fresh havoc to areas of Florida’s west coast still recovering from Helene, which killed at least 220 people.
DR CONGO
Mpox vaccinations start
Health officials on Saturday launched their first mpox vaccination campaign, a key step in efforts to contain an outbreak that has spread from its epicenter in the country to numerous other African nations this year. Officials held a ceremony to mark the start of vaccinations at a hospital in Goma, where health workers were first in line to receive the shots. The Ministry of Public Health on Friday said the campaign’s scope would be small due to limited resources. At the moment, 265,000 vaccine doses are available, although more are in the pipeline.
HUNGARY//
Thousands protest state news
Thousands of people on Saturday gathered outside the headquarters of the state broadcaster MTVA, protesting against what they described as the government’s “propaganda machine” and calling for an independent public service media. The protesters, from the opposition TISZA Party, said the state broadcaster is running biased propaganda, featuring only politicians from Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party and government, and analysts repeating their narrative. “We have had enough of the malice, the lies, the propaganda, our patience has run out,” Tisza leader Peter Magyar told the crowd. “What we have as public service media in Hungary today is a global scandal, we have had enough.”
PERU
Child sacrifice site found
In a vacant lot outside Trujillo, archeologists have unearthed the remains of nearly four dozen children — all thought to have been ritually sacrificed more than 600 years ago. “Many of these remains have cuts on the sternum, some on their ribs,” archeologist Julio Asencio said from the excavation site. Each child was buried separately, he said. The remains of two adults and nine llamas — thought to be an offering representing their source of food, clothing and transportation — were also found nearby. They likely belonged to the local Chimu group, which dominated northern Peru from the 700s to the late 1400s, Asencio said.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
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
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
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