MEXICO
Lopez Obrador takes lead
Presidential contender Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has stretched his lead over rivals ahead of a July 1 election, a new voter survey by polling firm Mitofsky showed late on Thursday. Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor, garnered 29.5 percent support in the poll conducted from Friday to Sunday last week, up from 27.1 percent in a previous Mitofsky survey last month. Running second was former National Action Party chairman Ricardo Anaya, who heads a right-left alliance, although his support slipped 1.1 percentage points to 21.2 percent. In third place was Jose Antonio Meade of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, who slipped by 1.6 percentage points to 16.4 percent, the poll showed.
RUSSIA
Weapon named after bird
The winners of an online contest to name three of the county’s recently announced advanced weapons honor a renowned medieval warrior, a seabird and the mythical Greek god of the sea. The weapons are among an array of fearsome new armaments announced by President Vladimir Putin on March 1. He invited people to take part in a Ministry of Defence contest to name them. The ministry on Thursday said that “Poseidon” received the most votes for the name of an underwater nuclear drone. A nuclear-powered cruise missile is to be called “Burevestnik,” which is Russian for petrel. A high-powered laser weapon system was named “Peresvet,” after a Russian warrior monk who died in the 1380 Battle of Kulikovo. Some of the names suggested in the contest showed distinctly mordant humor, including “Sanction” and “Thaw.”
UNITED KINGDOM
Wedding invitations sent
Kensington Palace on Thursday said that invitations for the wedding between Prince Harry and his fiancee, Meghan Markle, have been dispatched. About 600 people have been invited to the May 19 nuptials at noon at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. All 600 have also been invited to a lunchtime reception given by Queen Elizabeth II at St George’s Hall. Harry and Markle are also to celebrate with about 200 guests at a private evening reception given by Prince Charles at Frogmore House, a royal mansion near Windsor Castle. The palace declined to comment on who is on the list. The invitations, which are beveled and gilded along the edges, feature Charles’ three-feather badge embossed in gold. They feature italic writing on thick white card and are issued under the name of Charles, father of the groom. The invitations revealed the dress code for wedding guests: Uniform, morning coat or lounge suit for men, or day dress with a hat for ladies. The stationery was made by Barnard & Westwood, which has held the Royal Warrant for printing and bookbinding since 1985.
UNITED STATES
Tillerson laments Washington
Fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is lamenting the “mean-spirited” nature of Washington, as he bids good-bye to the US diplomatic corps. In a brief final farewell address to Department of State employees on Thursday, Tillerson urged them to protect their personal integrity and to strive to respect one another. “This can be a very mean-spirited town,” he said to laughter from a crowd of several hundred people gathered in the main lobby of the building. “But you don’t have to choose to participate in that.” Tillerson had been the subject of months of negative reports and speculation before President Donald Trump abruptly fired him last week.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in