KENYA
Lecturers end strike on pay
Public university lecturers have ended a strike over low pay after reaching an agreement with authorities, a union official said on Thursday, allowing classes to resume after being suspended since early March. Strikes by public workers have become more frequent over the past few years, often over low pay and other grievances. Constantine Wasonga, secretary-general of the lecturers’ union, told reporters that they had reached an agreement with the Inter Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum, which negotiates lecturers’ welfare with the government. “As the strike is now over, all students are invited to resume their studies immediately,” Wasonga said. He did not provide details of the agreement, but said negotiations with the government would continue. Aside from the pay issue, the lecturers had also demanded access to services available to other public servants, such as car loans and higher-quality medical insurance.
UKRAINE
Poroshenko enacts sanctions
President Petro Poroshenko has signed a decree to enact a recently adopted decision to expand sanctions on Russian companies and entities, information published on the presidential Web site yesterday showed. The National Security and Defense Council early this month approved the sanctions that mirror those of the US, which has blacklisted tycoons and allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kiev has also extended existing sanctions it introduced against hundreds of Russian companies and entities in response to the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Kremlin support for a pro-Russian separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine. The decree did not say which individuals or companies were on the latest list. The council has said the new sanctions would be in force for at least three years and included penalties on Russian lawmakers and top officials.
UNITED STATES
Young squirrels untangled
Six young squirrels whose tails were stuck together by tree sap are recovering after a Nebraska wildlife expert untangled them. A Nebraska Humane Society worker rescued the squirrels from a pine tree in Omaha last week. The sap-covered tails became knotted as the youngsters wrestled in their nest, Nebraska Wildlife Rehab executive director Laura Stastny told the Omaha World-Herald on Thursday, adding that they are about eight weeks old. Resident Craig Luttman spotted the rodents’ predicament, describing it as “kind of like a tug-of-war, going in completely opposite directions.” Stastny said she gave the squirrels a mild painkiller before removing the sticky fur and untangling them, adding that some of them sustained injuries to their tails, but that she expects all six to be released in a few weeks.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
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
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was