ITALY
Berlusconi acquitted
An appeals court on Friday acquitted former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in a sex-for-hire case, reversing a lower court conviction that had carried a seven-year prison sentence and a lifetime ban on holding political office. The prosecution alleged that Berlusconi had paid for sex with underage Moroccan prostitute Karima el-Mahroug, better known as Ruby the Heartstealer, and then used his influence to cover it up. Berlusconi denied the charges, saying the case was politically motivated. The acquittal was announced just as Berlusconi was leaving a facility for Alzheimer’s patients where he is performing community service for a separate conviction.
CHINA
Highway blast claims 38
At least 38 people were killed when a van carrying inflammable liquid hit a bus on a highway in central China early yesterday, state media reported. The collision in Hunan Province triggered a fire and explosion which destroyed five vehicles, the Xinhua news agency said. Another five people were injured in the accident, which occurred at about 3am, Xinhua said, citing police. The fire was finally put out by about 8am. The double-decker long-distance bus, with capacity for 53 occupants, was traveling between China’s Fujian Province and Guizhou in the southwest when the crash occurred. Senior work safety and transport ministry officials and police were heading to the site to investigate, Xinhua said.
GERMANY
Buses crash, killing nine
Several buses crashed on a highway near the eastern city of Dresden, leaving nine people dead and 43 injured, police said yesterday. The crash, which happened at about 2am, involved a Polish bus, a Ukrainian bus and a Polish minibus, Dresden police said. According to a preliminary investigation, the Polish bus hit the rear of the Ukrainian bus and then broke through the median barrier, crashing into the oncoming minibus. Six of those killed were Polish citizens. public broadcaster MDR reported that most of those who died were in the minibus. The injured people were taken to hospitals in Dresden and Radebeul, police said.
UNITED STATES
Police identify remains
Officials have confirmed that the mummified remains of a woman found in the garage of a suburban Detroit home in March were those of the woman who lived there alone. Authorities this week notified the relatives of Pia Farrenkopf that she had been positively identified using DNA testing, the Detroit Free Press reported. Oakland County deputy medical examiner Bernardino Pacris said the cause and manner of death could not be determined because the body was mummified. Investigators said in March that they believed the remains were Farrenkopf’s, a self-employed financial troubleshooter who would have turned 50 this year. A message posted on Tuesday on a Facebook page set up by a relative said arrangements were being made to lay the remains to rest. Her body was found in the rear seat of her Jeep, inside the garage of her Pontiac home. Officials said she could have been dead for more than five years and that there was no evidence of foul play. They sought help from dentists who might have treated Farrenkopf, but could not secure the necessary records. Oakland County authorities say Farrenkopf paid her mortgage and other bills through a checking account that once had a balance of US$54,000. The money ran out last year, and the Pontiac home went into foreclosure.
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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