UNITED STATES
Bolsonaro event scrapped
The Museum of Natural History in New York City on Monday announced that it had canceled a private function booked to take place to would honor Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. The leader, who has been attacked at home and abroad for policies that critics have said threaten the environment and indigenous communities, was due to receive an award at the museum from the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce. “With mutual respect for the work & goals of our individual organizations, we jointly agreed that the Museum is not the optimal location for the Brazilian-Am. Chamber of Commerce gala dinner,” the museum said in a tweet.
CANADA
Four killed in shootings
Four people were on Monday shot dead in three areas of the town of Penticton, British Columbia, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said, describing the shootings as a “targeted incident.” “We have determined four people are deceased at three locations within a 4 kilometer radius,” Superintendent Ted De Jager told a news conference. A 60-year-old man handed himself in and was detained after police were called over the first two killings late, De Jager said. Investigators then discovered the bodies of two more victims during a search of the suburbs of the city.
UNITED STATES
Democrats subpoena banks
Two House of Representatives committees on Monday subpoenaed Deutsche Bank and several other financial institutions as part of investigations into President Donald Trump’s finances. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said in a statement that the subpoenas are part of an investigation “into allegations of potential foreign influence on the US political process.” Schiff did not name the other financial institutions or describe the subpoenas. House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters said in a separate statement that “the potential use of the US financial system for illicit purposes is a very serious concern.”
ECUADOR
Country hit by cyberattacks
The government on Monday said that the nation has suffered 40 million cyberattacks on the Web pages of public institutions since stripping Wikileaks spokesman Julian Assange of political asylum. The attacks, which began on Thursday last week, had “principally come from the United States, Brazil, Holland, Germany, Romania, France, Austria and the United Kingdom,” as well as from the South American country itself, Deputy Minister of Information Technology and Communication Patricio Real said. Assange was arrested and carried out of the country’s embassy in London on Thursday after President Lenin Moreno removed his diplomatic protection following seven years of self-imposed exile in the building.
THAILAND
Tourist dies in zipline fall
A Canadian fell to his death from about 12m while ziplining at a popular tourist attraction in Chiang Mai, police said yesterday. The 25-year-old man was taking part in the Flight of the Gibbon, a popular activity that allows tourists to zip through lush jungle while hooked onto a harness. He “fell to his death from the zipline ... on Saturday,” police Major Sakarin Wiratsaken said, adding that the Canadian was traveling with his wife. The incident happened halfway through the victim’s zipline journey when “the lock on his body harness and the main line broke.”
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
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
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS