ZIMBABWE
Elephants sent to China
The government has sent about 30 young elephants to China where they are to be held in zoos, Humane Society International has said. The elephants, estimated to be two to six years old, were separated from maternal herds and held at Hwange National Park for nearly a year before being flown out this week, it said. The society released a video and photographs that it said show the small elephants a week ago being held in a fenced area at the national park. Wildlife authorities did not comment on the statement. The country, seeks to be allowed to hunt and export more of them to ease pressure on the animals’ habitat and raise badly needed money for conservation.
PAKISTAN
Nawaz Sharif’s health wanes
The Lahore High Court on Friday ordered convicted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif released on bail so that he can seek medical treatment at home or abroad, his family and a defense lawyer said. The decision was announced by the court after hearing a petition from Sharif’s brother, Shahbaz Sharif, who heads the main opposition Pakistan Muslim League party, but it does not mean that the former national leader would automatically be freed, as he faces another appeal hearing for bail next week. On Monday last week, Nawaz Sharif was rushed from prison to the government hospital in Lahore, after his health condition was said to have deteriorated.
MEXICO
Wind-whipped fires kill three
Authorities say three people have died in wind-whipped wildfires in the northwestern state of Baja California. Fires near Tecate had forced 1,645 people to evacuate their homes, the National Civil Defense said on Friday. One of the fires closed the coastal highway for several hours. Another burned more than 14,200 hectares. Schools were ordered closed in Tijuana, Tecate and Rosarito due to smoke. Officials blamed strong Santa Ana winds, but they appeared to have died down by the evening.
UNITED STATES
Utility may have fueled fires
California’s biggest utility admitted that its electrical equipment might have ignited a ruinous wildfire spreading across the state’s wine country on Friday, despite blackouts imposed across the region to prevent blazes. The disclosure came as firefighters simultaneously battled a fire amid Sonoma County’s vineyards and a wind-whipped blaze that destroyed homes near Los Angeles. The fire in the wine country burned at least 49 buildings and 65km2, and prompted evacuation orders for about 2,000 people. It was driven by the strong winds that had prompted Pacific Gas & Electric to impose sweeping blackouts affecting a half-million people in the northern and central parts of the state.
UNITED STATES
Weinstein jeered in public
Harvey Weinstein was mocked from the stage and jeered by attendees at a New York City actors showcase this week — a rare public appearance for the disgraced movie mogul ahead of his January rape trial. A comedian at Wednesday’s “Actor’s Hour” referred to Weinstein during her set as “the elephant in the room,” likened him to horror villain Freddy Krueger and said that she “didn’t know we had to bring our own mace and rape whistles” to the event. An actor tried questioning Weinstein and another attendee shouted that he was a “monster.” Weinstein, 67, is free on US$1 million bail.
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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