SOUTH SUDAN
Legislative speaker resigns
The parliamentary speaker has resigned after lawmakers threatened to impeach him for blocking efforts to fight corruption and mismanagement, local media reported yesterday. Anthony Lino Makana was accused by fellow lawmakers of failing to present auditor-general and anti-corruption reports to parliament and blocking lawmakers from summoning ministers for questioning. He was also accused of approving a loan of US$400 million from Afrexim Bank without bringing it first to the legislature as recommended by law, in a motion tabled by lawmakers who demanded he resign.
VATICAN
Manila cardinal promoted
Pope Francis has named Manila Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle to a major Vatican post, in a move that could boost the Asian prelate’s chances of perhaps someday becoming pontiff himself. The Holy See on Sunday announced that Tagle, 62, will head the Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples. The appointment of Tagle as prefect of the office highlights the attention that Francis is giving to the church in the developing world. Observers have long tabbed Tagle as having the qualifications of a “papabile,”’ churchmen widely considered to have the makings to potentially be elected pope someday by their fellow cardinals.
UNITED STATES
Preschoolers escape wreck
Washington state authorities have said four-year-old twins freed themselves from their car seats and climbed an embankment seeking help following a car crash that killed their father. KING-TV reported 47-year-old Corey Simmons died when the vehicle with his daughters in the back seat crashed on Whidbey Island on Friday. Family members said the girls climbed about 61m up to the road after the accident 55km north of Seattle. Simmons was not wearing a seat belt when the car crashed into trees and went down the embankment, authorities said. Police said the girls were transported to a hospital with minor injuries after an unidentified woman passing in her car went back to help and called 911.
UNITED STATES
‘Star Trek’ actor dies at 79
Actor Rene Auberjonois, known for his TV roles on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the sitcom Benson, died on Sunday in Los Angeles after a battle with cancer. He was 79. “We are heartbroken to confirm that Rene passed away today,” a statement on the actor’s Web site said. In his official biography, the cause given was metastatic lung cancer. Auberjonois earned legions of fans for his role as Odo, the shape-shifting head of security on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, one of the many spinoff series spawned by the legendary science-fiction show.
UNITED STATES
Rising rapper dies at 21
Chicago-born rapper Juice WRLD, one of a wave of young artists who made a name on streaming platforms before breaking out in the mainstream, died on Sunday at the age of 21, local media reported. The rising artist, whose real name was Jarad A. Higgins, suffered a medical emergency at Midway International Airport, the Chicago Sun Times reported, citing local officials. TMZ reported that Higgins had suffered a seizure. A statement from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office in Illinois sent to several media outlets said he had experienced an unknown “medical issue,” and that an autopsy would be carried out.
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
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