RUSSIA
Agency eyes longer ISS deal
Roscosmos is discussing with Moscow a continuation of its participation in the International Space Station (ISS) past 2024, a space agency official said on Monday. Sergei Krikalev, head of human space flight programs at Roscosmos, told reporters that the agency had started “to discuss extending our participation in ISS program with our government and hope to have permission to continue next year.” Amid strained ties with the West over the war in Ukraine, Roscosmos Director-General Yuri Borisov over the summer announced that Russia would leave the ISS “after 2024,” and seek to build its own space station. Krikalev said that building a new station would not happen quickly, “so probably we will keep flying until we will have any new infrastructure.”
UNITED STATES
Trump sues CNN
Former president Donald Trump on Monday sued CNN, seeking US$475 million in damages, saying the network defamed him in an effort to short-circuit any potential political campaign. The lawsuit, filed in US District Court for Southern District of Florida, focuses primarily on the term “the big lie” about Trump’s false claims of widespread fraud that he says cost him the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden. CNN said it had no comment on the lawsuit. Trump repeatedly attacked CNN as president, which resonated with his conservative followers. He has similarly filed lawsuits against big tech companies with little success. His case against Twitter for knocking him off its platform following the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6 last year was thrown out by a California judge earlier this year.
NICARAGUA
Family of opposition charged
Two women with dual French and Nicaraguan citizenship are to be tried on charges of conspiring to undermine national integrity and spreading disinformation, a court order released on Monday showed. The women have been detained. At the request of prosecutors, Judge Rolando Sanarrusia announced the charges against Jeannine Horvilleur Cuadra, 63, and her daughter, Ana Alvarez Horvilleur, 43, a statement from the court in Managua said. Jeannine Horvilleur Cuadra is the wife of opposition leader Javier Alvarez, who fled into exile in Costa Rica. Alvarez’s wife, daughter and son-in-law have been charged along with 10 other opposition figures, some for undermining national integrity, others for publishing false news and some for both counts. The judge also issued an arrest warrant against Javier Alvarez.
UNITED STATES
New York moves shelter
New York is moving a tent shelter built for some of the thousands of recently arrived asylum seekers to Randall’s Island, citing the risk of flooding. The city had previously planned to temporarily house migrants at Orchard Beach in the Bronx, which is exposed to the elements and in a remote, coastal location away from public transit. The change to Randall’s Island, which New York Mayor Eric Adams late on Monday announced in a statement, came after a weekend of storms that led advocates to raise fresh concerns about the original location. Moving the site “is the most efficient and effective path forward, and work is underway to make this move,” Adams said in the statement. “This new location is less prone to flooding, is closer to public transportation, and will provide temporary respite to 500 asylum seekers.”
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of