AFGHANISTAN
Governor killed in attack
Badakhshan Acting Provincial Governor Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi was yesterday killed by a suicide bomber, officials said, months after the region’s police chief was killed in a similar attack claimed by the Islamic State group. Security has improved dramatically since the Taliban stormed back to power in August 2021, ousting the US-backed government and ending their two-decade insurgency, but the Islamic State group remains a threat. The bomber drove a car filled with explosives into the vehicle carrying Ahmadi in the provincial capital, Faizabad. “The target of this attack was the vehicle carrying Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi,” said Muazuddin Ahmadi, the head of culture and information in the province. The driver was also killed and six others wounded in the attack, which has so far not been claimed by anyone.
AUSTRALIA
Hanoi pardons Australians
Two Australians sentenced to death in Vietnam have been granted clemency thanks to improving diplomatic relations, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday, after an official visit to the Southeast Asian country. “We make representations on behalf of Australian citizens. And we are very pleased that Vietnam has agreed to the request, and we thank them for it,” Albanese told ABC television. He said he would not reveal the names of the people who were granted clemency as they had requested privacy. Their families have been informed about the decision. Albanese had traveled to Vietnam over the weekend, where he met his counterpart, Pham Minh Chinh, and said the visit provided “an impetus for this outcome.”
VANUATU
Security deal under review
The government yesterday said that a security treaty with Australia would be put to parliament before the end of this year, as concerns over China in the region saw neighboring Papua New Guinea delay signing another such treaty. Prime Ishmael Kalsakau said, during a visit by Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles, that a security treaty signed with Australia in December last year is still being examined. Some Vanuatu politicians who favor ties with China have expressed concern over the deal. The National Security Council was “going through the text” and it will next be considered by his government’s Council of Ministers, Kalsakau said in the capital, Port Vila. “It will be presented for ratification before the end of this year in Parliament,” he said.
CHINA
Tuition rises up to 54%
Chinese universities are drastically increasing tuition fees this year, with some making their first increases in two decades, hurt by a reduced national budget for tertiary education and tight local government finances. The higher fees come amid a financial crunch among local governments after three years of disruptive COVID-19 policies, a property crisis and a sluggish economy. Chinese universities, almost all public, rely heavily on state funding. Shanghai-based East China University of Science and Technology raised tuition fees by 54 percent to 7,700 yuan (US$1,082) annually for some first-year students majoring in science, engineering and physical education, and by 30 percent in the liberal arts, statements issued on Sunday said. Sichuan and Jilin provinces also raised tuition for different majors, with the maximum increase as much as 41 percent in Sichuan, local government statements said.
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
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,
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
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