NETHERLANDS
Minister to quit politics
Minister of Finance Sigrid Kaag yesterday said she would leave politics after the upcoming elections to relieve her family of the burden of threats made to her. “My work has been a heavy burden for my husband and my children,” Kaag said in an interview with the Trouw newspaper. “I’m not quitting because my security is an issue for me. But it is for them. I would like it for them if things would quieten down.” On a recent local TV program Kaag’s two daughters talked about their concerns for their mother because of threats made to her, causing the minister visible emotion when she was confronted with the recording. Kaag’s decision to leave comes three days after Prime Minister Mark Rutte unexpectedly announced he would quit politics once a new government is formed.
INDIA
Delhi faces water shortage
The Delhi government said supplies of drinking water would fall by one-quarter yesterday and today, because three treatment plants have been flooded, as the Yamuna River overflowed after incessant rain. Delhi’s river is at its highest level in 45 years after unusually heavy downpours in neighboring states like Haryana. The city of 20 million people also saw heavy rain over the weekend with flooding in low-lying communities that forced hundreds of people to seek shelter in relief camps. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote on Twitter that the water level in the river could peak later yesterday and that people were being evacuated from flooded areas. Delhi has recorded 112 percent above-average rainfall, the Meteorological Department said.
NORTH KOREA
Kim has foldable phone
When North Korean leader Kim Jong-um guided the launch of his country’s newest and most powerful ballistic missile on Wednesday, a shiny gadget lay on his table: a foldable smartphone. Photographs released by Rodong Sinmun yesterday showed what looked like a silver foldable handset in black leather casing, strikingly similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip devices or China’s Huawei Pocket S phones. The picture from the launch of the solid-fuel Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile instantly unleashed speculation about where the phone came from. “If the object in the photo is a foldable phone, it is highly likely that it was secretly smuggled to North Korea via China,” South Korea’s Joongang Ilbo newspaper reported. The nation is banned under UN sanctions from importing or exporting electronic devices.
SWEDEN
Extradition to Turkey blocked
The Supreme Court yesterday said it was blocking the extradition of two people wanted by Turkey for involvement in the so-called Gulen movement, a key demand by Ankara to ratify Stockholm’s NATO membership. The ruling comes days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced he was ready to allow Sweden to join the alliance. However, on Wednesday, Erdogan said Turkey would not be able to ratify Sweden’s NATO candidacy until at least October, when the Turkish parliament reopens after its summer break. The two cases concerned individuals wanted for being members of the Gulen movement, which Erdogan blamed for masterminding a bloody coup bid in July 2016. The court said the evidence provided by Turkey was that they had downloaded an app for encrypted communication used by members of a “terrorist” group. The court said downloading the app would not by itself be enough to convict someone of participating in a terrorist organization under Swedish law.
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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