UNITED STATES
Japan missile deal approved
Washington on Friday approved Tokyo’s request to buy 400 Tomahawk missiles, part of Japan’s bid to bolster defenses despite fresh dialogue with China. The Department of State said it was approving the US$2.35 billion sale that includes two types of the Tomahawk missiles, which have a 1,600km range. The State Department said the sale was aimed at “improving the security of a major ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific region.” The sale “will improve Japan’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing a long-range, conventional surface-to-surface missile with significant standoff range that can neutralize growing threats,” it said in a statement.
UNITED STATES
Diddy Combs settles suit
Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and his ex-girlfriend R&B vocalist Cassandra Ventura on Friday settled her lawsuit that accused the rapper of serial physical abuse, sexual slavery and rape, lawyers for Ventura said. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. In a joint written statement with Combs, Ventura said that she “decided to resolve this matter amicably on terms that I have some level of control.” Ventura, who performs under the stage name Cassie, filed the lawsuit on Thursday in a New York federal court, accusing Combs of forcing her to engage in sex acts with a succession of male prostitutes he hired while he watched and filmed. The lawsuit also accused Combs of regularly beating Ventura over the course of a 10-year professional and romantic relationship, and that he raped her in 2018.
UNITED STATES
Marcos meets with Xi
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Friday met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit in San Francisco, seeking ways to come up with ways to reduce tensions in the South China Sea and restore Filipino fishers’ access to fishing grounds. The Philippines and China need to continue to communicate, with the meeting a key part of the process to maintain peace, and keep open sea lanes and airways over the South China Sea, Marcos told reporters. “We tried to come up with mechanisms to lower the tensions in the South China Sea,” he said, without elaborating. Marcos said he voiced concern over incidents between Chinese and Philippine vessels, including one collision. He said he also raised the plight of Filipino fishermen. “I asked that we go back to the situation where both Chinese and Filipino fishermen were fishing together in these waters,” he said.
AUSTRIA
‘First Dog’ nips president
After Commander, US President Joe Biden’s biting German shepherd, Moldova’s presidential pooch Codrut is in the spotlight after nipping President Alexander Van der Bellen during a visit this week. Codrut, who was adopted by Moldovan President Maia Sandu a few months ago, snapped at Van der Bellen when he tried to pet her on Thursday. Van der Bellen, 79, sustained a light injury he dismissed as not “half as bad” as it appeared in video footage. He wrote on social media on Friday that he could “understand” the dog’s excitement as “he was nervous because of all the people around him.” Codrut has not been officially reprimanded, and was even given a dog toy by Van der Bellen as a parting gift.
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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