JAMAICA
PM wins third term
Prime Minister Andrew Holness won a rare third term as voters rewarded his administration for bringing down debt, unemployment and crime over the past decade. The governing Jamaica Liberation Party won 34 seats in parliament versus the 29 of the People’s National Party (PNP), according to preliminary government results transmitted by Television Jamaica. Holness, 53, has been in power since 2016. Only one other prime minister has served three consecutive terms since the nation won its independence in 1962. Holness said he would use his new term to cut taxes and raise the minimum wage, even as he consolidates the nation’s economic gains — including record low unemployment and slashing the national debt. Opposition leader Mark Golding of the PNP conceded the race early yesterday and congratulated his rival. “Jamaica’s democracy is important and we must cherish it,” Golding told supporters. “Sometimes it brings bitter disappointment.”
Photo: EPA
RUSSIA
Pipeline route agreed
Moscow and Beijing have agreed on a route and supply volumes for the planned Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, state-run RIA news agency reported yesterday, citing Minister of Energy Sergei Tsivilev. According to the signed memorandum, the pipeline would run via Mongolia and is expected to deliver about 50 billion cubic meters of gas annually. Russia and China gave their blessing to the vast pipeline project with a binding memorandum signed during President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China, but little is known about the key details of the pipeline and Gazprom said that pricing was yet to be agreed. “Now we need to work out the financing scheme,” Tsivilev said. “We’ve been given permission, we have freedom of action, so we’ll move quickly.” Financing arrangements are likely to be finalized next year, he said.
NIGERIA
Capsized boat kills 60
At least 60 people have died and dozens were rescued after a boat carrying more than 100 passengers capsized in Niger State, local officials said on Wednesday. The vessel departed from Tungan Sule in Malale District on Tuesday morning, heading to Dugga for a condolence visit, when it struck a submerged tree stump near Gausawa community in Borgu Local Government Area at about 11am. Abdullahi Baba Ara, chair of Borgu Local Government Area, said that the casualty figure was rising. “The death toll of the boat incident has risen to 60,” Baba Ara told reporters. “Ten people have been found in serious condition and many are still being sought.”
ARGENTINA
Rally marred by fights
Fist fights and hurled projectiles marked the end of a campaign rally attended by President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires ahead of midterm elections. Tensions are high ahead of legislative elections that are slated for Sunday and at the end of Wednesday’s event, reporters witnessed skirmishes breaking out among rally attendees. The vote marks the first major test of Milei’s leadership since he took office in December 2023 on the promise of reviving the ailing economy by slashing public spending. Before the event, Buenos Aires Governor Axel Kicillof warned in a social media post about using the location for the rally. Milei left the scene without incident.
MONEY GRAB: People were rushing to collect bills scattered on the ground after the plane transporting money crashed, which an official said hindered rescue efforts A cargo plane carrying money on Friday crashed near Bolivia’s capital, damaging about a dozen vehicles on highway, scattering bills on the ground and leaving at least 15 people dead and others injured, an official said. Bolivian Minister of Defense Marcelo Salinas said the Hercules C-130 plane was transporting newly printed Bolivian currency when it “landed and veered off the runway” at an airport in El Alto, a city adjacent to La Paz, before ending up in a nearby field. Firefighters managed to put out the flames that engulfed the aircraft. Fire chief Pavel Tovar said at least 15 people died, but
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: By showing Ju-ae’s ability to handle a weapon, the photos ‘suggest she is indeed receiving training as a successor,’ an academic said North Korea on Saturday released a rare image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor. Kim’s daughter, Ju-ae, has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and took part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including last week’s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea’s key party congress. Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju-ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rifle scope
South Korea would soon no longer be one of the few countries where Google Maps does not work properly, after its security-conscious government reversed a two-decade stance to approve the export of high-precision map data to overseas servers. The approval was made “on the condition that strict security requirements are met,” the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. Those conditions include blurring military and other sensitive security-related facilities, as well as restricting longitude and latitude coordinates for South Korean territory on products such as Google Maps and Google Earth, it said. The decision is expected to hurt Naver and Kakao
India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a fresh start in the relationship between their nations. “Our ties have seen a new energy, mutual trust and positivity,” Modi said. Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi
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