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.
A US YouTuber who caused outrage for filming himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves has been sentenced to six months in prison, a court in Seoul said yesterday. Johnny Somali, 25, gained notoriety several years ago for recording himself doing a series of provocative stunts in South Korea and Japan, and streaming them on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. South Korean authorities indicted Somali — whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael — in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country. “The court has sentenced him to six months in
Former Lima mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga, a Peruvian presidential hopeful, gathered hundreds of supporters in Lima on Tuesday and gave authorities 24 hours to annul the first round of the country’s election over allegations of fraud. Lopez Aliaga is locked in a tight three-way race with two other candidates for second place in Sunday’s vote. The election runner-up wins a ticket to June’s presidential run-off against front-runner Keiko Fujimori. “I am giving them 24 hours to declare this electoral fraud null and void,” said Lopez Aliaga, surrounded by a crowd of several hundred supporters. “If it is not declared null and void tomorrow,
PAPAL RETORT: Pope Leo told reporters that he has ‘no fear, neither of the Trump administration nor speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel’ US President Donald Trump has feuded with Pope Leo XIV over the Iran conflict — setting off an unholy row that could have serious political implications for the Republican leader back in the US. Trump has drawn barbs even from some allies over the attacks on the US-born pontiff, who has criticized the Trump administration over its immigration crackdown, the intervention in Venezuela and the Iran war. The president risks alienating the religious right in November’s crucial US midterm elections. So far the unprecedented clash between the leader of the most powerful military on Earth and the head of the world’s 1.4 billion
A 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder and aggravated sexual abuse in Florida in the death of his 18-year-old stepsister on a Carnival Cruise ship, the US Department of Justice said on Monday. Timothy Hudson was initially charged in February and subsequently indicted on March 10, but the breadth of the case was not known until a seal was lifted on Friday last week, weeks after US District Judge Beth Bloom in Miami said that he would be prosecuted as an adult at the request of the government. Anna Kepner had been traveling on the Carnival Horizon ship in November last
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