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.
Yemen’s separatist leader has vowed to keep working for an independent state in the country’s south, in his first social media post since he disappeared earlier this month after his group briefly seized swathes of territory. Aidarous al-Zubaidi’s United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces last month captured two Yemeni provinces in an offensive that was rolled back by Saudi strikes and Riyadh’s allied forces on the ground. Al-Zubaidi then disappeared after he failed to board a flight to Riyadh for talks earlier this month, with Saudi Arabia accusing him of fleeing to Abu Dhabi, while supporters insisted he was
The Chinese Embassy in Manila yesterday said it has filed a diplomatic protest against a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman over a social media post that included cartoonish images of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela and an embassy official had been trading barbs since last week over issues concerning the disputed South China Sea. The crucial waterway, which Beijing claims historic rights to despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, has been the site of repeated clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels. Tarriela’s Facebook post on Wednesday included a photo of him giving a
‘MOBILIZED’: While protesters countered ICE agents, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz activated the state’s National Guard to ‘support the rights of Minnesotans’ to assemble Hundreds of counterprotesters drowned out a far-right activist’s attempt to hold a small rally in support of US President Donald Trump’s latest immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday, as the governor’s office announced that National Guard troops were mobilized and ready to assist law enforcement, although not yet deployed to city streets. There have been protests every day since the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ramped up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul by bringing in more than 2,000 federal officers. Conservative influencer Jake Lang organized an anti-Islam, anti-Somali and pro-US Immigration and Customs Enforcement
NASA on Saturday rolled out its towering Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft as it began preparations for its first crewed mission to the Moon in more than 50 years. The maneuver, which takes up to 12 hours, would allow the US space agency to begin a string of tests for the Artemis 2 mission, which could blast off as early as Feb. 6. The immense orange and white SLS rocket, and the Orion vessel were slowly wheeled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and painstakingly moved 6.5km to Launch Pad 39B. If the
RSS