UNITED STATES
Judge orders exhibit restored
A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Monday ordered the National Park Service to reinstall a slavery exhibit at a Philadelphia historic site, pending the outcome of litigation after the city sued the government over its removal. The exhibit was dismantled and removed last month in response to US President Donald Trump’s claims of an “anti-American ideology” at historical and cultural institutions. “The government claims it alone has the power to erase, alter, remove and hide historical accounts on taxpayer and local government-funded monuments within its control,” District Judge Cynthia Rufe wrote in her opinion. “Its claims in this regard echo Big Brother’s domain in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four,” Rufe added.
NEW ZEALAND
Man killed in severe storm
Heavy rains and strong winds in the past few days have killed one man, flooded large areas and cut off several communities, authorities said. The severe storm since Friday has prompted a state of emergency in North Island, where the Waikato Regional Council said “one in 100 year” rainfall had caused widespread flooding. Police said a man died on Friday after the car he was driving was trapped in flood waters near North Island’s Otorohanga. The storm reached the capital Wellington on Monday before yesterday moving toward Christchurch in the South Island.
RUSSIA
US citizen sentenced
A court has sentenced a US citizen to four years in jail for trying to take the stocks of Kalashnikov assault rifles out of a Moscow airport, the RIA state news agency reported yesterday. The US citizen, who collects Kalashnikov weapons, bought two Kalashnikov stocks and checked in a suitcase containing the butts at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, but made no customs declaration, RIA said. The man, who was not identified by the news agency, was found guilty under an article in the criminal code dealing with the smuggling of weapons, it added.
AUSTRALIA
Lizard smuggler sentenced
A Sydney man who tried to mail native lizards, bearded dragons and other reptiles out of Australia in bags of popcorn and cookie tins has been sentenced to eight years in jail, authorities said yesterday. The eight-year term handed down on Friday was a record for wildlife smuggling, federal environment officials said. A district court in Sydney gave 61-year-old Neil Simpson a non-parole period of five years and four months. Investigators recovered 101 reptiles from seized parcels destined for Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Romania, the officials said in a statement. “Lizards, skinks and dragons were secured in calico bags. These bags were concealed in bags of popcorn, biscuit tins and a women’s handbag and placed inside cardboard boxes,” it said.
ITALY
‘Lovers’ Arch’ collapses
A famous rock structure on Italy’s Adriatic coast known as the “Lovers’ Arch” collapsed on Valentine’s Day after days of bad weather, prompting local officials to warn that other stretches of the fragile coastline could be at risk. The natural arch near Melendugno in the southern region of Puglia, had long been a popular backdrop for wedding proposals and tourist photos. “This is an unwanted Valentine’s Day gift,” Melendugno Mayor Maurizio Cisternino told the local Corriere Salentino, calling the collapse “a very hard blow” for the area’s image and for tourism.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
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