World

LAGOS,  (Reuters) – A long-awaited Lagos light rail service began operations yesterday as Africa’s most populous city looks to ease its chronic travel congestion.

JOHANNESBURG,  (Reuters) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said yesterday that an independent inquiry has found no evidence that a Russian ship had collected weapons from the country late last year destined for Russia.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Hundreds more school buildings in England might be crumbling and unsafe, Britain’s Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said today after authorities ordered 104 schools to shut buildings with old and weak concrete.

BEIJING,  (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first major reform plans a decade ago were also his boldest, envisaging a transition to a Western-style free market economy driven by services and consumption by 2020.

KYIV,  (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said yesterday he had decided to replace his defence minister, setting the stage for the biggest shake-up of Ukraine’s defence establishment since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

GUATEMALA CITY,  (Reuters) – Guatemala’s electoral tribunal said Sunday it had temporarily revoked a suspension order against President-elect Bernardo Arevalo’s Semilla party, which had sowed confusion about his victory in the days after the election.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – British finance minister Jeremy Hunt said today the government would move to fix unsafe school buildings quickly after some 100 schools were told to shut some buildings due to old and crumbling concrete.

ULAANBAATAR,  (Reuters) – Calling himself one of the “humble heirs” of ancient schools of wisdom and quoting the Buddha, Pope Francis today urged all religions to live in harmony and shun ideological fundamentalism that foments violence.

NIAMEY,  (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of protesters gathered outside a French military base in Niger’s capital Niamey yesterday demanding that its troops leave in the wake of a military coup that has widespread popular support but which Paris refuses to recognise.

CERNOBBIO, Italy,  (Reuters) – Trade between Italy and China has not improved as expected since Rome joined Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative four years ago, Italy’s Foreign Minister said yesterday.

SEOUL,  (Reuters) – North Korea conducted a simulated “tactical nuclear attack” drill yesterday that included two long-range cruise missiles, state media reported, as leader Kim Jong Un inspected shipbuilding and munitions factories.

BENGALURU,  (Reuters) – Following quickly on the success of India’s moon landing, the country’s space agency launched a rocket yesterday to study the sun in its first such solar mission.

JOHANNESBURG,  (Reuters) – Like many impoverished residents of downtown Johannesburg, Sihle Dube had rented a tiny room from someone who didn’t actually own it, in a rundown building that was becoming a trash-strewn haven for drugs and crime.

(Reuters) – Jimmy Buffett, the American singer-songwriter who went from Key West beach bum to billionaire behind the always-on-vacation “Margaritaville” commercial empire, has died at the age of 76.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – Bill Richardson, a former U.S. diplomat, congressman, energy secretary and New Mexico governor who made his mark on the world stage by securing the release of Americans and others held by various autocratic governments, has died at the age of 75, the Richardson Center for Global Engagement said on Saturday.

 (Reuters) – Jimmy Buffett, the American singer-songwriter who went from Key West beach bum to billionaire behind the always-on-vacation “Margaritaville” commercial empire, has died at the age of 76.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Volun-tary carbon markets have shrunk for the first time in at least seven years, as companies including food giant Nestle and fashion house Gucci reduced buying and studies found several forest protection projects did not deliver promised emissions savings.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – A leader of the far-right Proud Boys was sentenced yesterday to 18 years in prison over the U.S.

(Reuters) – India’s financial crime fighting agency on Friday arrested Jet Airways JET.NS

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, (Reuters) – Over 40 people were killed and 56 wounded in an army crackdown on violent anti-U.N.