World News

Former Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has been sentenced to a year in prison for interfering in a criminal investigation while leading the government of his South Pacific island nation. The Fiji Times newspaper reported Bainimarama was sentenced Thursday and the suspended police commissioner received a two-year prison sentence for abuse of office. Bainimarama took power as a military dictator following a 2006 coup and was democratically elected in 2014 and 2018. His successor after the 2022 election promised change. They were accused of ended an investigation into former staff members at the University of the South Pacific over allegations of financial mismanagement. The university is owned by 12 Pacific Island nations and its main campus is in Suva.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed two missile attacks in the Gulf of Aden on two Panama-flagged container ships that caused no damage. The claims Thursday by Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree come as the tempo of the rebel attacks have waned in recent weeks as they’ve been targeted by repeated airstrikes launched by a U.S.-led coalition warship in waterways crucial to international trade. Saree claimed attacks on the MSC Diego and MSC Gina. The Joint Maritime Information Center, a U.S.-led coalition of nations operating in the Mideast, said those two missile attacks happened early Tuesday. The Houthis insist their assaults will continue as long as Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip goes on.

The European Union marks its annual Europe Day on Thursday. But instead of the humdrum celebrations, all eyes are on the EU elections in a month's time. They portend a steep rise of the extreme right and a possible move away from the bloc's global trendsetting climate policies. EU elections hardly caused a ripple for decades. The June 6-9 elections are the most important in memory because they are being held at a time of continuous crisis on a continent facing war in Ukraine, climate emergencies, a shifting of geopolitical plates and fundamental questions on the reach and purpose of the EU itself.

China's military is criticizing the U.S. as hyping its warship's passage through the Taiwan Strait. The guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey passed through the waterway between mainland China and Taiwan on Wednesday, less than two weeks before the island's new president takes office. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and sees other nations' transits of the strait as challenges to its claim. A Chinese naval captain said Chinese naval and air forces were organized to monitor the U.S. ship's passage ”in accordance with laws and regulations.” The U.S. Navy said the Halsey conducted a routine transit through the waters where "freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.”

The Vatican is crossing a key milestone in the runup to its 2025 Jubilee with the promulgation of the official decree establishing the Holy Year. Pope Francis will preside over a ceremony Thursday in St. Peter’s Basilica for the formal reading of the papal bull. The event also kicks off the final seven-month dash of preparations and public works projects to be completed by Dec. 24, when Francis opens the basilica’s Holy Door and formally inaugurates the Jubilee. For the Vatican, the Holy Year is a centuries-old tradition of pilgrims visiting the tombs of Saints Peter and Paul. For the city of Rome, it’s a chance to take advantage of public funds to carry out long-delayed public works projects.

Russia is wrapping itself in patriotic pageantry for Victory Day, a celebration of its defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II that President Vladimir Putin has turned into a pillar of his nearly quarter-century in power and a justification of his move into Ukraine. Even though few veterans of what Russia calls the Great Patriotic War are still alive 79 years after Berlin fell to the Red Army, the victory over Nazi Germany remains the most important and widely revered symbol of the country’s prowess and a key element of national identity. The Soviet Union lost about 27 million people in the war, an estimate that many historians consider conservative. Thursday’s festivities honor that sacrifice.

President Joe Biden says he will not supply offensive weapons that Israel can use to launch an all-out assault on Rafah — the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza — over concern for the well-being of the more than 1 million civilians sheltering there. Biden, in an interview Wednesday with CNN, says the U.S. is still committed to Israel’s defense and will supply Iron Dome rocket interceptors and other defensive arms. But he says that if Israel goes into Rafah, “we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used.” The interview marked Biden’s toughest public comments yet about the potential Israeli military operation and followed his decision to pause a shipment of heavy bombs to Israel last week.

Authorities in southern Brazil are rushing to rescue survivors of massive flooding that has killed at least 100 people, but some residents are refusing to leave belongings behind while others are returning to evacuated homes despite the risk of new storms. Authorities say the heavy rains and flooding in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul since last week also have left 130 people missing. More than 230,000 have been displaced, and much of the region has been isolated by the floodwaters. Army General Marcelo Zucco, one of the coordinators of rescue operations, said his team is working at full steam before heavy rains that are forecast to hit the Porto Alegre area this weekend.

An appeals court has granted the Hong Kong government’s request to ban a protest song, overturning an earlier ruling and deepening concerns over the erosion of freedoms in the city. “Glory to Hong Kong” was often sung by demonstrators during the huge anti-government protests in 2019. The song was later mistakenly played as the city’s anthem at international sporting events, instead of China’s anthem “March of the Volunteers." Critics have prohibiting broadcast or distribution of the song further reduces freedom of expression since Beijing launched a crackdown in Hong Kong following the 2019 protests. They have also warned the ban might disrupt the operation of tech giants in the city.

The Israeli military says it has reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza but a United Nations agency says no aid has yet entered. The key terminal for the entry of humanitarian aid was closed over the weekend after a Hamas rocket attack killed four Israeli soldiers nearby. An Israeli tank brigade seized the nearby Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt early Tuesday, and it remained closed. The limited incursion does not appear to be the start of the full-scale invasion of the crowded southern city that Israel has repeatedly promised. The U.S. has urged Israel not to launch a full-on assault on Rafah because it would worsen Gaza's humanitarian catastrophe, and it paused a shipment of bombs to its close ally last week over those concerns.

The pharma giant AstraZeneca has requested that the European authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine be pulled. In an update on the European Medicines Agency’s website Wednesday, the regulator said that the approval for AstraZeneca’s Vaxzevria had been withdrawn at the company's request. AstraZeneca’s vaccine was first approved by the EMA in January 2021. But within weeks, concerns grew about the vaccine’s safety, when dozens of countries suspended the vaccine’s use after rare blood clots were detected. Studies have since shown messenger RNA COVID vaccines to be more effective and AstraZeneca's shot is rarely used globally.