WELLINGTON: Australia’s prime minister cautioned that the fallout from a vicious tropical storm over the weekend was “far from over” as parts of two states remained inundated with perilous floodwaters on Monday, even as the initial threat from the deluge continued to recede.
One person was killed and several others injured after heavy rain lashed Australia’s east coast on Saturday, toppling trees and power lines and inundating some parts of Queensland and New South Wales with record downpours. The two states escaped the level of chaos forecast from the tropical low weather system, which was earlier expected to make landfall as the first tropical cyclone to hit south east Queensland in 51 years – before weakening as it approached.
Still, 200,000 homes and businesses were without power in the region on Monday afternoon – after the storm prompted the biggest blackout in Queensland’s history – and more than 700 schools were closed for the day.
Those living near rivers and creeks were urged to evacuate or stay indoors as water levels continued to rise in some areas – with more rain forecast triggering further warnings during the day. Disaster was declared for the city of Ipswich, west of Brisbane, where a river was expected to flood overnight. People in surrounding suburbs were ordered to leave their homes.
Meanwhile, in other towns where floodwaters began to recede a cleanup began as power was restored for tens of thousands of people. The scale of the damage was not immediately clear.
Workers whose livelihoods were hampered by the storm will be eligible for welfare payments for up to 13 weeks beginning Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters on Monday.
In the city of Lismore in New South Wales, two military trucks helping with the rescue efforts on Saturday rolled over, injuring 13 of the 36 personnel traveling in them. One remained in hospital on Monday with injuries that were not life-threatening, Australia’s Defense Minister Richard Marles said.
The single casualty of the crisis was a 61-year-old man who disappeared in a flooded river near the New South Wales town of Dorrigo, police said. His body was recovered on Saturday.
Albanese warned residents of the two stricken states not to be “complacent” as flood warnings lingered.
“If it’s flooded, forget it,” he said, referring to traveling in or entering inundated areas.
Cyclones are common in Queensland’s tropical north but are rare in the state’s temperate and densely populated southeast corner that borders New South Wales. Tropical Cyclone Alfred was last week expected to become the first cyclone since 1974 to cross the Australian coast near Queensland’s state capital of Brisbane, Australia’s third-most populous city.
But it weakened Saturday to a tropical low, defined as carrying sustained winds of less than 63 kph (39 mph).
Authorities had feared similar scenes to those eastern Australia experienced during massive floods in 2011 and in a series of 2022 events – in which more than 20 people died.
Floodwaters still threaten parts of Australia’s east coast as tropical storm cleanup begins
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Floodwaters still threaten parts of Australia’s east coast as tropical storm cleanup begins
- Around 200,000 homes and businesses still without power in the region on Monday afternoon
- Workers whose livelihoods were hampered by the storm will be eligible for welfare payments
A day after saying FBI needs more resources, Patel strikes different tone to Congress on budget plan
A day after saying FBI needs more resources, Patel strikes different tone to Congress on budget plan
WASHINGTON: FBI Director Kash Patel said Thursday that he would make the bureau’s mission “work on whatever budget we’re given,” striking a different tone from comments a day earlier in which he called for the agency to be funded at far higher levels than what the Trump administration had proposed.
The 2026 budget proposal released on Friday calls for a funding cut of about $545 million for the FBI as part of what the White House said was a desire to “reform and streamline” the bureau and reduce “non-law enforcement missions that do not align” with the priorities of President Donald Trump
Patel told lawmakers at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday that the FBI needs “more than what has been proposed” to operate as it should and that it “can’t do the mission on those 2011 budget levels.”
But on Thursday, appearing at a separate hearing of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, he took a different stance when asked by Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland about his earlier testimony that the FBI required substantially more money than what the Trump budget plan had called for.
“My view is that we agree with this budget as it stands and make it work for the operational necessity of the FBI, and as the head of the FBI, I was simply asking for more funds because I can do more with more money,” he said.
He added that he would “make the mission work on whatever budget we’re given.”
Trump says he is naming Fox News host and former judge Jeanine Pirro as top federal prosecutor in DC
Trump says he is naming Fox News host and former judge Jeanine Pirro as top federal prosecutor in DC
- She was elected as a judge in New York’s Westchester County Court in 1990 before serving three terms as the county’s elected district attorney
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is naming Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, a former county prosecutor and elected judge, to be the top federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital after abandoning his first pick for the job.
Pirro, who joined Fox News in 2006, cohosts the network’s show “The Five” on weekday evenings. She was elected as a judge in New York’s Westchester County Court in 1990 before serving three terms as the county’s elected district attorney.
Trump tapped Pirro to at least temporarily lead the nation’s largest US Attorney’s office after pulling his nomination of conservative activist Ed Martin Jr. for the position earlier Thursday. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was naming Pirro as the interim US attorney in Washington, D.C., but didn’t indicate whether he would nominate her for the Senate-confirmed position on a more permanent basis.
“Jeanine is incredibly well qualified for this position, and is considered one of the Top District Attorneys in the History of the State of New York. She is in a class by herself,” Trump wrote.
Trump withdrew Martin from consideration after a key Republican senator said he could not support Martin for the job due to his defense of rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“He’s a terrific person, and he wasn’t getting the support from people that I thought,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. He later added, “But we have somebody else that will be great.”
Martin’s leading role in Trump’s “Stop the Steal” movement was demoralizing for subordinates who spent four years prosecuting over 1,500 riot defendants only to see the president pardon them en masse. Pirro has her own connection to the baseless conspiracy theories of election fraud.
In 2021, voting technology company Smartmatic USA sued Fox News, Pirro and others for spreading false claims that the company helped “steal” the 2020 presidential election from Trump. The company’s libel suit, filed in a New York state court, sought $2.7 billion from the defendants.
Pirro is the latest in a string of Trump appointments coming from Fox News — a list that includes Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who co-hosted “Fox & Friends Weekend.”
“Jeanine Pirro has been a wonderful addition to The Five over the last three years and a longtime beloved host across Fox News Media who contributed greatly to our success throughout her 14-year tenure. We wish her all the best in her new role in Washington,” a Fox News Media spokesperson said in a statement.
Martin has served as acting US Attorney for the District of Columbia since Trump’s first week in office. But his hopes of keeping the job faded amid questions about his qualifications and background. Martin had never served as a prosecutor or tried a case before taking office in January.
Martin has stirred up a chorus of critics during his brief but tumultuous tenure in office. He fired and demoted subordinates who worked on politically sensitive cases. He posted on social media about potential targets of investigations. And he forced the chief of the office’s criminal division to resign after directing her to scrutinize the awarding of a government contract during Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration.
Martin’s temporary appointment is due to expire May 20.
Pirro, a 1975 graduate of Albany Law School, has significantly more courtroom experience than Martin. She led one of the nation’s first domestic violence units in a prosecutor’s office.
After her elected terms as a judge and district attorney, Pirro briefly campaigned in 2005 as a Republican to unseat then-Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton before announcing that she would would run for New York attorney general instead. She lost that race to Andrew Cuomo, son of former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo.
Pirro became an ubiquitous television pundit during O.J. Simpson’s murder trial, often appearing on CNN’s “Larry King Live.” During her time on Fox News, she has frequently interviewed Trump.
In the final minutes of his first term as president, Trump issued a pardon to Pirro’s ex-husband, Albert Pirro, who was convicted in 2000 on conspiracy and tax evasion charges.
Rejoicing Peruvians see Pope Leo XIV as one of their own after his many years in Peru
- “For us Peruvians, it is a source of pride that this is a pope who represents our country,” said elementary school teacher Isabel Panez
- ope Leo XIV is a dual citizen of the United States and Peru, where he first served as a missionary and then as a bishop
LIMA, Peru: Peruvians were elated Thursday after a Catholic cardinal who spent years guiding the faithful in the South American country and who they see as one of their own was elected pope.
Pope Leo XIV is a dual citizen of the United States and Peru, where he first served as a missionary and then as a bishop. That made him the first pope from each country.
In Peru’s capital, Lima, the bells of the cathedral rang after Cardinal Robert Prevost was announced as Pope Francis’ successor. People outside the church quickly expressed their desire for a papal visit.
“For us Peruvians, it is a source of pride that this is a pope who represents our country,” said elementary school teacher Isabel Panez, who was near the cathedral when the news was announced. “We would like him to visit us here in Peru.”
Leo, standing on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica for the first time as pope, addressed in Spanish the people of Chiclayo, which sits just 9 miles (14 kilometers) from Peru’s northern Pacific coast and is among the country’s most populous cities.
“Greetings... to all of you, and in particular, to my beloved diocese of Chiclayo in Peru, where a faithful people have accompanied their bishop, shared their faith,” he said.
Thomas Nicolini, a Peruvian who studies economics in Rome, said he went to St. Peter’s Square as soon as he heard Prevost was the new pope.
“That’s a beautiful area, but one of the regions that needs lots of hope,” he said referring to Chiclayo. “So, now I’m expecting that the new pope helps as many people as possible, and tries to reignite, let’s say, the faith young people have lost.”
Diana Celis, who attended several Masses officiated by Prevost in Chiclayo, told The Associated Press that he would often repeat that he had “come from Chicago to Chiclayo, the only difference is a few letters.”
Born in Chicago in 1955, Prevost has held Peruvian nationality since 2015, Peru’s national register agency confirmed Thursday. In 2014, he served as the administrator and later bishop of Chiclayo and remained in that position until Francis summoned him to Rome in 2023 to serve as the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations from around the world, one of the most important jobs in the Catholic Church.
“He will be very sensitive to the social doctrine of the Church and will undoubtedly be attentive to the signs of the times,” the Rev. Edinson Farfán, bishop of Chiclayo, told reporters.
But a network of survivors of Catholic clergy sex abuse raised concerns about Prevost’s handling of complaints filed while he was bishop of Chiclayo in 2022. The Peruvian Bishops’ Conference did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the AP regarding the mishandling accusations alleged by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
Janinna Sesa, who met Prevost while she worked for the church’s Caritas nonprofit, said he is the kind of person who will “put on boots and wade through the mud” to help those most in need. She said he did just that in 2022, when torrential rains affected Chiclayo and nearby villages.
He also delivered food and blankets to the remote Andean villages, driving a white pickup truck and sleeping on a thin mattress on the floor. In those villages, Sesa said, Prevost ate whatever was offered to him, including the peasant diet consisting of potatoes, cheese and sweet corn. But, if the opportunity came up, he would enjoy carne asada – one of his favorite dishes – accompanied by a glass of Coca-Cola.
“He has no problem fixing a broken-down truck until it runs,” she said, highlighting his automotive interest.
Sesa added that Prevost was also the driving force for the purchase of two oxygen-production plants during the coronavirus pandemic, which killed more than 217,000 people across Peru.
“He worked so hard to find help, that there was not only enough for one plant, but for two oxygen plants,” she said.
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte said Prevost’s election was a “historic moment” for Peru and the US
“He chose to be one of us, to live among us, and to carry in his heart the faith, culture, and dreams of this nation,” she said in a video message in which she also recalled that Prevost chose to become a Peruvian citizen “as an expression of his profound love for Peru.”
North Korea says leader Kim supervised missile tests simulating nuclear strikes against rivals
- Kim stressed the need to strengthen the role of his nuclear forces in both deterring and fighting war
SEOUL, South Korea: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised tests of short-range ballistic missile systems that simulated nuclear counterstrikes against US and South Korean forces, state media said Friday, as the North continued to blame its rivals for escalating tensions through their joint military exercises.
The report came a day after South Korea’s military detected multiple launches from North Korea’s eastern coast and assessed that the tests could also be related to the country’s weapons exports to Russia during its war in Ukraine.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Thursday’s tests involved a mobile ballistic missile system apparently modeled after Russia’s Iskander, as well as 600-millimeter multiple rocket launchers that South Korean officials classify as ballistic due to their self-propulsion and guided flight. Both are part of a growing lineup of weapons systems that the North says could be armed with “tactical” nuclear weapons for battlefield use.
KCNA said the tests were intended to train military units operating missile and rocket systems to more effectively execute attacks under the North’s nuclear weapons control system and ensure a swift response to a nuclear crisis.
The agency criticized the United States and its “vassal states” for expanding joint military exercises on and around the Korean Peninsula, which the North claims are preparations for nuclear war, and said Thursday’s launches demonstrated the “rapid counteraction posture” of its forces.
Kim stressed the need to strengthen the role of his nuclear forces in both deterring and fighting war, and called for continued efforts to improve combat readiness and precision strike capabilities, KCNA said.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said multiple missiles of various types were launched from the area around the eastern port city of Wonsan on Thursday from about 8:10 to 9:20 a.m., with the farthest traveling about 800 kilometers .
Lee Sung Joon, spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs, said in a briefing the North Korean launches were possibly intended to test the performance of weapons it plans to export, as the country continues to send military equipment and troops to fuel Russia’s warfighting against Ukraine.
Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters that none of the North Korean missiles reached Japan’s exclusive economic zone and there was no damage to vessels or aircraft in the area.
It was the North’s first known ballistic activity since March 10, when it fired several ballistic missiles hours after US and South Korean troops began an annual combined military exercise, and the country’s sixth launch event of the year.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have escalated in recent months as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continues to accelerate the development of his nuclear and missile program and supply weapons and troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Thursday’s launch came a day after North Korean state media said Kim urged munition workers to boost the production of artillery shells amid his deepening alignment with Moscow.
US envoy reassures Panamanians about contentious military deal
- The agreement allows US military personnel to deploy to Panamanian-controlled bases along the canal
PANAMA: The new US ambassador to Panama on Thursday reassured its citizens that an agreement signed by the two countries last month does not permit the return of American military bases.
US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to “take back” control of the Panama Canal from what he calls excessive Chinese influence has caused alarm in the Central American nation.
The agreement signed by Trump’s defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and President Jose Raul Mulino’s administration allows US military personnel to deploy to Panamanian-controlled bases along the canal for training, exercises and “other activities.”
“Nowhere” does the agreement “talk about opening military bases,” Trump’s ambassador, Kevin Cabrera, told a news conference.
This agreement “will strengthen our cooperation against drug trafficking and protect the canal,” which the United States built and controlled until 1999, he added.
The recent deal has sparked protests from Panamanians who oppose any perceived infringement of their country’s sovereignty after a 1989 US invasion to depose then-leader General Manuel Noriega.
Cabrera said that “false” information was being spread about the agreement “for political reasons.”
Mulino on Thursday ruled out canceling the pact, which he said did not allow “any form” of US military base in his country.
“There is no cession of territory here,” he told a news conference.
