97%: While riding on Air Force One Thursday night, US President Donald Trump claimed that some TV networks are “97% against me” and suggested their licences should be revoked. It’s the latest White House threat to television media this week, amid a growing conservative backlash to Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue over the background of Charlie Kirk’s killer.
6: Six months after imposing it, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu lifted emergency rule in oil-rich Rivers State, declaring that it had resolved the constitutional crisis there. Tinubu implemented the rule as tensions between the governor and state legislature there had put the state government in limbo.
8: Eight Democratic senators signed onto a resolution that would recognize a Palestinian state. With Republicans controlling the Senate and Trump in the White House, the measure has little-to-no chance of passing, but it indicates a growing level of support for Palestinians in a country that has been Israel’s greatest defender.
13: Shankar, a 29-year-old African elephant and long-time resident of Delhi’s zoo who spent 13 years in solitary confinement, died after refusing food and collapsing on Wednesday. Gifted to India in 1998, he isolated himself for most of his life after his companion died in 2001. The cause of death remains under investigation.
2: China warned Papua New Guinea against signing a proposed security treaty with Australia, saying it could limit PNG’s sovereignty. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese left PNG’s capital, Port Moresby, with only a communiqué after failing to finalize the pact. It marks his second Pacific setback this month following a stalled Vanuatu deal, underscoring intensifying China-Australia rivalry in the region.
