Citizens of the World,
My name is General (Rtd) Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda and Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) until 2027. I recently noted a concern raised by the Iranian Ambassador to Uganda, questioning why we have not publicly commented on the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
At least eight people have died in a hot air balloon accident in southern Brazil, the governor of Santa Catarina state has said.
There were 21 people on board the balloon in the city of Praia Grande.
Thirteen people, including the pilot, survived and no one is missing, the state government press office reported.
Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) said it was taking "all necessary steps to investigate the condition of the aircraft and the crew".
"According to the pilot, who is one of the survivors, a fire started inside the basket, so he started to lower the balloon, and when the balloon was very close to the ground he told people to jump."
"They started to jump, but some people did not manage to. The flames started to grow and because of the weight, the balloon began to rise again.
"It later fell because of a loss of suspension."
The victims were two couples, a mother and daughter, an ophthalmologist, and a figure skater.
The survivors were taken to nearby hospitals.
Balloon tour company Sobrevoar Serviços TurÃsticos, which operated the flight, has now suspended its activities indefinitely.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva posted on X expressing his "solidarity with the families of the victims".
Praia Grande, in southern Santa Catarina, is a popular tourist destination known for its ballooning activities.
UK, French and German foreign ministers will hold talks with their Iranian counterpart in Geneva today as part of efforts to ease the Israel-Iran conflict. Ahead of the meeting, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says "a window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution".
Donald Trump has approved plans to attack Iran, but has not made a final decision on whether to strike the country. The US president held off from initiating strikes in case Iran agreed to abandon its nuclear programme, as of senior intelligence sources. Trump is reportedly considering a US strike on Fordo, an underground uranium enrichment facility in Iran.
TikTok will live on for at least another three months in the United States, as President Donald Trump is poised to extend a sale or ban deadline for the third time since taking office this year.
"President Trump will sign an additional Executive Order this week to keep TikTok up and running," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed.
The popular video-sharing app was supposed to be banned in the US after its Chinese owner, ByteDance, refused to sell it to a US buyer by a January deadline.
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