Trump backs Cuomo for New York City mayor and threatens to cut funding if Mamdani wins
US President Donald Trump has endorsed Andrew Cuomo in the New York City mayor's race, urging voters not to elect left-wing front-runner Zohran Mamdani, BBC reported.
"Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job," Trump posted on Truth Social Monday evening. "He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!"
Independent candidate Cuomo, a long-term Trump critic who was formerly a Democrat New York governor, responded to the tepid backing: " He's not endorsing me. He's opposing Mamdani."
Public barred as Tanzanian president sworn in
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has been sworn in for a second term amid tight security, following an election marred by violent protests and rejected by the opposition as a sham, BBC reported.
The inauguration ceremony was held at a military parade ground in the capital, Dodoma, instead of a stadium as in previous years. It was closed to the public but was shown live on state TV.
Samia was declared the winner on Saturday with 98% of the vote. She faced little opposition with key rival candidates either imprisoned or barred from running, according to BBC.
Oscar-nominated actress Diane Ladd dies at 89
Diane Ladd, three-time Academy Award nominee and star of Wild at Heart, has died at 89, BBC reported.
Her daughter, actress Laura Dern, confirmed her death on Monday.
"My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother, Diane Ladd, passed with me beside her this morning," Dern said in a statement, adding that her final moments were spent at home in California.
Dern, who starred with her mother in 1991's Rambling Rose, did not share Ladd's cause of death, according to BBC.
Thousands more flee as conflict in famine-stricken Sudan grinds eastwards
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has sent thousands more people fleeing in Sudan as it prepares a new offensive after atrocities committed during its assault on el-Fasher in the western region of Darfur, Aljazeera reported.
The United Nations warned in a report released late on Sunday of the humanitarian consequences as the paramilitary onslaught continues to forcibly displace thousands of people.
The RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, released a video on the same day, saying it is “amassing a large force, heralding the imminent liberation of el-Obeid”.
